The Triune Godhead

SCRIPTURE

1 John 5:7 NKJV

For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.

MAIN POINT

God is the Eternal Creator of all that exists and has revealed Himself to us in the three eternally co-existent persons of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This truth gives us unimaginable blessings and should cause us to desires to worship and have fellowship with God.

INTRODUCTION

Who is God? What is God like? Why did God create us (why are we here)? How does God relate to us? What does God want from us?

Before we can answer the question of who God is, we have to answer the question, does God exist? How do we know that God exists? How do we know that there is one, true, living God? How do we know that He created the universe? How do we know that our existence is not just the result of some cosmic coincidence, a Big Bang, and billions of years of evolution?

Not surprisingly, the Bible gives us the answer to that very question. In Romans 1:20, the Bible says,

Romans 1:20 NKJV

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

In other words, mankind has no excuse for not believing in the existence of God. When we look at the beauty, diversity, and complexity of life; when we look up at the night sky and wonder at the number of the stars and galaxies that make up our universe; when we look at the human body and how it is so perfectly designed and how all of its diverse systems operate in harmony to make our existence possible; it is obvious that none of this could happen by random chance; that we are not the result of some cosmic coincidence or evolutionary processes. A design requires a Designer; a universe requires an Architect and Builder; and our very existence as human beings requires a Creator.

Psalm 19:1 tells us,

Psalm 19:1 NKJV

The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.

Nature tells us there must be a God. The Bible tells us who God is. The Bible does not try to argue for the existence of God. The Bible simply begins with the assumption that God exists and then reveals who He is, what He is like, why He created us, how He relates to us, what He wants from us, and why we are here.

MESSAGE POINTS

The Trinity in Genesis

In fact the Bible begins with a simple statement, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” In that one verse, the first verse of the Bible, we have everything we need to begin our understanding of who God is.

That verse tells us a few things:

There is Only One God Who is the Creator of the Universe

No cosmic coincidence. No evolutionary processes. God spoke, and the universe immediately came into existence. And all of creation is the result of the divine will of only one God. Deuteronomy 6:4 plainly declares there is only one God,

Deuteronomy 6:4 NKJV

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!

Creation was not the result of a pantheon of gods. Before the universe came into existence, before the angels, before the first light of the sun, before planet earth was without form and void, there was only one being; and that being is the Eternal God, the Creator of heaven and earth!

God Has a Triune Nature

“In the beginning, God…” The Hebrew word for God here is Elohim. This a very generic word for God and is also used in the Word of God to refer to angelic beings. But here, it is used specifically to refer to the one, true, living God, the Eternal Creator of everything. But there is something interesting about this word, Elohim. It is plural; meaning it should refer to more than one being. But we know the Bible says God is one. What is also interesting is that in Hebrew, the verb “created” should also be plural to match “Elohim.” But it is not plural, it is singular, meaning it is referring to one being. How can it be both plural and singular? Was this a mistake by the author? I don’t think so. I think this was very intentional. Because from the very first verse of the Bible, we see that God is one in essence, but that He is more than one in person.

The Doctrine of the Trinity

This is what we refer to as the Doctrine of the Trinity. The second statement on our Statement of Faith answers the question of who God is:

GOD: We believe there is only one true God, eternally co-existent in the three Persons of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; 1 John 5:7)

God is triune in nature. He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Yet He is one God. But the concept of the Trinity is not just found in the first verse of the Bible. It is found all throughout the Word of God including our Scripture Text for today.

1 John 5:7 NKJV

For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.

But there are plenty of other Scripture that testify of the Triune nature of God.

Matthew 3:16–17 NKJV

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 28:18–19 NKJV

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

"Baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: there are three distinct persons: in the Name, not names; there is one essence.” (Thomas Adams)

2 Corinthians 13:14 NKJV

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

So What’s the Big Deal About the Trinity?

So you might say, “Well, what’s the big deal about the Trinity? Does it really matter what we believe on this subject? I believe He’s God, isn’t that enough?”

Well it turns out that it really does matter what we believe about the Trinity. In fact, you can’t divorce the doctrine of the Trinity from true Christianity. To say it another way, non-Trinitarian doctrine is false doctrine. It is not what the Bible teaches. And it leads to extreme error, especially concerning the deity of Jesus Christ, which is essential for orthodox Christian doctrine.

