"God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity!"

“God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity!”
Preached by Joe Alain at Hebron Baptist Church on May 18, 2008 (Trinity Sunday)
Scripture Reading: Psalm 8

Who is God? What is He like? How does He work? And How is He to be approached? These are important questions for us to ask. Christianity alone makes the claim that God is one and yet there are three distinct persons who are God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. On the surface this teaching might seem to be a contradiction.

How do we understand this aspect of God? The challenge for us as believers in understanding what we call the trinity is that the word “trinity” is not explicitly found in Scripture. You cannot go to your concordance in the back of your study Bible and look up the word “trinity.” It’s not there but that does not mean that it is not an important biblical teaching. How can that be? Let me explain.

There are two sources of information that help us understand a teaching: (1) Verbal, that is, it is stated in specific words as a teaching. and (2) Conceptual, that is, the concept is taught in Scripture. Take for instance the phrase “born again.” You might be surprised that this expression is only found only two times in the Bible (John 3:3, 7). Does that mean that it is not important? Certainly not! There is numerous “conceptual” support for the teaching of salvation, what “born again” refers to. So if you want to know about the new birth you need to look at other words and passages that describe salvation.

In approaching the basic questions about the nature and character of God, we have basically two options as a starting point in our quest for answers about God.
Option #1: Human Reason and Contemplation
The history of religion is the history of human beings trying to figure out who God is through human reason and contemplation. And what has mankind come up with through the centuries?

Human reason results in . . .
Atheism – No god
Polytheism – Many gods
Pantheism – Everything is god
Monotheism – One god

Option #2: Divine Revelation
Revelation has to do with the belief that God has spoken, He has revealed Himself. He has made Himself known to us so that we can know Him. How has He revealed Himself? In your hands you are holding a powerful record of God’s revelation. God’s mighty acts in history have been recorded for us (See 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21). So if we want to know who God is we will not rely only upon human reason. We will want to know what God Himself has said as revealed in His word.

What has God said about who He is and what He is like? There are several types of biblical passages that deal with the character of God or who God is.
(1) There are passages that teach clearly The Unity of God, that God is one.
By unity we mean there is only one God whose nature is undivided and indivisible (i.e., cannot be divided). Deuteronomy 6:4 makes this statement about the unity of God. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Deuteronomy 4:35, 39 states, [35] “You [i.e., Israel] were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other. [39] Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.”

What did Israel experience? What were they “shown” that no other people had seen? In the context of the Deuteronomy passage we see that God spoke to Israel (v.33). God revealed Himself to them. He delivered them with miraculous signs and wonders. He performed awesome deeds on their behalf (v.34). He did all of this not because they were special or deserved it. He did it because of His grace. He was raising up a people that He might work His world-wide plan of redemption through. The mighty acts of God were His revelation to them that He alone was God. These mighty acts of God were to bring the people to a place of faith and trust. God has done and continues to do mighty acts! He wants you to acknowledge Him, to trust Him, to live for Him.

Not long after God saved Israel from the Egyptians, Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you – majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” (Ex. 15:11). The answer of course is obvious. No one! For there is only one God.

(2) There are also an abundant number of passages that teach clearly The Plurality of God. Some of these passages are even in the OT where we usually think of the Bible as stressing the unity of God.

There are passages in the OT where the language intimates or allows for the plurality of God. These passages imply the trinity.
i. For example, plural pronouns (“us”) are used in Genesis 1:26, “Let us make man in our image.” 3:22, “The man has now become like one of us.” 11:7 “Come, let us go down.” The language certainly allows for plurality.

ii. Sometimes God is distinguished from God in Scripture. For instance, God has a Son (Ps. 2:7) and He has a Spirit
(Gen. 1:2).

iii. The word translated “one” stresses unity, yet allows for plurality. Genesis 2:24 tells us that “a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” They are two distinct persons yet one. However, even when they are separated by a great distance, they are still one flesh.

iv. It’s also important to see that in the language of the Bible, “Unity” is not the same as “unit.”
One grape = unit Cluster of grapes = unity

The most obvious Scriptures that indicate the plurality of God are found in the NT.
For instance, at the baptism of Jesus (Matt. 3:16-17) the activity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is clearly seen. The baptism formula in Matthew 28:19 reveals the plurality of God. “Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” It’s interesting that the word “Name” is singular implying that there is unity in the three-in-oneness of God.

The benediction in 2 Corinthians 13:14 makes mention of the trinity. “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” Remember who is writing this. Paul was an orthodox Jew who believed in the absolute unity of God.

So in the Scripture, both the OT and the NT, we see taught both the unity and plurality of God. You see this reality expressed in the statement of the teaching of the trinity.

