The Faith's Foundations - Part 4: God

Introduction

Birds outside my window illustration—they have their mouths wide open because they are hungry, and they know their mother will fill them up. In a similar vein, we know that God desires to fill us up, not with physical food, but spiritual food. He wants to fill us with himself.

Too many times we, even as Christians, look everywhere except to God to be satisfied, content, and whole. We ought to be opening our mouths open to God but too many times we open our mouths to other things or not open them all. We have a yearning but fill our stomachs with the wrong things.

“To hunger is to be human, but to hunger for God is to feed on Him. Hunger and thirst after His righteousness and feed on Him in your heart. Taste and see that the Lord is good; it is He who will fill you to satisfaction.” ― Joni Eareckson Tada

What is foundational to allowing God to fill us with himself is to have a basic understanding of just who he is. Who God is an essential foundation to the Christian faith. Our relationship with God all begins with opening our mouths up to feed upon an understanding of the nature of God—what he is like.

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” ― A.W. Tozer

What comes into our minds when we think of God? What comes into our minds is the difference between heresy and the worship of an idol and worshiping the one true God of all creation with whom we can have a loving relationship with.

The focus here: God is one yet also three.

1. God is One

Monotheism - There is Only One God (Isa 45:5; Deut 6:4; 1 Tim 2:5)

Isaiah 45:5 (NASB95)

“I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me.”

Deuteronomy 6:4 (NASB95)

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

1 Timothy 2:5 NASB95

For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

In contrast to other religious views: polytheism

Ancient middle eastern and near eastern religions were polytheistic (many gods):

OT we see Canaanites worshiping Baal, Molech, Ashterah, Dagon, etc. Egyptian gods, too.

NT we see the numerous gods of the Greek/Roman culture: Artemis (Dinah), Zeus (Jupiter), Hermes (Mercury)

Today: Hinduism, Mormonism, paganism

God is One Being

“Being” = substance, essence - what makes on object or person what it is

lllustration: book, chair, human

What This Means for Us

No Other God Exists

1 Corinthians 8:4–6 “Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.”

We are to Worship the One True God

Exodus 20:2–3 (NASB95)

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.”

Matthew 4:10 NASB95

Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’ ”

2. God is Trinity

What this means: God is one being in three persons.

Jesus, the Son, is God (Jn 1:1-3; Col 1:16-17)

John 1:1–3 NASB95

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

Colossians 1:16–17 “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

The Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4; 1 Cor 2:10-11)

Acts 5:3–4 NASB95

But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”

1 Corinthians 2:10–11 “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.”

We see indications of Trinity in OT:

Genesis 1:26 NASB95

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

We see the Trinity in the baptismal formula:

Matthew 28:19 NASB95

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

Summary of Who God is:

“God is one being in three persons.”

Tertullian (155-200 CE) is mentioned as the first to use the Latin term “trinity” (Trinitas) in his writing “Against Praxeus” (213 CE).

Nicene Creed:

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,       the only Son of God,       begotten from the Father before all ages,            God from God,            Light from Light,            true God from true God,       begotten, not made;       of the same essence as the Father.

Athanasius, 4th century Christian and theologian, played a primary role in the Council of Nicea:

Athanasian Creed Now this is the [universal Christian] faith:

That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,     neither blending their persons     nor dividing their essence.         For the person of the Father is a distinct person,         the person of the Son is another,         and that of the Holy Spirit still another.         But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,         their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.

One way to understand the distinctions of the persons is to grasp that the three have different roles or works:

Father is the initiator of creation; he speaks the universe into existence.

The Son is sent by the Father and becomes the man Jesus. It is the Son who suffers on the cross and is resurrected.

The Holy Spirit is the one who creates us anew, gives us the new birth (i.e., regeneration). It is the HS who gives us gifts to use in the church.

What This Means for Us

Denial of the Trinity is Doctrinal Error

=> not talking about the same God

If we deny the Trinity, we are not talking about the one true God of all creation, the God of the Bible.

If we deny that Jesus or the Holy Spirit is God, we are not talking about the one true God of all creation, the God of the Bible.

That God is Trinity is unique to Christianity. All other religions deny that God is Trinity. As such, all other religions are not the same God as the one in the Bible, the one true creator of all that is.

There are a lot of ramifications for denying the Trinity, but possibly the most important is that:

=> Our salvation is at stake:

Theologian Wayne Grudem points out correctly: (1) can a mere human really save us? (2) worshiping jesus would be wrong, idolatry, but the Bible tells us to worship him and shows others doing the same. (3) God is no longer the author of salvation, a mere human is.

