The God Who Is Three in One!

 Did you ever wonder why all humans have longings for love, unity in diversity, communication, community, humility, peace, and selflessness? The answer is because the God who created us in His image, is the One and Three and Three in One God. Therefore, in the diversity of God the Father, Son, and Spirit is perfect unity as one God that communicates truthfully, loves unreservedly, lives connectedly, serves humbly, interacts peaceably, and serves selflessly. In a word, the Trinity is the ideal community in every way.

Tragically, human desires corrupted by sin turn in on themselves; rather than finding satisfaction in God, longings become lusts - bottomless pits of selfish desire, never quite satisfied, inevitably leading to despair. Because we are made in the image of the triune God to reflect his glory, we will never stop longing and languishing for satisfaction until we become born again members by miracle of the new birth into the Family that the old Puritans called, “the Sweet Society of the Holy Trinity.”

1. Although the Teaching of the Trinity is above Understanding, it is not Contrary to it!

(It doesn't go against human reason, only beyond it!)

The God of the Bible is revealed as a Trinity - or better a Tri-unity - One God in Three persons!

All true Christians are Trinitarians. We can hear someone saying, "Please explain the Trinity!" We can't nor can anyone else!  If we could explain it, we would be God. This doesn't make the Trinity a problem, only a mystery.

Someone said, "Try to explain this truth of the Trinity and you could lose your mind but try and explain it away and you could lose your soul!"

Why is it essential that we believe in as the hymnwriter says, “God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity”? Does this truth have practical, day-to-day usefulness? These are some of the questions we will attempt to answer from this teaching of the One God who is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Identity in Unity

At the outset let it be understood that the word |"trinity" isn't found in the Bible. But the term "godhead" (“divine nature” ESV), is and it refers to that which is both plural and Divine. It's God’s revelation of His own mode of being.

Acts 17:29, “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.” (KJV)

Cols 2:9, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (NKJV). 

Roms 1:19-20, “because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse…”(NKJV) 

The Self-revealing Identity of God

God is ONE WHAT and THREE WHO!

ONE WHAT = GOD

THREE WHO = PERSONS

The Bible reveals that in the Eternal Godhead there are three which are spoken of as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. (Read -Matt. 28:19; Matt.3:16-17; I Jn 5:7-8; Jn.14:6-17) The very fact that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are linked together in the baptismal command (Matthew 28:19) shows that there is co-existence, co-equality in nature, power and attributes, as well as co-eternity of being.

Statement of faith as to the Identity in Unity of God: "The Eternal Godhead has revealed Himself as one God existing in three Persons, even the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; distinguishable, but indivisible in essence, co-eternal; co-equal and co-existent in attributes, power, nature and glory.”

Said another way, "God is one undivided and indivisible Essence (essence = the fundamental nature of), but in the one true God there are three eternal distinctions, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."

This is the mystery of all mysteries - the fact that God is One in Three and Three in One.  He is not Three in the same that He is One, nor is He One in the same that He is Three.  We are not tri-theist, worshipping three gods; nor are we monotheist, worshipping a non- trinitarian god.  We are trinitarians.

The word “trinity” was intro­duced by Tertullian, one of the early Church Fathers, to define the teaching concerning the Godhead. It simply means “threefold” or “three in one”. Though the word “trinity” is not used in the Scriptures, the words “three” and “one” are used and a consideration of these words reveal that the God of the Bible is triune in nature and being.

The Trinity is not just a doctrine - the Trinity is God. And the fact that God is Trinity - that in a profound and mysterious way there are three divine Persons eternally united in one life of complete perfection and beatitude is the secret of God’s most inti­mate life and being, into which, in his infinite love and generosity, he has admitted us; and it is therefore to be accepted with amazed and exultant gratitude.

2. Although the Bible doesn't give us an Explanation of the Trinity, it does give us an Abundance of Evidence for the Trinity!

The God of the Bible is revealed as triune in nature and being. From Genesis to Revelation, whether it be by type or symbol, pattern or created things, shadows or theophanic revelation or manifestation, or whether it be by clear declaration, Scripture shows that GOD is always revealed as One in Three and Three in One, that is, a tri-unity."

