From the beginning of creation in Genesis to the end of times in Revelation, God refers to Himself as “us” or “our” and thus reveals the doctrine of the Trinity. Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth.
~ Elohim ~
The word trinity comes from “tri” meaning three and “unity” meaning one. God is one Godhead with three distinct personalities - God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit ...A plural of majesty!
{God is “One in essence”, but three in personality. Essence is the substance of what someone or something really is…literally meaning "the what it is"}.
The name Elohim occurs only in Hebrew and in no other Semitic language. In Genesis 1:26, it is written: Then Elohim (translated into English as God) said (singular verb):
- Let us (plural)
- make (plural verb) man
- in our (plural) image
- after our (plural) likeness.
In the traditional Biblical/Jewish understanding of the verse, the plural refers to God (or the Godhead) taking council within Himself (The Father, The Son, & The Holy Spirit…..the GODHEAD) and agreeing to make man in His image.
God is a trinitarian being (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and man is a trinitarian being with a spirit (Pneuma), a soul (Psyche), and a physical body (Soma). 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says that we were all created with three parts — a spirit, a soul, and a body:
“And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
It must be said that God would not have gone to the trouble of explaining these things to us, if they were not relative, important, and meaningful in our every day functioning as His children in this world.
One of the best illustrations I have ever heard of the Trinity is what is called the “Triple Point Of Water” in thermodynamics. The triple point of water is the only temperature at which water can co-exist at the same time, in all three states of matter:
This temperature is 0.01°C and at a pressure of 0.006 atm. At this unique combination of temperature and pressure, the solid phase, liquid phase, and gaseous phase (steam or water vapor) can all coexist in thermodynamic equilibrium.
The Godhead has eternally co-existed as Deity in a perfect spiritual equilibrium.
The Divine Being
…The Father is God. Equal in Essence
…The Son is God. ~ BUT ~
…The Spirit is God. Unique & distinctive in Personality
When Isaiah the Prophet saw God high and lifted up in glory, he cried out…HOLY, HOLY, HOLY!
The 4 Living Creatures in Revelation cried out…HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the Lord God Almighty!
In these verses, there is a two-fold meaning to God Almighty being three times HOLY.
1st meaning: Each member of the Trinity (the Godhead) is Holy…thus 3 holy’s are mentioned!
2nd meaning: Holiness is God’s essence. The Divine Being is pure Holiness…absolute moral purity!
With this context in mind, the following Bible verses really come alive. You have probably read these many times during your daily Bible readings and devotions, but maybe they did not stand out for you the way they might now.
Genesis 1:26-27: Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them. As male and female He (Elohim) created them.
Matthew 3:16-17: 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 alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
{All 3 personalities of the Trinity were there together at the same time….Jesus in His physical body submitted to water baptism (immersion), the Holy Spirit landed upon him, and the Father spoke audibly out of heaven.}
Matt 28:19: Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…
John 1:18: No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made Him known.
2 Corinthians 13:14: May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Colossians 2:9: For in Christ - all the fullness of the Deity (the Trinity) lives in bodily form and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.
{If the fullness of the Godhead lives in the bodily from of Jesus Christ and Christ lives in you, then the fullness of the Godhead lives in you…let those thoughts take your head for a spin!}
1 Peter 1:1-2: Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ: To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
Each member of the Trinity (the Godhead) interacts with each Christian on a daily basis. In the work of salvation, God the Father chose us individually by name to be saved before He created anything (Ephesians 1:4-5). God the Son came down into the world, through Mary’s miraculous virgin birth and lived a life of moral and spiritual perfection, so He could then offer up His perfect life and innocent blood, as an eternal sacrifice for the payment for our sinfulness (Ephesians 1:7-8). God the Spirit then sealed us forever as His possession (Ephesians 1:11-14).
When we get up each morning, how can we start the day with our trinitarian God in mind? If our heavenly Father is the chief authority personality, then we could seek Him out and ask Him what His will, His plan, His purpose for us is this new day? We may already have all kinds of ideas and plans in our minds as to what needs to be done, but if we don’t seek Him out about it, we will surely miss out and just do our own thing. We could seek Him through a starting prayer like this as we are rolling out of bed.
Proverbs 16:9 says how a man makes his plans, but the Lord directs his steps. What if we are making plans in one direction, but the Lord wants to lead us down these other steps? Is it right to just sit and ask the Father what He wants us to do that day? YES!
BUT…we have to give the Father the time (the chance) to respond. Proverbs 19:21 explains how there are many plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that will ultimately prevail. So, why waste time doing things that won’t prevail in the end or won’t last in the end? We know a lot of good things we could do, but the Father knows the best things we could do.
If we have asked the Father about His plans and/or purposes for us this day, then we can asked the Son (the accomplisher) to do the will of the Father through us. For He said in John 6:38, I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me. Now…post-resurrection and ascension, He does the will of Him who sent Him through us. For as My Father is working until now, so I continue to work …through us (John 5:17).
Jesus said in John 15:5, that without Him (apart from Him), we can do nothing …absolutely nothing. The Lord Jesus already wants to do the will of His father (and our Father) through you and I. This is His goal…to carry out the will of the Father. In John 4:34, Jesus said to the disciples, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work." Jesus now does this through us (our bodies).
He also said in John 8:29, that God sent Him and is with Him and that He will always do the things that are pleasing to the Father, but now He will do those things through us. He sums things up in John 9:4 by saying, “We must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work”.
Therefore each morning when we get up, we ask the Father about His plans and purposes for us that day, like a ranch worker (us) getting up and going to the ranch manager (the Son…the executive power, the administrator) and asking, “What would the ranch owner (the Father…the owner, the one in charge, the ultimate decision maker) have us do today?”