Herman Bavinck: “In the confession of the Trinity throbs the heart of the Christian religion: every error results from, or upon deeper reflection may be traced to, a wrong view of this doctrine.”[Bavinck, The Doctrine of God, 281; quote is Grudem, 1st ed, 248]

The Trinity is the basis of the gospel, and the gospel is a declaration of the Trinity in action.

bio.jipacker

=> This is why Arianism, Council of Nicea was so significant.

We Must be Careful How We Think and Talk about God

Heresies

(1) Tritheism - Three separate gods, or beings (from one angle, this would be present-day Mormonism)

(2) Modalism - One god who plays different roles, changing modes (re: Clark Kent and Superman)

(3) Arianism - Jesus is the first created being; “There was a time when the Son was not.”

(4) Macedonianism (Pneumatomachians) - “Spirit fighters” - The Son created the Holy Spirit

The biblical concept of the Trinity is that of tri-unity. Modalism mistakenly defines the Trinity as one God who reveals Himself in three different modes. Tritheism falsely views the Trinity as three separate but cooperating gods.

Edward E. Hindson (Pastor and Theologian, died 2022)

The point => We must think and talk about God as three persons unified in one essence/being

Analogies

(1) An Egg

An egg consists of a shell, a yolk, and an egg white, yet it is altogether one egg. The three parts create one unified egg. Problem: God cannot be divided into “parts.” The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are one in essence, but the this is not true for the shell, yolk, and white of an egg.

(2) Water

The Trinity is like water was a liquid, solid, and gas. These three are different states of the water but are all nonetheless water. Problem: this actually illustrates modalism: liquid, solid, and gas are actually different states, or modes, in which water exists. Thus, the Trinity is pictures as God changing from the state of Father into the different state as Son, and then from the state of Son into the Spirit.

(3) 3 Leaf Clover

The Trinity is like a three leaf clover: just as the clover is just one clover but has three separate leaves, so there is one God but has three separate persons. Problem: on a 3 leaf clover, the leaves are different parts of the clover and each leaf is not fully the clover. But God as Trinity is not three different parts but persons, and each person is fully God.

So what is one to do? Avoid analogies. Admit that how God exists is not entirely able to be grasped.

The Church confesses the Trinity to be a mystery beyond the comprehension of man.

Louis Berkhof (American Calvinist Theologian)

According to the church father Augustine anyone who denies the Trinity is in danger of losing her salvation, but anyone who tries to understand the Trinity is in danger of losing her mind.

bio.rogerolson; Christopher A. Hall

I cannot even begin to grasp what is it like to be a woman and how they think. How could I ever grasp what God is like in his nature?

We must be satisfied with just the language that has been used throughout most of Christianity’s existence and found in the Nicene Creed: “God is one essence in three persons.”

God is Personal, Relational, and Loving

The persons of the Trinity have existed for eternity in loving relationship with one another.

From all eternity, God has existed as one being in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As such, he has existed in a triune personal relationship, or community, of love.

"What was God doing before he created the universe?" Augustine's answer: "He was preparing Hell for people who ask questions like that!"

Obviously, this is not a serious answer. One good answer is that the three persons of the Trinity were in personal communion with each other.

CS Lewis and others have pointed out that this is what it partly means to be made in God’s image: we have the capacity and desire to be in community with others personally and lovingly.

Esp seen in God the Son (Jesus): he died for us and can sympathize with us.

Hebrews 2:17 NASB95

Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Hebrews 4:15 NASB95

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

1438Keep the existence of the Trinity prominent in your ministry. Remember, you cannot pray without the Trinity. If the full work of salvation requires a Trinity, so does that very breath by which we live. You cannot draw near to the Father except through the Son and by the Holy Spirit.—37.374

Charles Spurgeon

Conclusion

Augustine: “Our hearts are restless until our hearts reset in thee.”

Who is this God in which our hearts find rest? There is much to say about who this God is, so much more. We didn’t even cover many of the other attributes and characteristics of God: his sovereignty, omniscience, omnipotence, love, holiness, faithfulness . . .

We focused upon the one essential identifying characteristic of who this God is:

It is the one God who exists as three persons. This is the one essential and unique belief that serves as foundational to the Christian faith. This knowledge of God is surely mysterious and awesome. But it is what enables us to have a relationship with him. It is in God that we are most satisfied.

“The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss, for having the Source of all things he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight. Whatever he may lose he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely, legitimately and forever.”

Tozer, A. W.. The Pursuit of God (pp. 15-16). Pomodoro Books. Kindle Edition.

If we just open my out mouths up to the Creator of the universe, he would fill us with himself, and we will be satisfied.