Blessed Trinity
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So let me share something with you...
One of my mentors told me as a young preacher, that one of the big mistakes to make is assuming too much. Assuming that the people you have charge over got certain theological truths in order. Especially when it comes to the Trinity I have got to make sure you have it right. Why because the consequence of not believing what is true about Christ is eternal condemnation.
Herman Bavinck - “The Trinity beats the heart of the whole revelation of God for the redemption of humanity.” As the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, “our God is above us, before us, and within us.” The doctrine of the Trinity is astonishing and it is foundational in shaping our worship and our discipleship.
But in sin and because of the pattern of this world we lose sight of the beauty of the trancendence of the Trinity. The wonder of it all should drive us to worship, but in our arrogance we look at wonder and see it more like a simple magic trick not something to continue to be amazed, but gotta figure out. Pressure from the culture to make sense of it? Cannot handle God not fitting in our box? It just requires too much faith from me for my taste? There are many reasons why we struggle with the doctrine of the Trinity, but in reality, it is the struggle to figure it out that confirms more and more that He really is God. It is corruption of sin that causes the wonder to wavering, instead of wonder to worship. We have to trust the scriptures.
After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”
The grass withers the flower fades but the word of our God stands forever
God is Three Persons
Fully God
There is One God
From Wonder to Worship
The first thing we will look at today on what the scriptures reveal about the distinctions between the three persons of the Trinity. Next we will explore what the scriptures reveal about the three person all being fully God. Third, we will discover that the three person are not three different God’s, but united a one God. Three in one. Finally, we will rejoice in the truth that the wonders of the Trinity drives us to the wonders of the gospel which drives us to the wonders of worshiping the King of kings.
Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us to lose sight of and even diminish the all important blessed Trinity, it is the power of God the Holy Spirit and the truth of Scripture that will cause to see the wonders of the Godhead that will lead us to awe and worship of the living God.
I. God is Three Persons
- God is three persons yet one God.
A. We can define the Trinity - God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God. The word trinity is never found in the Bible, though the idea represented by the word is taught in many places. The word trinity means “tri-unity” or “three-in-oneness.” It is used to summarize the teaching of Scripture that God is three persons yet one God. We have to trust the scriptures. They are distinct.
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
The key to this passage of scripture is that the Word, who we understand as Jesus, was said to be “with” God. He could only be with God if he was distinct from God.
Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.
In order for him to intercede for us before the Father, he would have to be distinct from the Father.
B. And not only is the Father distinct from the Son, the Holy Spirit is also distinct from the Father and the Son.
But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.
So here we see that the Father is separate from the Holy Spirit and so is the Holy Spirit separate from the Son.
And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.
So we see here that the Holy Spirit is distinct from the Father, he intercedes for us to Him.
But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.
And here we see that the Holy Spirit is distinct from the Son. He could not send him if they were the same.
C. So we see that the scriptures make it very clear that the Father Son and Holy Spirit are not the same. There is distinction. It is clear in the scriptures that we do not sing God in three persons in vain.
D. Okay Shane you made your point that they are distinct… they are three persons. All that sending and interceding stuff. But does that mean that they are all God??? Hmmmmmm. I’m glad you asked.
III. Fully God
- Each person of the Trinity is fully God.
A. God the Father is truly God. There is no real credible dispute concerning this. The scriptures make this clear. Christ himself even prayed to the God in heaven.
B. But is the Son fully God? Clearly!!!
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
Christ was not only with God (distinction) but the scriptures say that He was God. Another vivid passage...
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”
The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.
But to the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever.
You rule with a scepter of justice.
while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.
This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ.
I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.
For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
And there are lots more. It is not unclear or unwarranted for us to believe that the scripture makes it clear that Jesus is fully God.
For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.
C. But what about “Only Begotton.” And He does not know stuff. Well we see in our 1689 LBC when it comes to Christ it says, “the Son is eternally begotten of the Father.”
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
D. This understanding has always given people difficulty when trying to understand what it means for Christ to be begotton. Sure modern scholarship since the 20th century prefers the modern translations of one and only or one of a kind understanding of monogenes. But recently we are a seeing a movement to restore the historic understanding of “only begotton”. These are things that people who are way smarter than me are working out right now. But if it is “begotton” this is not a problem. Eternally begotton which is what we see in the historic creeds, does not meant that Christ was created. The creeds say he was begotton not made. Begotton does not mean he was created, it just simply means that the Son came from the Father.
