A Simple Man’s Understanding the Trinity

Let’s begin to unpack the Trinity, as I introduced last week.  As I challenged you to provide your thoughts on The Trinity (Triune God) from a scriptural point of view, I thought I would take the opportunity to share my perspective with you (fair is fair – right).  First, I am not a theologian, nor have I done an in depth study of the Trinity and it is a highly complex principal belief of the Christian faith.  I will not be able to provide you a comprehensive understanding, for I pale in qualifications to do so.  What I would like to do though is provide you with some scripture references that may be beneficial to you if you are ever faced with the question from a skeptic.

So in layman’s terms what is the Trinity:
Point 1: There is only One God
Point 2: God is Three persons in One – The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit.  Each of them are personas of God yet independent of each other.  The Father is not the Son nor the Holy Spirit, The Son is not the Father nor the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is neither the Son nor the Father; yet all of them are God.
Point 3: All three possess the characteristics and holiness of God Almighty

Now, having said this, how do we back it up with scripture.
Deut. 6:4 - “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!”

Isaiah 42:1-2 – “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.” – describing Jesus (my servant, my chosen) and the Holy Spirit (my Spirit) clearly states that God – Jesus – Holy Spirit are separate but all part of God (from first person).  Yet Jesus [he] will bring justice to nations. 
    Following this read Luke 18:7 - “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones.” – God through Isaiah prophesies that Jesus will bring justice, and then Jesus in a parable states in Luke, “God will bring justice”. 

John 1:1-3; 14 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made…. (14)The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  - Read this verse and replace the Word, with Jesus. 
     Refer back to Genesis 1:26 – “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our
      likeness…” – God has clearly stated that man has the image of God, yet God has no physical form (reference to [Exodus 3] burning bush, [1 Kings 19] gentle whisper), so who’s image was He referring to?  Jesus came in the flesh as the physical form of God Almighty, to whom mankind was created in the image of.

Acts 5:3-4 – “Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?   Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal?  What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”  - Peter speaks clearly to Ananias that his lie was to the Holy Spirit, and then in the same statement states that his lie was to God.  This clearly identifies that the Holy Spirit is God.

John 20:17 – “Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”  - Jesus’ words to Mary Magdalene clearly connects the Father to God as One, and separates Father from Jesus and God from Jesus and God from Father.  Two of the three persona’s of God are represented here, and yet associated one to the other.  Jesus ascends to the Father and to God.  The Father and God are not the same, yet both are in a place to be ascended to, which connects them as One.  Several verses throughout Jesus life reference “The Father” as a persona of God acting in this world and in heaven.  “Father, Lord of heaven and earth”, “Father, forgive them, for what they do.”, “Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at work….”, “the Son can do nothing, only what he sees his Father doing..”, “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”,etc.

John 8:54 – “Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.”  Jesus is speaking to the Jewish leaders regarding their father Abraham and their claims that Jesus is a demon-possessed man.  He continues later in the chapter:
John 8:57-58 - “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”  - Jesus here claims that he was there before Abraham and uses the same words as God when he appeared to Moses – “I am” [Exodus 3:14]

Nowhere in the scriptures does it clearly state that God is three in one, but I have shown you several instances where the scriptures reference that the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God.  We must try to comprehend that we are incapable of comprehending God with our limited knowledge and wisdom.  The Father is a persona of God that gives us an insight to the characteristics of God that we can understand – love, grace, mercy, compassion, discipline, wisdom, sovereign, judge of right/wrong and so on.  The Son is a persona of God in flesh that we could physically see, talk to, observe, learn from, and comprehend in a human form (Jesus Christ - Son of Man and Son of God).  As a man his flesh can be tempted, will hunger, will tire, will weep, will worry, will bleed and will die.  The Holy Spirit is a persona of God that exists in this world, in the hearts of mankind, to guide our walk with God in this life.  Jesus introduced the Spirit to mankind after His resurrection as our comforter, our advocate, our helper to teach us all things from the Father.

So do not lose faith, but realize that the Trinity is a cornerstone of our faith and I strongly encourage you to study it, learn it and to make it your own.  There will come a time when others will ask you to explain it, and you should be able to.  Share your thoughts below, I’m very interested in your comments.

Be Blessed,

Rich

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Define the Trinity in your own words.

Deuteronomy 6:4 – “Hear, O Israel: The LORD thy God is one LORD.”

This week I gave my kids an assignment “Using only the scriptures; no google search, no cheating, no copying, explain the Trinity.”  The reality is that it is never directly referenced in the scriptures, and it is one of the most difficult things to comprehend in a worldly understanding.  The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit independently are easy to understand and wrap our head around, but when we look at them as a single triune God it gets a little uncomfortable for most. 

