The Triunity of God
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Scripture reading: 2 Corinthians 13:14
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
This evening, we’ll take a look at what I think is the most beautiful doctrine in the Bible, the doctrine of the Trinity or of God’s triunity.
Let’s begin with a question. How important is the doctrine of the Trinity?
*SHOW SLIDE WITH DIFFERENT TIERS OF DOCTRINES*
Every doctrine has some level of importance. If it wasn’t important, it wouldn’t be in the Bible.
First-rank doctrines are essential to the gospel itself. For example, the doctrine of salvation, of whether Jesus was the Son of God, of whether there is more than one God, and so on.
Second-rank doctrines are urgent for the health and practice of the church. These are important enough to justify division in the Church. For example, the doctrine of baptism and holy communion.
Third-rank doctrines are important to Christian theology, but not enough to justify division within the church. For example, the doctrine of the end time and when Christ will return.
Fourth-rank doctrines are unimportant to the gospel and ministry, like the kind of musical instruments you should use in worship, or how many angels there are.
So where does the doctrine of the Trinity fall under?
The doctrine of the Trinity falls under the first-rank doctrine. It is essential to the Gospel and for salvation.
That’s why our Apostles’ Creed is structured according to the Trinity.
*NEXT SLIDE*
Now, why is this doctrine of Trinity so important?
*CLICK*
It’s because the very name of God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That’s the closest and most accurate description we can have of who God is.
*CLICK*
Moreover, the triune nature of God is the mold for the gospel. We’ll get more into this later.
*NEXT SLIDE*
But did Jesus think it was important?
On the last night before His death, in the Upper Room with His disciples, guess what Jesus talked about? The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That’s in John 13-17.
So if Jesus thinks the Trinity is important, then it must be.
What do we mean when we say “Triunity?”
What do we mean when we say “Triunity?”
Let’s begin with a quick question.
Question: How many Gods are there according to the Bible?
Option A: One
Option B: Three
The correct answer is A. There is only one God.
But now let’s ask another question.
Question: How many divine persons are there in the Bible?
Option A: One
Option B: Three
The correct answer is B. Three persons. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
One final question.
Question: How does God exist as three persons?
Option A: He changes forms between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Option B: I don’t know, but the Bible says it, so I believe it.
The correct answer is option B.
Why not option A? People who say option A point to John 10:30. So let’s take a look.
I and the Father are one.”
What does Jesus mean when He says “I and the Father are one”? Does He mean that He and the Father are the same person? The answer is no. What’s the proof? Later on, Jesus prays for the saints to be one, in the same way He and the Father are one.
*CLICK*
The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
So what does it mean for us to be one? It means that even though we are all unique and different from each other, we are one in Christ through the Holy Spirit. We are united and reconciled to each other.
The Apostle Paul makes this clear in Ephesians 4:4-6.
There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
So is Jesus the Father? Is the Father the Holy Spirit? No. So when we pray, please don’t say things like “Father, when you died on the cross.” The Father didn’t die on the cross.
Please refer to this diagram.
*SHOW Trinity diagram*
The Father is God. The Son is God. The Holy Spirit is God. They are all fully God. One God, three persons.
Theologians use the word “person” because they don’t have a better word.
So why use the word “person”? We want to make it clear that we believe the Father has a personality, the Son has a personality, and the Spirit has a personality.
So God is one essence, and three persons. And here’s the thing. It’s always going to be an unsolvable mystery to us while we’re here on earth. Why? Because this is the very essence of God. Here’s an example of what I mean.
*NEXT SLIDE: Connect the dots*
However, the Bible teaches us about the differences between the Father, Son, and Spirit.
Question: How can I tell who is the Father, Son, or Spirit?
Option A: By their specific roles in fulfilling redemptive history.
Option B: By guessing.
The correct answer is option A.
The Bible shows us that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have specific roles in fulfilling redemptive history.
*NEXT SLIDE*
So God’s work always has a three layers to it.
