The Most Mysterious and Majestic Manifestation of God

Date: January 2, 2004 Topics: The Trinity Doctrine

Sermon Series: The Greatness & Grandeur of God

Slide #1 The French atheist, Voltaire once sarcastically remarked, "The Bible says, 'God made man in His own image,' and now man has returned the favor."

Regrettably, there is an element of truth to what he is saying. Slide #2 Mankind has tried to downsize God to manageable terms superimposing on Him various characteristics of their own invention.

WE are guilty of shrink-wrapping God– squeezing Him into our manmade mold. Slide #3 God speaking through the Psalmist [50:21] indicts the nation-- you thought I was just like you.

Slide #4 Romans 1:22-23

As a result most people have a distorted picture of what God is truly like.

Slide #5 In his book Your God Is Too Small, author, J. B. Phillips has a whole list of caricatures false impressions images people have conjured up.

There are hundreds if not thousands of religions, cults, and isms and each of them with their own “user friendly god.”

Hollywood has portrayed God as a either an Slide #6 impersonal force such as the Star Wars Films, as a Slide #7 befuddled senior citizen sporting bifocals / baggy pants and sneakers-

Slide #8 Or in the Film titled “Bruce Almighty” – God appears in human form endows a man named Bruce with divine powers and allows him to run the universe for awhile.

The only person qualified to reveal who God is – is God Himself. Fortunately He has done so in a book largely ignored by those who misrepresent God-- the Bible. Over a span of some 1600 years He has provided various individuals with a glimpse of his greatness.

Slide #9 That’s the purpose and goal of this new series– the Greatness and Grandeur of God– to explore the majesty and mystery of who God is–

One glimpse of this breathtaking divine portrait is guaranteed to transform your life. It will explode any petty misconceptions you may have of our Awesome God.

Slide #10 This was the driving compulsion of the Apostle Paul and should be ours as well who wrote Expanded paraphrase Philippians 3:10, "My determined purpose is that I may know Him-- that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His person more strongly and more clearly."

God has not revealed Himself merely to satisfy our curiosity. He has done so in order that we would grow to trust him respect him. Reverence Him Praise and worship Him/ and grow to love Him.

Our knowledge of God will always be imperfect – Slide #11 Isaiah the Prophet records this astounding declaration of God: Isaiah 55:8 Slide #12 Isaiah 55:9

Many truths about God are mysterious– how can finite man possibly or fully grasp an infinite God– He is beyond our ability to fathom–

Slide #13 The Tri-unity of God is perhaps the greatest of mysteries– The most Mysterious and Majestic

It is defies logic, bafflingit has confounded the most brilliant of men. It is admittedly a mystery of mysteries-- a profound unfathomable incomprehensible truth. That’s no reason to reject it– (there are many things I don’t understand that I accept– electricity light vastness of space the atom/ sub-atomic particles–

Slide #14 Let’s be honest–

The only “3 in one” some folks know about is the name of a well-known household oil.

Tonight you are going to have to put on you thinking caps / every brains cell needs to be firing. This a marvelous yet mysterious truth–

Slide #15 the cornerstone of the Christian Faith–

It is the distinctive mark of Christianity-- setting it apart from all the other religions of the world.

The issue is not whether I’m able to comprehend this truth–

What really matters is does this concept accurately reflect the revelation of God as revealed in the Scriptures– Sure it is a mind boggling mystery–

Slide #16 The word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible. Actually, Theophilus who was Bishop of Antioch is the first person known to have used the word in 168 A.D.

Tri-unity is a more appropriate term than because it better expresses the idea of three in one.

As we read Scripture we encounter seemingly contradictory statements about the nature of God.

Slide #17 First there is a strong emphasis on the Unity of God– that God is one (Monotheism)

There about 50 passages of Scripture that attest to this

in the Old Testament

Slide #18 The celebrated Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4, which became Judaism’s basic confession of faith, teaches the unity of God.