The fact that over 700 times in scripture evidence of God's Tri-unity is given is greater proof than a mere statement explaining it!

In the Godhead there is a Unity in Diversity

Definitions: unity - Oneness; diversity – Threeness.

The Oneness of the Godhead

The God of the Bible is revealed as one God. Both the Old Testament and New Testament confirm the fact that there is but one God. Both Testaments declare the unity of God.

Old Testament Scriptures: Deuteronomy 4:35,39 - “The Lord He is God, there is none beside Him.”; Exodus 20:3 - “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”; I Samuel 2:2; II Samuel 7:22 - “There is none beside Thee.”; Psalm 86:10; 83:18 - “Thou art God alone.” Isaiah 44:6,8; 43:10; 45:18 - “Beside Me there is no God”. Deuteronomy 6:4 - “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.” Each of these verses show clearly that there is but one God, or that God is one, that He is the one And only true God.

False religions made many gods, but the national tenet of Israel’s faith was, “Hear O Israel, Yahweh thy God is one Yahweh” Deut. 6:4. The true Hebrew believers were monotheistic not polytheistic; they worshipped the one true God rather than the many gods. (Deut. 4:35; Isaiah 44:6; 45:5)

New Testament Scriptures: Mark 12:29 - “The Lord our God is one God.”; 1 Cors 8:4 - “There is none other God but one.”; Mark 12:32 - “For there is one God and there is none other but He.”; Gals 3:20 - “God is one.”; Ephs 4:6 - “One God and Father of all.”; James 2:19 - “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!”; 1 Tim 2:5, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”;1Tim 1:17 - “For there is one God.”

The New Testament declares the unity of God. Christianity continues the true faith of Israel in the fact that it is monotheistic. It centers around the worship of the one true God.

The Three-ness of the Godhead

As clearly as the Scriptures teach that God is one, so clearly do the same Scriptures teach that God is three. The Bible teaches the tri-unity of God. The union of three in one. One God manifested in three Persons.

Old Testament Scriptures - Gens 1:1-2 - “In the beginning GOD... and the Spirit of GOD moved on the face of the waters” (John 1:1-3). The word for “God” is “Elohim” plural of the Hebrew word “El”. It is a uni-plural word, denoting plurality of divine Persons without stating the number, but which subsequent Scriptures show to be three divine Persons, even the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, each active in creation.

Genesis 1:26,27 - God (Elohim, plurality of divine Persons) made man in His (singular possessive) own image, after His likeness. (Elohim is the plural of El, just as Balaam is the plural of Baal; seraphim is the plural of seraph, cherubim the plural of cherub.)

Genesis 3:22 - “And GOD (Elohim) said: Man is become as one of us, to know good and evil. (Genesis 11:6) Isaiah 6:8 - “The voice of the Lord saying, Who will go for US?”

All of these verses speak of the plurality of divine Persons in the one God, and generally this Hebrew uni-plural word “Elohim” is used in the Old Testament to speak of the Eternal Godhead. It is the Old Testament equivalent for the New Testament definition of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or, the Godhead.

The Old Testament speaks of: The Father (Isaiah 63:16; Malachi 2:10) -The Son (Psalm 45:6-7; 2:6-7,12; Proverbs 30:4; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6) -The Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:2; Isaiah 11:1-3; 48:16; Genesis 6:3; 61:1; 63:10)

New Testament Scriptures - Hebrews 1:1-2, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” Matthew 11:27 - “No man knows the Son, but the Father; neither any man the father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.” John 1:18 - “No man has seen GOD at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father has declared Him”.

The clearest revelation of God as triune had to come through one of these divine Persons. Here we have one of the fundamental reasons for the incarnation. The only way God could be revealed to man was by becoming a man. All of this was prophesied and then fulfilled in the Virgin Birth of the Son of God. He was God manifest in the flesh. (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-9; Genesis 3:15; Matthew 1:21-23; John 1:1-3; 14-18)

 In the Godhead there is an Equality in Dignity (Distinction and Honor) - John 14:16-17

The Father hears the prayer of the Son - The Son prays to the Father - The Holy Spirit as the Comforter will be given.

