Christmas With The Trinity

O Worship the King

Welcome (Sterling Tollison)

Scripture Reading (Galatians 4:4-7)

Prayer of Praise (Christ Our Peace), Louise Bright

Sing We the Song of Emmanuel

Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery

Prayer of Confession (Judgmentalism), Sterling Tollison

Holy, Holy, Holy

NEW CITY CATECHISM #49

PASTORAL PRAYER (Mike Klaassen)

SERMON

The Christmas season is filled with unforgettable characters

Rudolph, Santa Clause, and Frosty the Snowman

Ebeneezer Scrooge, Bob Cractchit, and Tiny Tim

Linus, Snoopy, and Charlie Brown

George Bailey and Mr. Potter

Kevin McCallister, Harry and Marv

Gizmo and Stripe

Buddy the Elf and the Grinch

Jack Skellington, Sally, and Zero

Clark Griswold, Ralphie Parker, and John McClane

But it’s not just the characters we watch on our screens. The Bible itself is filled with unforgettable characters

Gabriel, an angel giving messages from the Lord to some of the other main characters in the story

Mary, a young virgin girl with an unplanned pregnancy

Joseph, an engaged man trying to do the right thing

A team of lowly shepherds, watching their flocks at night

The magi following a star to worship a king

But some of the most important characters in the Christmas story are often forgotten.

Now of course we remember Jesus, the baby King born in a stable.

But the other two members of the Trinity—God the Father and God the Spirit—are often completely forgotten when we tell the Christmas story.

And you cannot rightly tell the Christmas story without the Trinity.

For the next few weeks we’re going to take a break from our study in Matthew’s gospel and examine this glorious Christian doctrine in relation to the Christmas story.

Not a Christian—I hope you’ll better understand what Christians actually believe about this often misunderstood doctrine.

Christian—I hope this series will increase your sense of joy and wonder this Christmas season, not in all the magic of the season, but in the glorious truth of the Holy Trinity.

Turn to Galatians 4

It’s about AD 49, sixteen years have passed since Jesus concluded His earthly ministry and ascended into heaven.

The burgeoning Christian movement is led by a traveling missionary and church planter named Paul.

He writes a letter to encourage Christians in Galatia not to turn away from the Good News of the Gospel.

We are not saved by our works or kept by our works, we are saved when we turn from our sins and trust in the work Jesus did in our place.

Paul is in the middle of explaining how Christians are children of God, not slaves of the law, when he says this...

Galatians 4:4-7—“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

In this passage we clearly see something about the Christmas story. (Jesus, born of a woman)

We also clearly see something about the Trinity. (Father, Son, Spirit)

You cannot rightly tell the Christmas story without the Trinity.

Today we’re going to look at the doctrine of the Trinity from a birds-eye view, and next Sunday we’ll dive into this passage and begin exploring what each person in the Trinity does in the Christmas story.

Two Questions About the Trinity:

What Does the Trinity Mean?

James White—“The single greatest reason people struggle with the doctrine of the Trinity is miscommunication. It is very rare that anyone actually argues or debates about the real doctrine of the Trinity. Most arguments… involve two or more people fighting vigorously over two or more misrepresentations of the doctrine itself.” [1]

Let’s establish what we don’t mean when we talk about the Trinity before we explain what we do mean

Four major Trinitarian errors:

These aren’t the only ones out there, but they’re the four most common

NOT three GODS (Tritheism)

Remember that scene in the first Avengers movie? Black Widow tells Captain America to avoid the fight between Loki and Thor because “these guys come from legend, they’re basically gods.” Then Captain America responds, “there’s only one God, ma’am. And I’m pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that.”

The belief that there’s only one God (called monotheism) is all over the Bible...

Isaiah 44:6—“Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”

Deuteronomy 6:4-5—“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

This is called the Shema is the most essential prayer in all Judaism and is recited by observant Jews every morning and every evening

When Jesus comes along, we get a fuller picture of the Trinity, but Jesus does not overturn the Bible’s teaching about God being one...

Mark 12:28-30—A scribe asks Jesus which commandment is the greatest and He says, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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.’”

Paul, who wrote most of the NT, agrees...

