2024-05-19 - Doctrine (02-01) of God - "God is One"

Doctrine of God - “God is One”

Introduction:

The biblical concept of the Trinity is that of tri-unity.

Edward E. Hindson

Definition of: God Is One:

The Bible affirms that God is one, as seen in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, otherwise known as the Shema (Shaw-Mah) More on this later. In both Old and New Testament times, the advocacy of monotheism (belief in one God) was contrary to the surrounding culture. Where most cultures practiced polytheism (belief in multiple gods) or henotheism (the worship of one god with the belief in multiple gods), the people of God knew, based upon God’s self-revelation, that Yahweh, The Lord, Is the only one true God.

I. Monotheism Vs. Polytheism

A. Explanation of monotheism

Monotheism is the belief in one god. As Christians, we believe the Bible is very clear that there is only one God however with that said, our one God has 3 distinct parts that all make up God.

God the Father

God the Son

God the Holy Spirit

B. Contrast with surrounding polytheistic and henotheistic (devotion to a single primary god while accepting the existence or possible existence of other deities) cultures

This is in contrast to other religions such as:

Many of the ancient Religions

Ancient Greek

Hinduism

Ancient Egyptian

Shinto - Japanese dating back to 8th century, worship of ancestors and nature spirits, state religion of Japan till 1945.

Wicca

Taoism - Chinese philosophy & religion dating back to 500 BC. Living in harmony amongst the 5 elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire & Earth. Hence the formation of the Yin Yang symbol. A False religious symbol that is excellent to steer clear from.

DEPENDING how you define it but even Mormonism

Many Others.

II. Scriptural Basis for "God is One”

A. OT Basis of “God is One”

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

We see it starting off with the word HERE, This word here in the original Hebrew is the word: Shema

Shema (shaw-mah) - A primitive word that is rooted in the idea of “Hearing intelligently” often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.: It means to listen:

Attentively, to call others together, listen carefully, certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, diligently, discern, give ear to, listen, be obedient to, proclaim, publish, regard, tell, understand, a message to anyone listening, be a witness to the message told.

2. Again in Vs. 6 we see God tells us that He, the Lord is one!

One in the Hebrew doesn’t mean singleness but it means “Unity.”

The MacArthur Bible Commentary 2. The Total Commitment to the Lord (6:1–25)

The word used for one in this passage does not mean “singleness,” but “unity.” The same word is used in Genesis 2:24, where the husband and wife were said to be “one flesh.” Thus, while this verse was intended as a clear and concise statement of monotheism, it does not exclude the concept of the Trinity.

Courson’s Application Commentary, Old Testament Volume 1 (Genesis–Job) Deuteronomy 6:4 (b)

The Hebrew word translated “one” is echod, which refers to a compound unity. Echod is used in Genesis 2:24 with regard to Adam and Eve as well as in Exodus 26 to describe the curtains and coverings in the tabernacle. The Hebrew word translated “God” is Elohim, also a compound unity. El is singular. Elo is used for two. Elohim refers to three or more. “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, Elohim, is one compound unity.” Listen carefully to the Shema, and you’ll hear the Trinity.

3. The remaining part of the verses talk about our love and how we live it out in our lives as a VERB towards the “ONE GOD.”

LOVE IS A VERB in the Hebrew, meaning there must be action on our parts to prove that we Love God.

ILL: “Why do you have so many songs about rain?” an anthropologist asked the Hopi Indians he was studying.

“We live in the desert,” they answered. “We sing about rain because it is so rare.”

I wonder if that’s why so many of our songs today are about love. Love is a fantasy in the way it’s being hyped today.

Application: 1 Do you truly love God? Are you putting actions to the words you say when you say, “I love God?” We all struggle with this, in our minds we may really believe we love God and are doing this in an action form. But in our Hearts we may not really believe it. We may “Do things for God” Things that are more along the lines of the words we find in James 2:17–18 “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. God is essentially telling us through James that if you love me, you must DO what I have asked.

LINK: God whats you to Do what He has asked because He loves you, and wants that ongoing right relationship with his Children. He loves you, He created you:

ii. Other passages for the Basis of “God is One”

Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.””

Us & Our is capitalized. Signifying the deity of God here in unity as the trinity in the worlds creation.

B. NT Basis of “God is One”

Matthew 3:16–17 “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. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

John 10:30 “I and My Father are one.”

Application: 2 Do you truly love God? Are you putting actions to the words you say when you say, “I love God?” We all struggle with this, in our minds we may really believe we love God and are doing this in an action form. But in our Hearts we may not really believe it. We may “Do things for God” Things that are more along the lines of the words we find in James 2:17–18 “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” So perhaps you ask, “What are these good works?” John 14:15–16 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—” God wants to help you do what is right. He has made a way and has sent a helper for you to LOVE Him.

