Transcendent Trinity

Text: Luke 3:21-22

Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.”

Thesis: The God who is beyond our wildest dreams has revealed Himself to us.

Application: God’s transcendence teaches us that God is beyond our comprehension, yet He has made Himself known to us through His Trinitarian unity. Be amazed and in awe of our wondrous God, trust that He can accomplish what is beyond our understanding, and know that the God of the universe is able to be known by you.

Reading of the Word

Luke 3:21-22

Intro

The Trinity is a tough concept.

Opening Illustration / Hook / Textual Lead-in

What the Trinity is not:

The Trinity is not like the Sun. Some people use the sun as an analogy for the Trinity with the star, the heat, and the light. But this analogy actually promotes the ancient heresy of Arianism which is a belief that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are creations of the Father and not one in nature with the Father. This belief is a great error because the Son and the Holy Spirit are perfectly one with God the Father and are co-eternal just as the Father is.

The Trinity is not like water. Some people use water as an analogy for the Trinity with its three different states of matter: ice, water, and vapor. But this analogy actually promotes the ancient heresy of modalism which is a belief that God “shapeshifts” between three different modes. This belief states that God is not three distinct persons, but that He is one person who reveals Himself in three different forms. This belief is a great error because each person of the Trinity co-exists with one another and are distinct from one another yet they are all one with one another.

The Trinity is not like a three lead clover or an egg. Some people have used these items as analogies for the Trinity, but these analogies promote partialism. Partialism is a heresy which states that God is comprised of three completely separate parts which all together add up to one whole God. This belief is a great error because each person of the Trinity is not 1/3 of God, each person of the Trinity is fully God.

The point here is that nothing in the created universe compares to the amazing Creator. This idea is known as “transcendence.” To be “transcendent” means that you are completely beyond that which is understood. God is not simply bigger or better than anything in creation - He is in a completely different category, or rather, there is no category that can define or contain Him.

What is the Trinity?

Christians have struggled to wrap their heads around the concept of the Trinity for 2,000 years precisely because there is nothing in creation which can compare to our unique God. The Athanasian Creed is perhaps the best articulation and summary of what we see in the Scriptures:

“…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.

The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, the Holy Spirit is eternal.

And yet there are not three eternal beings;

there is but one eternal being.

So too there are not three uncreated or immeasurable beings;

there is but one uncreated and immeasurable being…”

This is what we see in Luke’s gospel (and many times elsewhere in the Scriptures). The Father, Son, and Spirit are distinct persons. We should not throw them into a blender! And yet they are all unified perfectly as one eternal being. They are all one God.

What a mystery! A mystery that has been revealed to us through the Scriptures.

So now you may say, “Great, that was a lot of theological talk, but how does any of this matter tonight when I’m eating dinner or tomorrow when I am at work or Thursday night when I’m at my kid’s baseball game?”

Dwelling on the Transcendent Trinity should cultivate within us three distinct attitudes: Wonder, Trust, and Knowing

An Attitude of Wonder

We live in an amazing world created by a far more amazing God.

Key Application: Do not ever downplay the significance of God, the significance of your life, and the significance of your work.

An Attitude of Trust

When things seem hopeless or utterly confusing, remember that God has power beyond our understanding.

Key Application: Never lose trust in God, even when you can’t see any way out of your situation.

An Attitude of Knowing

Despite being the Transcendent Trinity, God has made Himself known to us.

While so much of God is a mystery and beyond our comprehension, God has revealed Himself to us. God wants us to know Him. God invites us into a relationship with Him. Just as a friendship develops between two people by allowing themselves to be known and seeking to know the other more, we have the same opportunity to develop a relationship with God. In the Transcendent Trinity, you have a Father, a Friend, a Savior, an Advocate, and so much more.

Key Application: Continue to grow in your knowledge of God and your friendship with God, and in doing so, know that you are never alone.

Outro

May we be a people of wonder, a people of trust, and a people of knowing.