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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.”
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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)
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