1 Timothy 2:5—“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”

A popular analogy some have used to explain the Trinity is the different parts of an egg.

SHOW EGG IMAGE

In one egg you have three main parts: the white, the yolk and the shell.

One problem with this analogy is that the different parts are completely different. A yolk is very different from a shell, which is very different from the white.

This analogy inadvertently teaches a heresy called tritheism (three gods) by minimizing the unity of God.

There are not three gods. There is One God in three persons.

NOT three MANIFESTATIONS of God (Modalism)

Another popular analogy some have used to explain the Trinity is the different states of water.

SHOW WATER IMAGE

H20 can exist in three states, as a solid, as a liquid, and as a gas.

Although the water can change forms, it’s essence doesn’t change. It remains H20.

So too with the Trinity. God appears to us sometimes as Father, other times as Son, and other times as Spirit. But He’s always God.

This analogy inadvertently teaches a heresy called modalism, which insists that God appears to us in different forms or modes.

If modalism is hard to remember, theologian Michael Reeves suggest the term “moodalsim,” since the heresy suggests there is One God who has three different moods (His Father mood, Son mood, and Spirit mood)

God isn’t like an actor in a one-man show, putting on different masks to play different parts in the story. He’s not sometimes the Father, sometimes the Son, and sometimes the Spirit.

If you think the Trinity is confusing, just look at how much more confusing it would be to believe modalism and try to make sense of the Bible...

Galatians 4:6—“And because you are sons, God has sent the [SPIRIT MANIFESTATION OF HIMSELF] of His [SON MANIFESTATION OF HIMSELF] into our hearts, crying [out to the FATHER MANIFESTATION OF HIMSELF]

There are not three different manifestations of God. There is One God in three persons.

NOT three PARTS of God (Partialism)

Another popular analogy some have used to explain the Trinity is the shamrock.

SHOW SHAMROCK IMAGE

There’s three leaves that make up the one shamrock, just like the three persons (Father, Son and Spirit) make up the Trinity.

This analogy inadvertently teaches a heresy called partialism (the three persons are like three different parts that together make up the One God)

Think: Voltron

God isn’t like a pizza with three slices, one for each person of the Trinity.

God the Father isn’t 1/3 God, He’s fully God and fully deserving of our worship.

In John 4:23, Jesus says we should “worship the Father in spirit and truth”

The Son isn’t 1/3 God, He’s fully God and fully deserving of our worship.

In Matthew 2:11, what do the wise men do when they meet the baby Jesus? They worship Him.

The Spirit isn’t 1/3 God, He’s fully God and fully deserving of our worship.

The Spirit isn’t an “it.” He’s not a force or an energy. He is a Person. And He’s not just any person. He’s God, the third person of the Trinity.

In Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira lie to the Holy Spirit. You can’t lie to a force like electricity. You lie to a person.

In that same chapter, Peter says “you have not lied to man but to God.”

There are not three different parts of God. There is One God in three persons.

NOT a big God and LESSER gods (Arianism)

Another popular analogy some have used to explain the Trinity is the sun.

SHOW SUN IMAGE

The Father is like the sun itself.

The Son is like the light rays that visibly reveal the sun, as Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15).

The Holy Spirit is like the heat that the sun produces, unseen yet powerful and effective in making the sun felt.

This analogy sounds pretty good, but there’s a potential problem with this analogy. The sun is the generating source of its light and heat, but God the Father does not create the Son or the Spirit.

The Father isn’t the “big God” with the Son and/or the Spirit being lesser gods.

This is a heresy called Arianism.

Named after a man named Arius, who was a pastor in Alexandria, Egypt in the third century

He taught that only God the Father was eternal. At some point in time, the Father created God the Son, His first and greatest creation. And then together the Father and Son created the Holy Spirit.

My favorite Santa Clause story actually includes this heretic named Arius. In the summer of 325 A.D. a council of pastors gathered in Nicea (in modern day Turkey) to debate (among other things) the teachings of Arius. Saint Nicholas was one of the pastors in the room as Arius explained his theology. The story goes that Nicholas was so angry with Arius’ teachings that he got up and punched him in the face.

