The Triune God
Notes
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1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Setting the Stage
Setting the Stage
We’re in this intimate meal setting with Christ and the eleven.
He’s preparing them for His work on the Cross.
He’s preparing them for His resurrection and ascension.
He’s letting them know that His work of redemption is what will enable them to be with Him forevermore.
Without it, there is no eternal life with God.
So, the disciples are asking questions about the Way to where He is going.
And, we looked at that last Sunday.
Jesus has told them that the only way to the Father is through/in Him.
And, because they know Christ, they know the Father…
And, have seen Him.
So, Philip makes this remark to what Jesus has just stated about someone truly knowing the Father if they know Jesus.
John tells us…
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
And Jesus responds…
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
This is obviously not the first time they’ve been taught this.
It’s not the first time we’ve read it in John’s gospel.
Jesus has not only taught this truth to the crowds…
But, in the inner circle late night camp fire lessons.
And, Jesus makes a remark about the length of time that He has been with the disciples.
And, makes a remark regarding their slowness to understand and allow truth to penetrate their minds and hearts.
The truth that we see here that we also see in our own lives is this…
We’re Resistant to Truth
We’re Resistant to Truth
The truth can be uncomfortable
The truth can be uncomfortable
At times it points us to action that we are not ready to perform.
Truth can point us to say something. (or not)
Truth can point us to do something. (or not)
And, so we resist it for a time…because we’re not comfortable with what truth is commanding us to do.
One example would be to ask forgiveness or to grant it.
Sometimes pride in the form of self-righteousness gets in the way from us asking for it.
Sometimes pride in the form of anger or a desire to see someone suffer, to feel a little dose of how they made us feel, gets in the way from us granting it.
But, truth always points us towards restoration.
At times it goes against the beliefs that we’ve previously been taught.
Maybe out of loyalty to the person(s) who have taught us differently…
We resist the truth for a time.
One example could be that someone who has passed away and truth points out the deceased’s error.
Sometimes that error was a lack of faith in Christ.
So, the gospel to be true means condemnation for the deceased.
And, that is definitely a stumbling block for many.
I’ve spoken to many people caught in this type of thinking.
Another example is that certain truths are so ingrained in our minds that it’s hard to come out of that type of thinking.
The eleven would have been raised with the teaching of a triumphant, conquering, political Messiah.
And, so a suffering Messiah that must die for the Victory to be obtained is so foreign to their ears…
That is takes them a very long time to come to terms with it.
Jesus has taught them this truth repeatedly.
And, they believe what He says is truth.
But, comprehending it is what is slow.
Let’s think about this…
Let’s think about this…
Are we not the same?
I know this is certainly true for me.
Things I was taught in seminary…
That I had no problem with and believed because it was from God’s Word…
I have come to a greater understanding of those truths…
And, a greater comprehension of those truths through the years after seminary.
So, like when you’re studying and it sort of comes into greater focus.
And, you’re like…Aha! Oh, yes!
—> I see it more clearly now.
How many conversations have I had with older saints that wish they knew 40 years ago…what God has taught them now?!
And, so I think what we learn from this is:
Keep speaking the truth.
You never know when it may click.
Keep praying for people.
You never know when God will answer.
Be patient with people.
Everything hasn’t come to you quick, either.
We are still learning. (webs of reciprocation)
Jesus goes on and says…
Jesus goes on and says…
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? (Literally = You believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, do you not?)
[I just want to say here that I believe the eleven would have responded, “Yes.” But they believe because Jesus says it, not because they fully comprehend it. True faith doesn’t remove all mystery from what you believe.]
The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
So, Jesus explained to Thomas, in vv.6-7, that the way to the Father is through/in Him.
And, if you know Jesus, then you know the Father.
Here, Jesus is explaining what that means, in greater detail, to Philip who has just asked Jesus to show them the Father.
Here Jesus is teaching…
The Doctrine of the Trinity
The Doctrine of the Trinity
Now, that does not mean that Christianity has moved from monotheism to more than one God.
—> We firmly hold to a monotheistic faith.
Listen to what Jesus taught…
29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Then Jesus adds…
30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
There is to be no love for anything that equals our love for God.
Yet, Jesus calls us to:
love Him equally
trust Him equally
obey Him equally
Paul’s sermon at the Areopagus, in Acts 17, is a monotheistic sermon.
Paul states clearly to the Corinthian church…
4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.”
And, then two verses later…
6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
Paul ascribing to a monotheistic doctrine of God.