The numeral "one" does not necessarily denote an absolute/ indivisible unity. Rather in certain passages it is clear it implies a compound unity– refers to one in a collective sense (Slide #19 Genesis 2:24; Slide #20 Numbers 13:23 when the spies brought back a single cluster of grapes)

In the New Testament Paul affirms that "God is one" Slide #21 (Rom. 3:30), and that "there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist"

Slide #22

1 Corinthians 8:6

Ephesians 4:6

Slide #23

I Timothy 2:5

Slide #24 James acknowledges that even demons recognize that there is one God, even though their intellectual assent to that fact is not enough to save them: James 2:19

Slide #25 But the Bible also teaches us with equal emphasis there are three distinct Personalities within the unity of the Godhead--God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit who posses all the attributes of deity.

The Father is recognized as God

(John 6:27; 20:17; Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 8:6; Gal. 1:1; Eph. 4:6; Phil. 2:11; 1 Pet. 1:2).

Jesus Christ-- the Son is recognized as God (Slide #26 John 1:1;

The last phrase of John 1:1 correlates true and full Deity with the Word (Christ). The phrase is best translated “the Word was God.” Not as the New World translation “the Word was a god.”

The Holy Spirit is recognized as God.

By comparing Peter’s comments in Slide #27 Acts 5:3 and 4, we see that in lying to the Holy Spirit (vs. 3), Ananias was lying to God (vs. 4).

How do we harmonize these seemingly contradictory statements:

Slide #28 There is only one true God, but in the unity of the Godhead there are three coexistent, coeternal, coequal and distinct personalities who share the same essence. Slide #29

This is Biblical Christianity

Don’t think of each member of the Trinity like a pie cut up in three pieces and each person is a third of the whole. Slide #30 Not 1+1+1=3.

A better equation is 1x1x1=1

The Scriptures teach the three Persons are inseparable, interdependent, and eternally united in one absolute Divine Essence or Being.

Slide #31 The following diagram might help–

Notice that the three Whos (persons) each share the same What (essence). So God is a unity of essence with a plurality of persons.

Each person is different, yet they share a common nature. God is one in His essential nature but three in terms of His inner relationships.

Slide #32 Perhaps the most widely used illustration of the Trinity is the triangle.

Slide #33 You can see why preaching or teaching on the Tri-unity of God is like walking on a tightrope– one misstep and you windup falling headlong into error – heresy

(even more serious we misrepresent or draw wrong conclusions about the God of the Universe)– the worst form of distortion/ insult.

Here’s the typical errors people fall into– Many overemphasize the oneness or unity of God without considering the overwhelming emphasis of three distinct personalities– that leads to unitarianism or worst:

Slide #34 The teaching of the Jehovah’s Witness–Slide #35 who deny the deity of Christ and the personality of the Holy Spirit.

They insist that the Trinity doctrine is ultimately derived from Satan

Slide #36

“Never was there a more deceptive doctrine advanced than that of the trinity. It could have originated only in one mind, and that the mind of Satan the Devil.” Reconciliation, p. 101

Slide #37 They say, "The doctrine of the trinity had its origin in the demon-religions of ancient Babylon, India, and Egypt. Sincere persons who want to know the true God and serve Him find it a bit difficult to love and worship a complicated ... freakish-looking, three-headed God" (Let God Be True, Pages 101 & 102).

Slide #38 Many Muslims complain that the Christian concept of the Trinity is too complex– Slide #39the mistakenly think Christians worship three Gods.

Slide #40 Jesus Only– Oneness Theology – Abundant Life Fellowship (Pastor Davies on Wallace Road) also deny the Trinity.

They teach that God is a single person who was "manifested as Father in creation and as the Father of the Son, in the Son for our redemption, and as the Holy Spirit in our regeneration."

In other words, God plays three roles (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).

But the Bible teaches that God exists in three distinct personalities perpetually– simultaneously.

Another error is to emphasize the threefold nature of God while at the same time disregarding the unity or oneness of God leads to tritheism or at least three gods.

Slide #41

Mormonism is an example of tritheism, Slide #42 for it speaks of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as three distinct Gods.

When you embrace both Biblical Truths properly you can’t help but conclude that God is a triune being.

Glimpses (Shadows, Hints, Aniticpations) of the Trinity in the Old Testament

Even in the opening book of the Bible-- the Book of Genesis [the book of beginnings]-- the first chapter.

It is a deep reservoir of truth concerning God--

In 31 verses/ He is specifically mentioned 32 times in this chapter alone. If we include the personal pronouns, God is referred to a total of 43 times. This certainly is the most God centered chapter in all the Bible.

