Selie Visa
Let me begin with a very recent interaction with my almost 15 year old daughter. I was reading my Bible and contemplating on the importance of observation. I stopped my reading, opened my Bible to Genesis, asked my daughter to read Genesis chapter 1 verses 1 and 2,and tell me what two supernatural things she sees.
- “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (Genesis 1:1 & 2 NIV).
She rightly pointed out that there are two. God and the Spirit of God.
Trinity is not a word which Jesus used. It is not even found in the Bible, but it is used to describe what we know about God. The doctrine of the Trinity is a difficult subject to understand even for many Christians. But one must be clear on one fact--- Christianity stands or falls by what the doctrine says. The doctrine of the Trinity is not an invention of men, nor is it an addition to the Bible. The Trinity is a crystallization of the teachings of the Bible.
God is Triune. God is one God who is manifested in three distinct persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Each person is fully divine and equal to the other two; yet they are not three Gods, but one, fully and completely united in purpose. The word used to describe this attribute of God is known as the Trinity (triad, union of three). The doctrine of the Trinity states:
- 1st: God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- 2nd: Each person is fully God.
- 3rd: There is one God.
The creation story hints of the Trinity with the plural words Us and Our in Genesis 1:26. Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
It has been supposed by some that here God was speaking to the angels when he says, “Let us make man”. But this an unlikely interpretation. Even angels are created beings. Angels could not God assist in a work of creation. Angels were themselves made in the image and likeness of God. Hence, the plural words can only mean the pre-existence of Christ. The Gospel of John beautifully and clearly puts everything in the right perspective.
“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” (John 1:1-3 NIV).
Jesus Christ the Son claims his oneness with God the Father in John14:9& 10. Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.”
Many scriptures mention all three persons of the Godhead.
- “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.’(John 14:26 NIV).
- “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3 NIV).
- “That all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him” (John 5:23 NIV).
The Son has been entrusted with the power of judgment. He possesses equal dignity with the Father and shares with him judicial as well as executive authority. Conversely, since the Son is equal in authority, He can rightly claim equal honor with God. Let’s look at a few more references on the oneness of God who exists in the three persons of the Godhead.
- “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4 NIV).
- "The most important one” answered Jesus, "is this: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Mark 12:29 NIV).
- That God is one does not deny the doctrine of the Trinity and this is fully supported by scripture.“I and the Father are one" (John 10:30 NIV).
"I and the Father" preserves the separate individuality of the two Persons in the Godhead; the word "one" asserts unity of nature or equality. The Jews were quick to apprehend this statement and reacted by preparing to stone Jesus for blasphemy because he, a man, had asserted that he was one with God.
Three significant things took place when Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan river by John the Baptist. These three events further validate authenticity of the doctrine of the Trinity.
- 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 lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:16 & 17 NIV).
Jesus Christ the Son was baptized by John the Baptist. When Jesus stepped out of the water the Holy Spirit came down upon him. Then the voice of the Father is heard. In one single episode we find the manifestation of all the three persons of the Trinity.