And, at the same time that Jesus is God, as well.
So many more passages we could look at.
Falsely Accused
Falsely Accused
By some, we are labeled as people who believe in three Gods.
A tri-theism, if you will.
The church has throughout history and categorically denied this.
Some people who understand that we do not believe in three God.
But, that we believe in One God in Three Persons…
Claim that we believe in a contradiction.
Neither of those claims can stand against us.
The Law of non-contradiction states that something cannot be A and non-A at the same time and in the same relationship.
But, the doctrine of the Trinity says:
God is One in Essence [A]
God is Three in Persons [B]
If we stated God is One in Essence and Three in Essence that would be a contradiction.
If we stated that God is One in Persons and Three in Persons that would be a contradiction.
But we say, because the Bible teaches:
God is One in Essence [A]
God is Three in Persons [B]
So, although there is mystery in the doctrine of the Trinity…
There is not a contradiction in the doctrine of the Trinity.
Progressive Revelation
Progressive Revelation
Now, we see in the Bible what we would call Progressive Revelation.
Progressive revelation is not a correction of past mistakes.
God doesn’t come along in the NT and say here’s a correction what I said in Leviticus.
Rather, it means it is a building upon what has already been revealed.
—> And, an expansion of content to the revelation.
IOW, clarity is added as we progress in the fulfillment of the promises of God.
Jesus is giving clarity to His teaching here with the disciples.
Not clarity in that Jesus was unclear.
But, expansion for the sake of the eleven’s understanding.
When we look at Genesis 3, all we know about the Savior is that He will be born of a woman.
As we progress through the Old Testament, we learn more to help us refine who we are looking for.
He will come from the people of Abraham, the Jews.
He will come from the tribe of Judah.
He will come from the line of David.
In the NT, we are told He has come from the womb of Mary.
And, we could go on.
But, Jesus is not teaching tri-theism, nor a contradiction.
Jesus is teaching us by expansion the doctrine of…
The Tri-Unity of God
The Tri-Unity of God
I want to zoom in on two specific things that Jesus proclaims:
Mutual Indwelling [Essence]
Different Persons [Persons]
There are hints of this in the OT.
There are hints of this in the OT.
For example, in the OT one of the primary names for God is Elohim.
That is a plural noun that is used with a singular verb.
—> Some try to argue this away.
But, also, in the Creation Account in Genesis 1 we observe the Spirit of God hovering at the creation of all things.
And, who is active in creation and bringing something out of nothing.
Another well known example is…
1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
This OT text is most quoted in the NT.
This is David writing this psalm.
And, what we witness is the Lord is having a conversation with David’s Lord.
Yahweh (God’s personal name)says to my Adonai (God’s chief title in the OT).
Now, listen to Psalm 8…
1 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
O Yahweh, our Adonai, how majestic is your name [singular].
The NT picks up on this and declares that:
Jesus is the Son of David
The fulfillment of the Davidic covenant.
The true Son of God.
The only righteous King.
And, at the same time:
Jesus is David’s Lord.
His Adonai.
We could look at the Servant Song passages in Isaiah and other passages in other prophetic books.
Now, back to what I previously mentioned…
Now, back to what I previously mentioned…
Jesus is proclaiming:
Mutual Indwelling [Essence]
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
The purpose of Christ was to display the glory of God.
And, the glory of God is His deity.
His holiness.
His Otherness.
If you see Christ truly.
Know Christ by union with Christ.
—> Then you have seen the character/attributes of God.
You have witnessed the Essence/Nature of God.
Same truth in…
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? ... 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,…
They are One in Essence.
They are united as One God.
Jesus is also proclaiming:
Different Persons [Persons]
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
The words that I say to you [personhood]
…but the Father who dwells in me does His works [distinct personhood]
So, we see Jesus clearly teaching:
The Father is not the Son.
The Son is not the Father.
The Father gives the Son a mission.
The Son willingly completes the mission.
They both dwell in one another.
If you’ve beheld the character of Christ, you’ve beheld the Father, as well.
They are equally God in essence.
And, distinctly different persons in the Father and the Son.
11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
The works that Christ did manifest the glory of God.
Which is the deity of God.
Let’s think about this...
Let’s think about this...
What we see in the Tri-Une God is perfection in diversity…perfectly united.
Diverse in Person.
United in Essence.
And, we are to imitate this by our love for one another.
And, we grow in our ability to do this by obedience to Christ.
An obedience that doesn’t earn.
An obedience that rests in the person and work of Christ.
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