Scripture reveals that:

God the Father thinks it, God the Son speaks it, and God the Holy Spirit does it!

The Father Initiates - the thought; The Son mediates - the Word; the Holy Spirit - administrates - the dynamic power!

Father is the Lover, Son is the Beloved, and the Holy Spirit is the Love!

Father is the Designer, the Son is the Developer, and the Holy Spirit is the Dynamic Doer!

Father is the Origination of all truth, the son is the Incarnation of truth, and the Holy Spirit is the revelation of truth!

Father plans and provides for our salvation, the Son purchases it, and the Holy Spirit procures and applies it in us!

All of God does all that God Does!

In the Godhead there is a Diversity in Activity

Following is a set of Scriptures from the Gospels and Epistles which show the distinction in the Godhead, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These verses tell of three distinct Persons, each having distinct ministry and function, yet one in mind and will, one in essence, and one in the purpose, plan and operation of redemption.

Matthew 3:16-17 - The Father’s Voice which spoke from heaven. The Son of God in Jordan’s waters of baptism. The Holy Spirit descending bodily in the shape of a dove

Matthew 28:19 - Baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6 - Diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit (Holy Spirit). Differences of ministrations but the same Lord (The Son) Diversities of operations but the same God (The Father)

Ephesians 4:4-6 - There is one Lord - The Son. There is one Spirit - The Holy Spirit. There is one God - The Father           

2 Corinthians 13:14 - The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ - The Son. The Love of God - The Father. The Communion of the Holy Spirit - The Spirit

THE FATHER -The Father is God, a distinct person. He is eternal, self-existent, invisible and immortal, dwelling in light which no man can approach unto; whom no man has seen, nor can see. (1 Tim 6:16; 1 Tim 2:5; 1 Cors 8:4; John 6:27; 1 Peter 1:2; Deut. 32:4; 2 Samuel 7:14; Psalm 89:26; Malachi 2:10; Matthew 6:9; Mark 11:25; Luke 12:30; John 4:21-24; 2 Cors 6:18; Philps 4:19; James 1:17; 1 John 2:15-16)

THE SON - The Son is God, a distinct Person, co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He is a distinct personality made visible by the incarnation. The Son was pre-existent. That is, He existed before the world was. He was eternally existent with the Father and with the Holy Spirit. (Micah 5:2; John 8:56-58; John 17:5; 1 Cors 15:47; Philps 2:6-7; Cols 1:17; John 1:1-3,14; Rev. 22:13,16)

The Son not only was pre-existent, but pre-eminent above all things except the Father. (Matt. 11:27; Matt. 28:18; Luke 20:41-44; John 3:13,31; Acts 10:36; Ephs1:20-22; Hebs. 1:5-6,4; 1 Peter 3:22; Rev. 3:14)

The Son is to be worshipped as God. This would be blasphemy and idolatry if the Son were not God, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. (Matt. 2:11; Matt. 14:33; Luke 24:52; John 5:23; Acts 7:59-60; Gals 1:5; Hebs. 1:6; 2 Peter 3:18; Rev. 5:11-14) The Son is God manifest in the flesh. (1 Tim 3:16; John 1:14-18)

THE HOLY SPIRIT - The Holy Spirit is God, a distinct personality. He is not merely an influence, a force, some sort of divine electricity, but a divine Person, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Son. (Genesis 1:2; Genesis 6:3; Isaiah 63 :10; Joel 2:28; Matt. 10:20; Luke 12:12; John 14:16-17; John 15:26; Acts 2:4; Acts 5:3-4; Romans 8:14; 1 Cors 3:16; Gals 4:6; Ephs 1:13; Hebrews 2:4; Ephs 4:30; 1 Cors 6:19)

The Father’s eternal love for the Son carries so much of himself in it that this love is the fullness of deity in the Second Person of the Trinity. As the Son is the eternal self-knowing of the Father, the Spirit is the eternal self-loving of the Father. And this knowing and loving are so full of the Father that they stand forth from all eternity, without beginning, as fully God - God the Son and God the Spirit. The Son is the fullness of the Father as his perfect image. And the Spirit is the fullness of the Father loving this image - the Son.

