Hello
I agree with Wigginsmum. I think the Father is greater than Jesus eternally and not just during the time Jesus lived on earth.
All three members of the Trinity are equal in their divine substance and nature. But the Father is first in order, the Son is second, and the Spirit is third. The Son derives from the Father (Hebrews 1:3), and the Spirit proceeds from the Father (John 15:26.) The Father sent the Son (1 John 4:10), and both the Father and Son sent the Spirit (John 14:26, John 15:26.)
This is not an insult to the dignity the Son or the Spirit. All three are still equal in worthiness. It is just that there is a hierarchy in their relationships to one another, and there are differences in their roles towards creation. They are equal in essence, but the Son & Spirit are subordinate to the Father.
This is slightly similar to the relationship between a husband and wife. They are completely equal as persons, but the wife should submit to the husband. Husband and wife are equal in their value and worth but there is a hierarchy in their responsibilities. Male and female are one in Christ Jesus, but a husband has the casting vote in any conflict of opinion with his wife because he is the head of the marriage (or the head of his wife,)
The head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. (1 Cor.11:3 ESV)
In Hebrews 1:3 Jesus is described as the "radiance of God's glory". If you think of the Father as the sun in our solar system and Jesus as the sunshine, you cannot have one without the other. Trying to imagine the Father without the Son is like trying to imagine the sun without its shine. A sun that does not radiate light & heat is not a proper sun, and the radiance cannot exist without its source. There never was a time in the past when the Son did not exist (ie. he is not a creature), just as the sun and its shine exist inseparably as one entity. But the body of the sun is the source, and the shine is the emanation (or radiance) from the body. That means the body of the sun has precedence over the radiation it emits. I think that's what is meant by the word 'begotten'. It is not that Jesus was created at a certain point in time in the way my Pa begot me, but that Jesus emanates / proceeds / flows out of the Father who is his source / head. And this emanation or procession is eternal and ongoing (like the branch of a tree continuously proceeds out of the trunk of the tree.)
I think the eternal subordination of the Son to the Father is seen in the following verses:
To sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father. (Matthew 20:23)
The Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing. (John 5:19)
I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. (John 5:30)
The living Father sent me and I live because of the Father. (John 6:57)
I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me... I always do what pleases him. (John 8:28-29)
I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. (John 12:49)
I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. (John 14:15)
I love the Father and I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. (John 14:31)
Everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15)
When God raised up his servant [Jesus], he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways. (Acts 3:26)
All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future - all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. (1 Cor. 3:21-23)
The Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. (1 Cor. 15:28 )
Christ did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father." (Hebrews 5:5)
Also, in several places Jesus calls the Father "My God" but nowhere does the Father call Jesus "My God".
And the subordination of the Spirit to the Father is shown in this verse:
The Spirit of truth will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears. (John 16:13)
Phiz