Now I’m certainly not arguing that you should punch heretics, but you should be passionate about the truth. And the Bible is clear that both the Son and the Spirit are eternal.

John 1:1 says that Jesus (the Word) was in the beginning with God the Father

Hebrews 9:14 calls the Holy Spirit the “eternal Spirit”

There is not a “big God” and lesser gods. There is One God in three persons.

I have no desire to shame you if you’ve taught or latched onto any of these untrue analogies or explanations of the Trinity. That’s not the point. I think nearly every Christian at one time or another has gravitated towards something like this to understand the Trinity.

But don’t do it anymore! Be okay with the truth that the Trinitarian nature of God cannot be likened to anything! There is nothing to compare Him to!!!

Okay, enough about what the Trinity doesn’t mean. What does the Bible teach us about the Trinity?

God is ONE Being existing in THREE coequal and coeternal persons

One Being—not three Gods. There is one God.

Three persons—Father, Son, Holy Spirit

Coequal—Jesus does submit to the Father during His incarnation but He is not less than the Father. He and the Father (and the Spirit!) are coequal.

Coeternal—Father, Son and Spirit have each existed together for eternity. [2]

SHOW TRINITY IMAGE

The Father is God, but He’s not the Son or the Spirit.

The Son is God, but He’s not the Father or the Spirit.

The Spirit is God, but He’s not the Father or the Son.

“That’s a contradiction!” No it’s not. It’s confusing, it’s hard to understand, but it’s not a contradiction.

Contradiction = “there is one God, there is not one God.” “there are three persons in God, there are not three persons in God.” etc.

This is mysterious, but not a contradiction

Not a Christian: which is easier to believe, that everything that exists in all its glorious and wonderful complexity came from a simple single-cell organism? That a universe of complexity can from a singularity? Or, is it easier to believe that underneath and before all this complexity in our universe stands a Being who is even more complex? A Being who eternally exists as one God in three persons?

Christian: You don’t need to be able to understand this fully, or explain it perfectly, or defend it flawlessly. But you need to believe it. Even if its confusing, even its hard to understand.

Why Does the Trinity Matter?

I hesitate to even ask that question because it seems so trite when we’re talking about a topic so massive. But the truth is, some of you are thinking this. “Why is this important?”

If the elders announced at our next Members’ Meeting that we had changed our understanding of the Trinity to something like modalism, would you keep your membership here? Would you fight it for awhile, but then eventually give up and stay here because you like the music or the building or the people? Are you even involved enough to notice?

The truth is, we probably don’t realize just how much the Trinity matters.

Two Reasons the Trinity Matters:

Not the only two reasons, but the two most important reasons

Because GOD matters

Sometimes when preachers and teachers talk about the Trinity the response we get is “can’t we talk about something more practical? Isn’t there anything more relevant to my day-to-day life? Responses like this are rooted in an incredible idolatry of self!

Fred Sanders—“It makes no sense to ask what the point of the Trinity is or what purpose the Trinity serves. The Trinity isn’t for anything beyond itself, because the Trinity is God. God is God in this way: God’s way of being God is to be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit simultaneously from all eternity, perfectly complete in a triune fellowship of love. If we don’t take this as our starting point, everything we say about the practical relevance of the Trinity could lead to one colossal misunderstanding: thinking of God the Trinity as a means to some other end, as if God were the Trinity in order to make himself useful.” [3]

If you want to know God, you will know Him as He is, not how you want Him to be. He will not lower Himself to meet your expectations. He will not shrink Himself to your understanding. He is who He is. And He is Trinity.

Don’t succumb to Trinitarian agnosticism

God has revealed much about Himself to us. We should devote our lives to understanding it as best as we can so that we can better pour into others

Make your goal to understand this doctrine better...

Recommend Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves or The Forgotten Trinity by James White

Study the Athanasian Creed

Because the GOSPEL matters

Creator > Curse > Cross > Call

You cannot rightly explain the Gospel without explaining something about the Trinity.

This doesn’t mean, as one theologian said, that we should begin every witnessing encounter with, “God loves you and has a wonderful Trinity for you to understand.” [4]

John 3:16“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Consider everything we learn about the Trinity in that simple verse...