LINK: Although there are roughly 613 commands in the OT alone, the NT has commands also. Look at this one for example, which also again shows the command being done in the name of “GOD is One, the Trinity.

iii. Matthew 28:19 “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,”

iv. Ephesians 4:4–6 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

Conclusion:

Nowhere in the Bible to we find the word Trinity.” Neither do we find the word Rapture in the English Bible or nor do we find the word Bible in the Bible, but the idea and concept is there for all of these things.

Listen to what C.S. Lewis said about the Trinity of God:

1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching The Trinity

In his book The Joyful Christian, C. S. Lewis wrote: “I said … that God is a Being which contains three persons while remaining one Being, just as a cube contains six squares while remaining one body.”

Some to this may say, But this still doesn’t make that much scene, my mind begins to hurt when i try to understand the comprehension of the Trinity: Look at what B.B. Warfield said to that:

300 Quotations for Preachers from the Modern Church The Incomprehensible Trinity

There are no analogies to [the Trinity] in nature, not even in the spiritual nature of man, who is made in the image of God. In His Trinitarian mode of being, God is unique; and, as there is nothing in the universe like Him in this respect, so there is nothing which can help us to comprehend Him.

I want to leave you with this one verse as Paul did to the Church in Corinth at the end of his second letter to them:

2 Corinthians 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.”

Saved: If you know Jesus as your Savior, then I want to encourage you to do your best to reflect today and this week on the Action, the Verb that the word Love is that we saw back in Deuteronomy, and we see again in the NT as it reconfirms that we as Christians should willingly LOVE God with our actions:

Stop and think right now, what does that look like in your life? There must be some ways your doing that well, but there also are other ways in which you probably need help from God the Holy Spirit, from other believers to be able to take the word Love and move it from a noun to a verb in your life.

Unsaved: If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, know this, that when He said He loves you, it was followed through by actions. The action of Jesus dying a sacrificial death for you. In your eyes and in the eyes of others, you may seemingly be a good person, but by Gods standards, you are not good. You need a Savior from your sin. 1 John 1:7b “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

DEVOTION Based on Today's Message:

Discovering the Unity of God: A Journey through Faith

In the tapestry of Christian beliefs, the idea of the Trinity is like a rich, intricate thread, weaving together the threefold nature of God. As Edward E. Hindson aptly expresses, "The Bible shows that God is three persons in one." At the core of this belief lies the idea that "God is One."

The Bible strongly states that God is single in His essence yet diverse in His expression. The Shema prayer, found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, calls us to pay attention. This ancient prayer, the Shema, invites us not just to hear but to truly understand. It challenges the common belief in many gods and urges us to recognize the oneness of God.

The belief in the unity of God contrasts sharply with the belief in many gods found in other religions. God clearly teaches us that there is only one God, who exists in three forms: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. While other religions may believe in multiple gods, again we clearly taught by the Bible that there is only one true God.

Throughout the Bible, we see the theme of God's unity repeated. Deuteronomy 6:4-9, a cornerstone of Jewish faith, emphasizes the oneness of God amid a world of competing beliefs. The word "one" in this passage doesn't just mean a single entity but speaks to a deep unity, like the bond between a husband and wife.

In the New Testament, we find echoes of this truth. In Genesis 1:26, we see a hint of the plurality within God. Even as Jesus walks the earth, He speaks of His unity with the Father. In Matthew 3:16-17, during Jesus' baptism, we witness the revelation of the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Trinity, while mysterious, is like a beautiful tapestry woven with divine threads. As C.S. Lewis beautifully puts it, "God is like a cube containing three squares, yet remaining one entity." Though our minds may struggle to fully grasp this concept, we stand in awe of the majesty of the Trinity.

As B.B. Warfield reminds us, the Trinity is beyond our human understanding. Yet, in 2 Corinthians, we catch a glimpse of this divine mystery: the grace of Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

For those who follow Christ, let our lives reflect the love we profess. Let us turn our love into action, loving God with all our hearts, souls, and strength. Take a moment to reflect: How can you show your love for God in practical ways today?

For those who haven't yet encountered Christ, know that His love knows no bounds. He invites everyone to experience His grace. Embrace the Savior who loved you to the point of sacrificing His life, and find forgiveness for your sins.

Let's journey together, embracing the profound truth that "God is One," anchoring our souls in the triune God who knows and loves us deeply. Amen.