Pat
Well-Known Member
Reminders and Final Thoughts: One God, Three Persons
Our finite minds have difficulty embracing certain truths. Concepts such as eternity, infinity, and the afterlife are things that we have never experienced, so we have trouble relating to them, even though we believe they exist. Other spiritual concepts can be equally confusing, and unless the Holy Spirit gives us knowledge and understanding, 1 Corinthians 2:14 the carnal mind will make up, or cling to vain ideas and fables to explain the things of God. 2 Timothy 4:4 At the end of all Job’s trials, he acknowledged that God needs no defense, and He is beyond explanation. Whether by observing creation Romans 1:20 or by the hearing of the Word, God gives enough faith Romans 10:17 and illumination about Himself to produce a desire to know more, even though we may never fully understand Him. Such is the case with the doctrine of the Godhead, or trinity; One God manifesting Himself in three distinct persons.
Jews and Christians alike believe the Biblical truth that there is only one God. If we use the Hebrew words for Lord and God, Deuteronomy 6:4 says, “Hear O Israel: Jehovah, our Elohim, is one Jehovah.” The word Jehovah meaning, “self-existent, eternal Lord God,” and Elohim meaning, “supreme God (plural.)” Jesus also put emphasis on this truth, quoting it in Mark 12:29, “The first of all the commandments is, Hear O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord.” Yet Genesis 1:26 says, “And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.” If God is only one God, (which He is) to whom is He speaking, and why is He referring to Himself as Us? Here is where the Scriptures declare, and we simply receive the truth by faith. Isaiah 48:12 & 48:16 gives a perfect example of the triune God, “I am He; I am the first, I also am the last.” “Come near to Me, hear this; I have not spoken in secret…the Lord God [Jehovah], and His Spirit, has sent Me.” Who is Isaiah speaking of, and who is the “Me” that was sent? John 20:21-22 tells us. “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.”
Final thoughts: Many have tried to give examples of the trinity, such as an egg being comprised of an outer shell with a white liquid surrounding a yellow yolk. Or of water being a liquid that can also be a solid as ice and a gas as vapor. But these are feeble examples at best, in comparison to who God is, as outlined in the Scriptures. I think it best to just accept that our God is one God who manifests Himself in three distinct personages, who have three distinct functions: The Father is God who hears and answers our prayers; The Holy Spirit is God, who is the power by whom we operate; The Word is God, who became flesh, was crucified, buried, and rose alive for the salvation of whosoever believes. As was written in Isaiah, Jesus boldly repeats in Revelation 22:13, “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” To see Jesus is to see God. Colossians 2:9 Now we see Him by faith. 1 Peter 1:8 One day soon we’ll see Him face to face. 1 Corinthians 13:12; Titus 2:13