E. The mistakes that are made with this concerns the diminishing of the nature of the Son even if we were to see it as a birth. What is the son of a duck? What is the son of a bear? What is the son of an alligator? So what is the son of God? Just because a duck was born form a duck would we say that it was less of a duck? Just because the son of a bear was born of a bear does that mean that the son is less bear than the dad bear? Is my son scott less human than I am, simply because he is my Son He has all the attributes of being a human as I have. No more and no less. We do not say Scott is a primate simply because he came from me. So why would we do the same thing with the Son of God. If the Son comes from the Father then that means he is now less than God?
F. If Christ is the Son of God that means that He possesses all of the attributes that God the Father would have, equally God in every way, namely Eternality. Christ never had a beginning. That is why historically the church has said eternally begotton to get it out of our heads that there was a beginning for the Son. He was begotton not made. He eternally comes from God. If Christ is the Son of God, then He must have all the attributes of the Father. If he does not then he is not God. So you see there is not problem with this.
G. But Shane Christ is not omniscient nor is He omnipresent. We will miss the beauty of Christ as the God-man if we miss this. When the Son was incarnated or made flesh to dwell among us, he became a human and to say that he was a human and for him not to be human would make him not human. The scriptures made it clear that Christ was human, make no mistake about it. He was 100 percent man and 100 percent God. Knowing all things is not an attribute of human beings. If Jesus says he does not know something like when he is coming back, the scriptures are illuminating the Humanity of Christ. Just like when the scriptures illuminate Jesus being tired and need to sleep, not omnipotent. Jesus being hungry and needing to eat… not self-sufficient. Jesus died… he not eternal? The scriptures are making clear that Christ had to really be a man, or he could not be our representation, he could not be our mediator, he could not sympathize, he could not really die.
E. Okay so what about the Holy Spirit? First place I go… Acts.
Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!”
Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?
Only God is to dwell in His temple and the Spirit of God is living in the temple. The scriptures are truly make it clear that the Holy Spirit is God. So we can see that not only are the persons of the Trinity distinct, but they are all fully God. So does that mean that we are tri-theists… do we believe that there are three gods running around out there? No because there scriptures make it clear that the Lord our God is one God.
III. There is One God
- The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
A. Scripture is abundantly clear that there is one and only one God. The three different persons of the Trinity are one not only in purpose and in agreement, which we would assume, but they are one in essence, one in their essential nature. In other words, God is only one being. There are not three Gods. There is only one God.
“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.
I am the Lord;
there is no other God.
I have equipped you for battle,
though you don’t even know me,
so all the world from east to west
will know there is no other God.
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.
IV. From Wonder to Worship
- The awe and wonder of the gospel.
A. So the scriptures make it clear that the three persons of the trinity are distinct, they are fully God and they are one. That should be enough for us. Right? Then why all the issues today. Why are professing evangelical Christians rejecting these truths. Why are they walking away form this truth? Why has there been and always been in church history heretical groups who reject the divinity of Christ or the distinction of the Holy Spirit?
B. Because family, in sin we are always questioning the word of God. I always preach that if the Bible says it, it should be enough for us. But our sin nature causes us to wickedly question the word of God and His motives like Adam and Eve did in the garden. Did God really say? Did God really say that Jesus was God? Did God really say that the Holy Spirit is a distinct person? Because if there is doubt there, then why stop there. Did God really say that wisdom is more precious than rubies? Did God say that we should not lie. Did God really say that we should not have sex before marriage? Did God really say that homosexuality is a sin? Did God really say that we can be punished for adultery? Is stealing really wrong? When God said to honor thy father and mother did he really mean that? I love the world right now, doe that mean I have hatred for God? If I gain the whole world but lose my soul is it really not good?
C. But the scriptures are clear about the truth especially the truth about Christ.
Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God. But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son.
If anyone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don’t invite that person into your home or give any kind of encouragement. Anyone who encourages such people becomes a partner in their evil work.
D. There will be punishment for sin. The wages of sin is death. And this is an eternal death. Eternal damnation. Eternal darkness. But can we be forgiven?
E. Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was buried and he was raised from the dead
F.
G. And the beauty of the trinity God the Father is not the Son or the Holy Spirit, He is fully God, but one. The Son is not the Father or the Holy Spirit, He is fully God, but one. The Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son, is fully God, but one. And this is glorious for us because it means that God is right now above us, before us, and in us.