The Father gives the will and the intention. The Son is the one who goes forth to do the Father’s will. The Spirit empowers the Son and carries His work to completion.
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
So the Father here loved the world, and He sent His Son. So the Son obeys the Father and comes. And whoever believes in the Son will receive eternal life. Now, how do we believe that Jesus is the Son of God? It is only through the Holy Spirit.
*CLICK*
Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
So the Son does the Father’s will, and the Holy Spirit completes the work of the Son.
Now let’s ask another question.
Question: Was there any point in time when God was not triune?
Option A: Yes. God became triune as time went on.
Option B: No. God has existed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit since eternity.
The correct answer is B. How do we know this? Because of John 17:5 and Hebrews 9:14
And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
God cannot lie right? So what we see in the Bible is that God has always been Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All of this to say, triunity is the closest we can come to describing God’s true nature.
And this leads us to the next point.
The Trinity is the mold of the Gospel.
The Trinity is the mold of the Gospel.
Earlier, we talked about the Trinity being a mold for the Gospel. What does that mean? It means that the nature of God shapes the nature of the salvation He would offer.
Have you ever wondered why God is able to love us unconditionally? Why is it that the God of the Bible loves us in spite of our sins? It’s because He has always been a Father, and so He loves us like a Father. And He’s always had a Son. And the Spirit has always been around.
That’s what the Bible means when it says that God is love.
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
No god can say that they are love if they were all alone at some point in time. At best, they created other creatures and then fell in love. But they cannot say that they are love.
*CLICK*
But for the God of the Bible, He has always been love, because He has always been triune. And because He is triune, He loves us with that same love: unconditional and eternal.
So this means that the Father loves you and me with the same love He has for Jesus. That’s what Jesus says in John 17.
I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
*NEXT SLIDE: WATERFALL PICTURE*
So the unconditional love of the Father for us isn’t something new. It’s the overflow of an ancient love shared between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It’s a love rooted in eternity, and it extends into eternity. And God invites us to join in that eternal love as sons of God (Romans 8:15).
Now as one final point, the apostle John here says that we are to love one another with the love that comes from God.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
What does this love look like? If the love we receive is from the Triune God, then we should look to the Triune God as an example of how to love one another.
So in conclusion, let us look at the dynamics of love within the Trinity.
The dynamics of love within the Trinity
The dynamics of love within the Trinity
What does love look like between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
*CLICK*
What we see in the Bible is that the persons of the Trinity humble themselves in order to exalt and glorify the other.
First, God the Son humbles Himself in order to obey the Father’s will. He takes on human flesh. He doesn’t say whatever He wants. And He doesn’t do whatever He wants. He only does the Father’s will.
And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”
but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.
So God the Son humbled Himself in order to glorify the Father.
And so how does the Father respond? He exalts and glorifies the Son.
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
The Bible also shows us that Jesus humbled Himself before the Holy Spirit.
He was born of the Holy Spirit. His whole earthly ministry, He was led and driven by the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:12). And even His resurrection was through the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 1:4).
But after Jesus ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit now humbles Himself toward Jesus. Now Jesus is the one directing and sending the Holy Spirit.
“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
And what does the Holy Spirit do? Does He exalt Himself? No. He exalts Jesus in our hearts. He convicts our hearts, makes us realize that we are sinners, and He opens our eyes to recognize that only Jesus is our Savior. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit doesn’t speak on His own authority, but brings to remembrance the words of Christ.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
And so what we see is that the persons of the Trinity humble themselves in order to exalt and glorify the other. That is the dynamic of love of within the Trinity.
*NEXT SLIDE: WINDMILL PICTURE*
It’s similar to a windmill. For one blade to go up, another blade has to go down.
*NEXT SLIDE*
Conclusion, let us love each other with the love flowing from the Triune God.
Conclusion, let us love each other with the love flowing from the Triune God.
How? By humbling ourselves in order to exalt the other.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
So I pray that Zion Church will be a church where we humble ourselves in order to exalt and honor the other person. And in doing so, we show the world the love of God that flows from the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