A Statement of the Teaching of the Trinity“There is only one true God who exists in three distinct
persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The Old and New Testaments complement one another rather than contradict one another. So what do you do with the biblical evidence? You can do two things. You can either dismiss it as a contradiction or you recognize that the teaching of the trinity is a biblical reality yet it may be beyond our human ability to fully comprehend.

Several Scriptures are helpful at this point. Isaiah 55:8 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.”

Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that “He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from the beginning to end.”

Romans 11:33 says, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgements, and his paths beyond tracing out!”

The question is, “would God ever ask us to believe something that we do not fully understand?” And the answer is yes, He does so all the time. “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7).

This does not mean that faith is blind or some leap in the dark. Neither does it mean that we should not use our intellect and reasoning capabilities to grasp biblical truth. Some of the most intelligent people that I know are Christians. Christians need not check their brain at the door. But it does mean that there is some mystery to God and His workings that we will never fully grasp on this side of heaven. The trinity is incomprehensible. It is not understood through human reason alone but through divine revelation.

How could the Psalmist in Psalm 8 look out and see the wonder of God and cry out “What is man that you are mindful of him? O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”? He came to these conclusions not through human reason but through divine revelation. God made Himself known! Because God is unlimited and we are limited in our capacity to know and understand Him, He will always exceed our knowledge and understanding. Those aspects of God which we will never fully comprehend should be regarded as mysteries that go beyond our reason rather than as paradoxes which conflict with reason.

Many illustrations have been proposed for describing the Trinitarian nature of God. For instance, an egg (shell, white, and yolk) or water (liquid, solid, vapor) or rope (three strands). These illustrations are one plus one plus one but they still equal three. We really have no earthly illustration that illustrates the trinity in a completely satisfying manner. Nevertheless, the diagram of the triangle (although not perfect) is helpful in understanding the trinity. Other illustrations of the trinity may be helpful but they fall short. With this diagram, you may focus on one aspect of God yet the other two are always in the background. The work of one includes all three. When it comes to understanding God, one plus one plus one does equal one. I am told by people who would know this that this equation is actually a mathematical possibility in the realm of Z, a real however we do not operate in. Of course, this just adds to the fact that God Himself operates in a different realm. He is as the older theologians wrote, “wholly other.”

Life Application
What does the teaching of the trinity have to do with our Christian lives. What is the value of this teaching for us today?
1. The Trinity Shows Us God’s Love
We see in the trinity the extent that God has gone to reveal Himself to us, to bring us His salvation. Why would God become a man? Endure suffering? And suffer the cruelty and pain of a Roman cross? God did it all for you! He became flesh so that He could taste (experience) death for every one of us (See Hebrews 2:9, 14-17). He became sin for us so that we could be brought back to God.

Why would God send Himself as the Holy Spirit (See John 14:23)? So that He could live with us forever! So that He could teach us His ways. So that He could encourage us in our daily lives. So that He could make us like Himself. The trinity fleshed-out over the pages of Scripture shows us God’s love.

2. The Trinity Shows Us God’s Power
In the trinity we see how awesome, how majestic God is. His ways are higher than our ways. His paths are beyond tracing out. We truly cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. His mighty acts are more marvelous than we can fully comprehend. Do you know what is so marvelous about our Great and powerful God? He has made Himself and His glory known to us. Jesus said in John 15:15, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made know to you.” No wonder the Psalmist in awe said, “What is man that you are mindful of him . . . that you care for him . . . O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Ps. 8:4, 9).

The trinity shows us God’s love, God’s power, and . . .
3. The Trinity Shows Us the Personal Nature of God
The trinity makes it possible for God to be near. The trinity makes a personal relationship with God possible. Had God not become man, there would be no salvation, no payment for sin, no forgiveness. We would not know the character of God. And yet because we have seen Jesus through the eyes of faith and through His revelation in the Bible, we too can say that we have seen the Father. “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn. 14:9).

Summation
The trinity is significant for us as believers. The trinity shows God’s love – the extent that God has gone to reveal Himself to us. The trinity shows us God’s power – how awesome and majestic God is. And the trinity shows us the personal nature of God – the trinity makes a personal relationship with God possible.

If you are a believer today, I hope that you leave today with a greater appreciation for what God has done for you. As the hymn writer wrote, “God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity!” I hope that you have a greater love for our majestic and awesome God. And that this love and wonder for Him would cause you to give God the best of who you are. He is worthy of all our worship!

If you’re not a Christian today, I hope that you will see the extent that God has gone to bring you into a right relationship with God. I hope that you will see in Him what He has done to provide forgiveness. I hope that you will see that this awesome God, your creator, wants to be your Lord and Savior. He has made Himself known. Will you believe in Him? Will you trust Him?

For His Glory!

Pastor Joe