Direction IS the difference. It is one thing to say there is an eternal posterity of Gods, where one generation after the next progresses to Godhood. We already have a mortal analogy. But if you run it backwards, there would be less and less Gods as you backward in time or on the posterity. In the same way, if we look backward on our family tree, eventually everyone on Earth is descended from Noah, or Adam if you choose to go back that far. Is there a first God? There was a first man. I have yet to see a credible quote stating Gods have always been.