Examples of False Doctrines:

For example, the Mormons (Latter-Day Saints) believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but they deny the Trinity. They teach that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three distinct Gods. They believe that Jesus is a created being, and that Lucifer, or Satan, is His brother. They also believe that Jesus is just one of many Sons of God and that any human can one day become a god of another planet just like Jesus is god of earth. Mormonism is not a Christian denomination. Mormonism is a false religion.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus is Michael the Archangel. Therefore, they believe that Jesus is a created being, and not the eternal God. They also believe that the Holy Spirit is an inanimate force of God and not a divine person of the Godhead. Jehovah’s Witness beliefs is not a Christian denomination. Jehovah’s Witness beliefs are a false religion.

Even in Pentecostal circles, we find false doctrine regarding God. A group known as Oneness Pentecostals do not believe in the Trinity. Oneness doctrine teaches that the one God reveals Himself in various forms: sometimes as the Father, sometimes as Jesus, and sometimes as the Holy Spirit. Oneness Pentecostalism, or Jesus-only teaching, is an ancient heretical teaching called modalism, which taught that God reveals Himself in different modes including Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Basically, God has a multiple personality disorder. Try to explain Jesus’ baptism in this manner and it falls apart quickly. Oneness Pentecostals believe in the deity of Jesus Christ as opposed to Mormonism or Jehovah’s Witnesses. While Oneness doctrine would seem to be an improvement over these other false religions, it still falls short of what the Bible teaches about the tri-unity of God.

So How Can We Understand the Trinity?

So how do we understand the Trinity? How can God be both one and three at the same time? Well, every attempt to try to explain it falls short. Our finite minds cannot comprehend an infinite God.

“If God were small enough to be understood, He would not be big enough to be worshipped.” (Evelyn Underhill)

Some have tried to compare the Trinity to water (liquid, solid-ice, gas-vapor). Some have tried to use the concept of an egg (shell, white, and yolk). Some have tried to explain it by different roles a person may have. For instance, I am one person, but I am at the same time a father, a son, and a husband. All of these try to help us wrap our heads around the concept of the Trinity, but they all fall short in doing justice to the glory of God and relationship between the Trinity.

The best attempt at trying to visualize the Trinity is the following diagram called the “Shield of the Trinity.”

INSERT DIAGRAM!!!

What this diagram is trying to convey is the following:

(1) The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons,

(2) each Person is fully God,

(3) there is only one God.

All three members of the Trinity are God and therefore have all of the attributes of God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not each 1/3 of God. That is a false doctrine called Partialism. God is not limited to just one person of the Trinity at a time like Oneness doctrine teaches. That is a false doctrine called Modalism. All three members of the Trinity are fully, 100% God and therefore each has all of the attributes of God.

Let’s Answer Some Questions

Now that we are armed with some information about God and have an undestanding of the Triune nature of God, although not perfectly or completely, let’s answer the questions we posed at the beginning of this message.

Who is God?

God is an Eternal, Triune being who is our Creator, our Sustainer, our Deliverer, our Heavenly Father, our Savior, our Comforter, our Lord, and our King! God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!

What is God Like?

God is:

Omnipresent

Omniscient

Omnipotent

Eternal

Immutable

Faithful

Love

Good

Just

Merciful

Gracious

Holy

Glorious

And all three members of the Trinity have these attributes.

Why Did God Create Us?

God created us for relationship. We see the fellowship and relationship between the members of the Trinity. God is love because there was love between the members of the Trinity before the universe and humanity were ever created. And God created humanity with a special capability of having fellowship and relationship with Him.

“All sorts of people are fond of repeating the Christian statement that "God is love." But they seem not to notice that the words 'God is love' have no real meaning unless God contains at least two persons. Love is something that one person has for another person. If God was a single person, then before the world was made, He was not love.” (C.S. Lewis)

How Does God Relate to Us?

God relates to us in several ways:

He speaks to us through nature.

He speaks to us through His Word.

He speaks to us through the person and work of His Son Jesus Christ.

He indwells us through the Holy Spirit.

He fellowships with us through worship.

He communicates with us through prayer.

What Does God Want From Us?

More than anything, God wants a relationship with us. He wants us to worship Him. He wants us to love Him. He wants us to serve Him. He wants us to bow to Him as Lord and also come to Him as Father. He wants us to accept His Son Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation. He wants to hear from you on a daily basis. He wants you to grow in Spirit. He wants your heart! More than anything, God just wants you!

CLOSING