The first words of the Bible are among the most majestic and profound ever composed--

Not only because they record the amazing account of the creation of our Universe -- BUT because they reveal the One who called the worlds into existence.

Look first at v.1 and see how this revelation unfolds--

Let's probe a little deeper-- the Hebrew word translated God is Elohim -- it occurs over 2,570 times in the Old Testament– one the most frequent designation for God.

It is a plural noun–[which incidentally must represent Three or more-- Hebrew has a different form for a dual or pair].

In some instances when reference is made to pagan idols the word is translated "gods" [small "g"]– Exodus 20:3 (NIV)

"You shall have no other gods before me.

The verb "create" which is singular-- which normally would be grammatically incorrect

The point is that many students of Scripture see this as a very definite / yet veiled reference to the Triune nature of God.

Well if that's all we have to go on we might be accused of stretching things a bit. But vv.26-27 provide an additional verification of this truth. . . I call your attention to the Plural pronouns-- a very unusual feature of this text. Used by God Himself.

Have you ever wondered whom God was talking with when He said, "Let us make [plural] man in our [plural] image. . ." By the way we find similar wording in

Genesis 3:22

Genesis 11:7

and Isaiah 6:8

Those who deny the trinity say that God was having a little committee meeting with the angels. The problem with that conclusion is, nowhere in the Bible is the power to create ever attributed/ assigned to angels.

Furthermore, the Scriptures make it clear that Man was created in the image of God-- not the Angels. The only plausible conclusion must be that the dialogue or deliberation which took place with the members of the Godhead-- The Father Son and Holy Spirit.

Another hint or preview of the Triune God is found in v.2 . . .

indicates that the "Spirit of God" or the Holy Spirit played a key role in the creation process imparting life to the lifeless creation. The Patriarch Job [33:4] affirmed: The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

So we find mention of God the Father in v.1/ and God the Holy Spirit in v.2-- What role if any did Christ play in the forming and fashioning of the Universe. A number of New Testament passages reveal the significant contribution The Lord Jesus made in the creative process. For Example:

Slide #43

John 1:1-3 states:

Slide #44 Colossians 1:16 adds

The Scriptural Evidence for the Triunity of God (3 in 1) There are more than sixty Bible passages that mention the three persons together.

Quickly look at three

Slide #45 The Scene of Christ's baptism (Matt.3:16-17) – three persons present at the onset of Christ’s ministry– clearly significant event–

Here the Father speaks from heaven; the Son is being baptized in the Jordan; and the Spirit descends in the form of a dove.

Slide #46 The formula for Christian baptism Matthew 28:19 best states both the oneness and threeness by associating equally the three Persons and uniting them in one singular name.

Slide #47 Paul’s closing benediction (2 Corinthians 13:14) – spoken of as equal–

Are there some illustrations or analogies that help us–

Time is comprised of three component parts:

Past Present and Future.

There are three dimensions which form space length width height.

Finally, water has 3 distinct states: solid [ice]/ liquid [water], and GAS-- [steam].

It is true that none of these illustrations adequately capture/ depict the complex nature of the Triune God-- but at least they show us that the concept of 3 in 1 is possible.

It defies human comprehension-- but it is the only way we can harmonize what otherwise seems like a contradiction.

The Scriptures teach emphatically that there is Only One God-- yet at the same time affirm the deity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

What are the Practical Implications and Application

It Enhances our Appreciation of the Greatness of God– The God of the Bible is far greater than any man could ever conceive. In the words of Paul Slide #48 Romans 11:33 . . .Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!

It enables us to better understand the inner workings of God of the Universe. We serve a God of relationships– God is a fellowship within himself– it too is the basis of our fellowship.

It enables us to offer prayers that conform to the teachings of Scripture. We pray to the Father / in the Name of Jesus and with the Enablement of the Holy Spirit

The Trinity provides a perfect model for all human relationships –unity and diversity – especially marriage and how the Body of Christ should function. In the church we have "many members" yet "one body" (1 Cor. 12:12). .

Members of the trinity don’t act independently of one another– the work in concert– there is no jealousy no power struggles – united in their common pursuit of expanding the Kingdom of Go.

Each member of the Trinity is interdependent– they have different functions and roles.

Christ indeed prayed for his followers: ‘That they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us’ (Jn. 17:21).