The Doctrine of the Triune God
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Billy Graham told the story of a Baptist Pastor from Texas that had traveled to New York. While he was there, he found out about the horse races that took place in the area so he went to the track. Being a Baptist pastor, he knew that gambling was a no-no, but being from Texas he wanted to see the horses. He figured he was such a long way from home he could go and watch and no one would ever know. As he watched, he noticed that a Catholic priest would bless a horse and the horse would end winning the race. In fact, the Baptist pastor observed this four times and every time, the horse won. He thought, “this is not betting, but a sure thing.” He watched the priest bless a horse in the fifth race, so he decided to bet all the money he had on that horse. The horses were loaded in the gate, the bell rang and the horses took off. Before the first turn, the horse he had bet on, started foaming at the mouth, convulsed and fell over dead. The Baptist pastor was devastated. He lost all his money. He went the Catholic priest and said, “Sir, I watched you bless 4 horses and they won the races in which they were in. I watched you bless that fifth horse and I bet all the money I had on it and it falls over dead. What in the world happen?” The priest says, “You are not Catholic are you?” To which the pastor replies, “No, in fact I am a Baptist Pastor.” The priest replied, “Well if you had been Catholic then you would have known the difference between a blessing and last rites.”
It certainly pays to understand different practices doesn’t it? The same is true about different doctrines. We defined doctrine last week as, “something that is taught.” Specifically, we stated that doctrine is both the act and content of teaching. There are several important doctrines in the Bible that we need to understand. One such is the doctrine of the Trinity. The word Trinity does not appear in the Bible, however, the Trinity or Triune God is a fundamental doctrine of Christian Theology. In fact, the doctrine of the trinity is first shown to us in the first three verses of the Bible.
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
The Hebrew in which this passage is derived, Genesis 1:1 has a very unique quality. It sets the tone for the entire Bible.
1 בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
Bereshit bara Elohim et hashamayim ve'et ha'aretz.
The word for God in Hebrew is EL. The fact in this passage that it is used as Elohim is quite interesting. It means mighty, powerful, divine, supreme, and great. It appears over 2500 times in the Bible. However, the form is plural, indicating that the oldest name of God actually means Gods. This indicates to us as followers of Jesus, that the first verse of the Bible recognizes the Trinity. We further see evidence a few verses down, in Genesis 1:26
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
We have often quoted from John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
We can see in other scriptures that the Trinity is the concept of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. Let’s look at these a bit further to understand the concept.
Understanding the Concept
Understanding the Concept
God is unique in nature. There is none other like Him.
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
He manifests Himself in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God is Father in three separate ways. He is Father of Jesus Christ by incarnation. He is Father of believers by adoption and redemption. He is Father of all persons by creation. God shows us His Fatherly love for us in His concern for all people. His love is just one attribute. tIn addition to love, He also as the attributes of righteousness, wisdom, power and presence. These are evident in the actions of God.
16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
Next, we see God the Son.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus was God in human flesh and He fulfilled His Father’s purposes. Ultimately, Jesus was to create a new heaven and earth.
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
Jesus provides salvation as the only way to God.
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
He is God’s great and final High Priest and has made the ultimate sacrifice for the atonement of our sins. His death, burial and resurrection did not separate Him from us. He ascended to be with His Father.
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
Jesus sent God the Spirit, the Holy Spirit to be with us and to guide us.
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
This is the same Spirit, by the way, that we have seen at work since Genesis 1:2
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
No doubt as we have already established, that the Trinity was unique in creation.
Unique in Creation
Unique in Creation
They were present together. We have shown that already in our explanation of God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit. The Trinity stands apart from their creation. They were before the creation. The Hebrew creation is quite unique. Origin stories from other cultures show creation took place among gods that were fighting, committing adultery, and often identified as part of their own creation. However, the Trinity was active as powerful transformers in creation as well as transforming lives today. The Trinity was purposeful in their transactions, working together to build the Kingdom of God.
Notice next, their underlying connection.
Underlying Connection
Underlying Connection
We just mentioned that the Trinity works together. How did they do this? Probably one of the most beautiful examples was at the baptism of Jesus.
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
We see a glimpse of the Trinity working together like a well trained orchestra in perfect sync producing the most beautiful melody possible! We see it further illustrated in Acts 2:32-33
32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
The Trinity works for us! God the Father calls us, God the Son connects us, and the Holy Spirit controls us.
15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
The Trinity work together for us to glorify God!
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.
Because the Trinity is so in sync, we see from them, the ultimate communication.
Ultimate Communication
Ultimate Communication
For me, understanding how God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit operate is found in the overall study of the closeness of their communication. The Trinity always has and always will be one. There is an understanding of how they always work together. However, they will only work together if you and I let them work in us. Let me say it another way. God created us to be in fellowship with Him and to be co-laborers with Him. However, the fact that we have all fallen short of His mark, of His desire goal and objective, we needed a sin offering. Jesus became human so that we could identify with Him yet He remained God so that God could identify with us! God is always inviting us to join Him in His work. We can only join Him when we make Jesus our Lord. Now get this, when we make Jesus our Lord, the Holy Spirit goes to work. When Jesus is not Lord, the Spirit is not at work. “The major work of the Spirit is to pour God’s love into the hearts of people so that they begin to love God and love one another. As they learn to love, the church is edified and bound together by the Spirit.” -The Disciples Study Bible
When followers of Christ are sold out to Him and glorify God in His work, the Trinity will work together to always be inviting you and I into a closer fellowship with God. If God is always at work, this inviting is always being initiated.
Why does this happen for us? We do not deserve it. If we think we do, we are so wrong. It is always intriguing to me that God has initiated all He has so that I can worship Him. That’s all we are doing. We are coming to the point where we can worship Him and bring as many of our family members and friends with us to do so!
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
The purpose of the Trinity is to help us overcome! We need to overcome the junk and pitfalls of this world. The Trinity is given to us so we can!
1 בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
Bereshit bara Elohim et hashamayim ve'et ha'aretz.
Glory Hallelujah!