Enjoying Our Heavenly Father
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named” Eph. 3:14–15. It is Jesus who calls God “Abba, Father” (Mark 14:36, Gal. 4:6). 1 John 3:1: See (behold) how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are.
Our Father who is in Heaven is our sovereign authority structure. He is in charge. He decides things. He chooses what He will allow to happen to us or what He will keep from happening to us. We run to our Father. We cry out to our Father. We seek His will and His ways.
Can you ever imagine a day where God did not have a purpose for you? You get up in the morning and hear God say, “I don’t have anything for you today. I just want you to sit there and look pretty all day!”.
We all know that there are times when we are hurt or sick or just limited in what we can do. God understands completely, but even during those times…can we study, meditate, pray, call people, write people, or whatever? So, we still should seek Him for what each new day is about.
….He looks down and delights in His children (His family). As a father of 10 children and 18 grandchildren (so far), I know that feeling and satisfaction.
…Some children are here and some are there-living, working, doing their thing.
…God can see His imprint upon each of us. We are alike in so many ways and yet so different and unique in so many ways.
…He knows us better than we know ourselves.
…He loves us more than we could ever love ourselves.
…He delights in us.
…He loves doing the good things He does for us.
…He does more for us than we are ever conscious of or realize.
…He loves seeing us together and enjoying each other as brothers and sisters in
the family of God.
…He gets great satisfaction as He sees the image of His eternal son growing in us.
…He hears and answers our prayers.
…He disciplines us when and as needed.
…He forgives us and cleanses us from all guilt and unrighteousness.
…He comforts us.
Enjoying Our Lord Jesus
We walk with the Son and He walks with us, just like the two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35. He is the Elder Brother. We are His little brothers and little sisters, while always being our Lord and Savior. He is always with us, whether we are conscious of it or not. He feels what we feel. He understands what we are thinking. He always knows what we are going through. He is the grace-giver helping us get through anything, just as He had to do. And so, God’s beloved Son is here, watching over all the Father’s children…moving around amongst us...encouraging us, exhorting us, leading us, and helping us understand the will of the Father.
….The 3 young Hebrew men in Daniel 3 had to get into the fiery furnace, before they became really conscious of how the Lord Jesus was with them…even in the fire.
….A young man named “Michael Sattler” (1490–1527) was one of the early Anabaptist leaders in Germany who believed that Scriptural baptism was for those who had been consciously saved through their faith in Christ (not babies) and to be done by immersion only (not sprinkling or other forms). He was convicted as a heretic, had his tongue cut out, was tied to a wagon-where twice, glowing hot irons were used to tear pieces from his body. Then he was tied to a stake and burned to powder.
Before his trial began (already knowing what the outcome would be), Michael’s close Christian friends asked him for a favor. They asked him if he could give them any kind of positive proof sign that Jesus was there with him through it all and that His grace was sufficient during all of this suffering. Michael agreed. He was tied to the stake and saw the flames of the fire rise up all around him. As soon as the fire had burned the ropes off of his hands (that had been holding him to the stake), Michael raised his right hand and made the victory sign with his fingers and then he died. His family and friends were literally electrified with joy and there was no stopping their preaching of the faith after that. His wife Margaretha and other members of the congregation were also then drowned and burned.
They were all witnesses to Jesus Christ…all the way to death. The Greek word for “witness” is μάρτυς (martus) where we get the word “martyr”….a witness unto death like Stephen in Acts 7. He was a “martyr” (a witness unto death), who also confirmed Jesus was with him in his suffering and death. He got to see Jesus standing at the right hand of God as the Jews were killing him.
And one of the most incredible things the Lord Jesus (as the Son) does for us and with us is help us learn obedience. Hebrews 5:8 explains how Jesus (in His humanity), even though He was God’s Son, learned obedience from the things He suffered. He then helps us learn obedience through the things the Father allows us to suffer. Without this help from our Lord and elder brother, we would never learn the true spirit of obedience, and our lives would be so shallow and unfruitful.
Enjoying the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit literally holds our lives together, so we are able to do God’s will. The Holy Spirit is the applier, the empowerer (the one who empowers), the energizer, the supplier, and the enabler.
The Holy Spirit teaches us, He guides us, He prompts us, and He presses upon us…driving us forward in the Father’s will. He prays for us and through us (Jude 1:20, Romans 8:26-27). He renews us (Titus 3:5). He is the presence of God in our lives (Ephesians 1:13, 4:30). He comforts us (1 Thessalonians 1:6, 2 Corinthians 13:14) and literally rejoices us in our spirit (Romans 13:15).
He is also our supernatural bodyguard and the enforcer of God’s will in us. How many times have you felt the Spirit urging you to say something to someone or to give something to someone or to pray something or to go somewhere, so that you are in the right place at the right time to experience God’s work in your life and in the lives of others?
He activates our spiritual gifts and uses them for God’s glory (1 Corinthians 12:4). He produces spiritual fruit in our lives (Galatians 5). He produces the image of Jesus Christ in our lives (Romans 8:29). The Holy Spirit is the integral part (essential part) of everything we do as Christians.
When the Apostle Paul shared how he was taken up to the 3rd heaven where God is, he saw the Trinity (the Triune Holy God…the Godhead), maybe as we shall see the Trinity when we get there. He was never the same. I can just visualize him remembering the trinitarian implications in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 that he memorized growing up:
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength”.
Next time we will look at one more really awesome illustration of the Trinity!
Thanks,
Gene
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