The fact that God has a Son means that He’s a Father.

The fact that the Father gave His Son means He and the Son are distinct persons. He can’t give the Son if He is the Son.

The fact that giving the Son is an expression of the Father’s love tells us something about the relationships within the Trinity.

The fact that Jesus is called God’s “only Son” suggests that Jesus is a Son in a unique way. Our text in Galatians tells us that we are sons and daughters of the Father through adoption. But Jesus is the Son of the Father by nature. He didn’t become the Son, He always is the Son.

We cannot receive eternal life except through the Father’s sending of the Son. And a few verses earlier Jesus makes it clear that we cannot receive this gift apart from the work of the Spirit (John 3:5-8).

In the midst of all the things you need to remember to do this Christmas season, don’t forget to celebrate the Trinity.

Conclude our services this month with a reading from the ancient church that upholds and affirms this doctrine of the Trinity.

The Athanasian Creed

Named after Athanasius, a pastor in Alexandria in the 3rd and 4th centuries

Known as the chief defender of the doctrine of the Trinity against the heresies taught by Arius

The creed I’m about to read from was probably not written by him (though its a good representation of his teaching). Most historians believe it wasn’t composed until the 5th century.

Nevertheless, for 1500 years many Christians have found this creed to be a helpful tool in explaining what we do and don’t believe about the Trinity.

I’m going to read a portion of this creed to you, and you’re welcome to read along with me if you affirm these words...

. . . 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.

What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has.         The Father is uncreated,         the Son is uncreated,         the Holy Spirit is uncreated.

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

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. . . .

Nothing in this trinity is before or after,     nothing is greater or smaller;     in their entirety the three persons     are coeternal and coequal with each other.

So in everything, as was said earlier,     we must worship their trinity in their unity     and their unity in their trinity.

LORD’S SUPPER

We’re going to do that now as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Let’s think about how the Lord’s Supper is an invitation to worship the Trinity.

Jesus’ place in this meal is obvious ...

Matthew 26:26— Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

Matthew 26:27-28—And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

But as we take the bread and cup, we are reminded of our relationship with the Father.

Matthew 26:28—“for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Because of Jesus’ sacrifice in our place, our sins are forgiven by the Father. We who were by nature children of wrath are now adopted children of the Father.

When you take communion, the Father is reminding you that your sins are forgiven.

Not because of our works, but because of the works of Jesus.

The Spirit is also present with us, in a special way, when we take the Lord’s Supper

1 Corinthians 10:16—The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

The Spirit is with us to nourish our souls, to help us persevere!

Worship the Father as you pray silently, preparing your heart for Communion

Confess sin to the Father and (if necessary) to others

PRAISE HIM FOR HIS GRACE!!!

Worship the Son as you come to a table, one of our pastors prays over you, and you eat the bread in a small group of friends/family

Sit and pray as long as you need. Then when you’re ready, just walk towards the front and gather around a table in groups of 3-5 or so

If you’re uncomfortable coming to a table because you’ve been sick or you’re just being very careful not to get sick, just remain in your seat and put your hand up and one of our deacons will bring the bread and cup to you

Worship the Spirit as we take the cup together as a church family and are reminded of how the Spirit makes us one

More important than how we celebrate communion is who:

Christian: This meal was planned by the Father, purchased by the Son and applied by the Spirit. Receive it with joy!

Not a Christian: Don’t receive the symbol, receive the reality. If you're ready to receive Him today you can come to one of the tables and talk to one of our pastors. Let us know of your desire to give your life to Jesus and we’ll happily drop everything to talk and pray with you. If you're not ready to do that today just remain in your seat.

Prepare your heart , and when you’re ready, come to any of the tables

Be near us, Holy Trinity, One Light, one only Deity! All things are Thine, on Thee depend, Who art Beginning without end.

Praise to the Father, made of none, Praise to the sole-begotten Son, Praise to the Holy Spirit be— Mysterious Godhead, One in Three!

After everyone has had the bread...

As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Let’s sing together

Angels from the Realms of Glory

Benediction (2 Corinthians 13:14), Mike Klaassen