The Trinity is a fundamental foundational point in our Christian belief system, and it only exists in the Christian belief system.  Other religious beliefs may recognize Jesus, recognize God the Father and recognize the Holy Spirit, but none make the attempt to claim they are one.  Many from other faiths will challenge the Christian faith on this very topic.  If we are unable to explain it in a manner that helps them understand, it can quickly be deduced that it’s a man-made fallacy and therefore crippling the entire Christian belief system.

So, as we share time together, let us examine this topic amongst us as friends and fellow believers.  In it’s most general sense the Trinity is best expressed in the human form of 3 personas in one being.  Take me for example:  I am a person, a male human; I am a son of two loving parents; and I am a brother to two totally awesome siblings.  I had no control over any of these personas in my life, yet each of them are factual just by the very nature of my existence.  Three personas in one being.  This example is simple for a human to wrap their head around, but in this simplified description it pales to touch on the reality of the Triune Godhead.

So, similar to what I’ve asked my daughters to contribute this week – how do you define the Trinity, using only scriptures, not the WWW search engine of choice.  In the comment section below, leave your thoughts, your ideas, your questions and your hypothesis.  We are all in this Christian walk together and we need to learn to help each other grow in our respective faith, through loving advice and counsel.  I am choosing to hold off on posting my position on this question, because I want to hear from you.  I will post my response in a few days, and trust me I do have an opinion now, after being unable to address this question in a dialogue with another a few months back.

Following this question realize that additional question’s will arise.  Can the God die?  Does God cry?  Does God feel pain?  Can God be tempted?  Think about these questions as you contemplate your thoughts on defining the Trinity.  I love you all and look forward to your thoughts.

Be Blessed,

Rich

Their Watching You

Read It, Learn It, Live It, Share It

“Lord, I wanna be just like you, cause he wants to be just like me."
                                         I Wanna Be Like You – Philips, Craig and Dean

 All right, I’ll admit it, I’m a highly sentimental old man.  I’ll blame it on growing old and watching my children grow up so fast.  This weekend I stood by why my boy celebrated his 8^th birthday with 19 friends, as well as their parents, neighbors and family.  I found myself standing off to the side frequently just watching him, adoring him and loving him as he laughed, played and hung out with his friends.  It hurt a little, but was so incredibly wonderful to see him having fun, and it dawned on me at that very moment – he’s starting to separate, and I’m not quite ready for that yet. 

  He’s always been my lil’ boy, and it seemed all of a sudden that he’s not really so little any more.  I know I’m being silly, I mean really he’s only eight; but our relationship has definitely progressed to another stage, and in the back of my mind there is this enormous countdown clock that just passed the 7 year counter.  I’ll be blessed if I get another 7 years of his tenderhearted affection and playful jabs, loving embraces and countless cuddling opportunities.  With 4 girls and David, I’ve come to realize that boys break that Father/Son connection much quicker than girls and it makes me sad.

 Then today in church, I start to lose it again as Pastor Randy (The Crossing Church) tells the story of Abraham and Issac.  The love that Abraham had for God to even contemplate sacrificing his son continues to blow me away.  I couldn’t bring myself to answer that call on my life.  I wouldn’t with any of my children for that matter, and that makes me ask myself the hard question: “Do I trust God with the very life of my child?”  I am their father, I am their protector and provider and I am weak at the knees to think that I am not in control of a situation that puts them in danger. 
I love God to no end, without reservation; but I just don’t know that I could ever bring myself to the place of raising a knife over the bound body of my only son and trust that God would save him.  I know God protects His children from all harm, and loves them more than I could ever begin too.  But putting that faith and trust to the test is not something I ever wish to encounter.

I recognize that my children look to me more than I ever could realize.  They watch my reactions to problems, my love for their mother, my commitment to them and their events, my temper, my quiet time, my adherence and respect for the law, my love for God and my faith that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Lord.  Think about it, where did you learn to love Christ?  Was it from watching your parents, family members or friends?  Most likely it was.  Well, those little eyes around you are watching you to learn more about Him as well.
My prayer is that day after day, moment after moment I am becoming more like You God, because they want to be more like me.  If you’ve never heard this song from Philips, Craig and Dean – take two minutes this morning and listen to it, won’t you.  Then re-assess what you’re children are seeing in you that is influencing their decision to follow Jesus Christ.  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z8bXcBRIU0 )

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