3. Although the Truth of the Trinity is Profoundly beyond Reason, it is Practically Essential for all Relationships!

Why is the Trinity so Vitally Important? 

The Trinity is the Ultimate Pattern for all Relationships

God is truly the living God, the God who has life in Himself, who is literally full of life. Some of the early fathers used a remarkable expression. They said: ‘God is fertile’. Within the three-in-one God there has always been a person-to-person perfect love, humility, ministry, communication, and fellowship. The Puritans called the Trinity a "sweet society." Relational love is possible because God is the Lover, and has always had a Beloved, and Love, i.e. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!

The love within the Trinity is the ground of God’s love for us. That love is first foundational, and typical. He loves us because They (Three-personed God) first love one another. His love is full and overflows. He does not need, yet He gives. He rejoices in the fullness of His love and reaches beyond Himself to share it with creatures who can profit Him nothing.

The Trinity is the Ultimate Explanation for Creation

What God created is called a Universe, i.e. unity in diversity. The creation reflects the Creator. We find that it reflects God’s unity and His diversity. In the creation, and in mankind’s institu­tions, unity is not to swallow up diversity, and diversity is not to blow apart unity.

“God in no way was needy and lonely. He didn't need to make a projection of himself, so as to have an ‘opposite’. The doctrine of the trinity is the end of all pantheism (all is God and God is all). If in the depth of his being, God is three-in-one, he does not need this world to come to his full potential.

The Trinity is Absolutely Essential as to Salvation

The special love of God the Father in Heaven purposed that His people should experience eternal life. The sacrificial labors of God the Son on the earth purchased the people at the cost of His life given up in death. The securing life of the Holy Spirit produces a regenerated life in the hearts of repentant sinners and then takes up residence within them to recreate God's likeness and re-present it to the world!

The Trinity is the Basis for Marriage

In the Trinity, we have modeled the fact of Priority without Inferiority! (1 Cors 11:3). The Son submits to the Father, though not inferior. The Holy Spirit serves both the Father and the Son though not inferior to either!

The Trinity is the Ultimate Answer for all Human Governments - (Self, home, church, civil, and economic government)

Gary DeMar writes, "The concept of multiple delegated authorities is patterned after the Divine One and Many - the Trinity. There is one God (Unity) and there are three Persons (Diversity) in the Godhead, each of whom is God. Each member of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit has authority (unity of purpose in the exercise of authority), yet each performs a different task in history (diversity of function in the use of authority to accomplish the one purpose).

The Triune God has impressed His creation with this divine pattern. Thus, He has ordained the family, the church, and civil governments as institutions, lesser authority structures, under His jurisdiction: many institutions, but united by one purpose and duty - obedience to God for His glory.

What, then, should be ultimate in society? The one or the many? Unity or diversity? The individual or the group? The State or the individual? Should we have one monolithic authority, or should every individual be an authority unto himself?

The Biblical answer is simple in principle (though difficult to achieve in practice): neither is ultimate!

The Trinity is the Only Ultimate Satisfaction for the Human Heart!

Deep within our hearts in a need for a God who is Most High, Sovereign - a God who is large and in charge and who is taking history His predetermined end, This we have in God the Father

But there is also that which cries out in our hearts for a God most Nigh - One who would walk the earth as I do, see and feel the hurts and pains, get tired, thirsty, be despised and rejected of men. Praise His name - that's what we have in God the Son!

But I need even more than that - I need a God who is big enough to be small enough to live within me, empowering me, loving me up close and tight, talking with me, changing me. Praise His name - that's we have in God the Holy Spirit.

John Donne, "Batter my heart Three Personed God;
                     Take me to You, imprison me,
                     For I except you enthrall me, never shall be free;
                     Nor ever chaste except You ravish me!"