Enjoy the Attributes of God – Session 2

The Trinity

Reading: Genesis 1: 1-2 and John 1: 1-4

AUDIO

Lecture Handout

Handout – Session 2

Lesson Notes

• Introduction
  • Focusing on an essential aspect of God, i.e. who He is
  • Our most fundamental doctrine regarding God, because ultimately salvation and every other doctrine hangs on this one
  • Some of our most favorite attributes of God depend on this – like His love!
  • The question is how do we make sense of a God who is One, yet Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit are also God? People have wrestled with this for centuries!
  • The answer is that God is triune – 3-in-1
    • We’ll talk about what that means and why we know it’s true
    • We’ll never fully understand this -> it’s beyond human ability to fully grasp
  • It’s a truth that confuses, confounds, and troubles many, because it’s hard to understand and some of us struggle bitterly against what we can’t understand
    • It’s a stumbling block to Muslims and Jews, but as we’ll see, we can’t hide it or minimize it
    • This is a huge dividing point with Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses too
  • It’s absolutely critical
    • The early church wrestled with understanding and articulating this for many, many years to get it right
    • They fought long and hard for the truth of Scripture to prevail over simpler or more socially acceptable models – it was not easy!
    • But they did so because it was right
    • When we dismiss or downplay the Trinity, we dishonor God, His Word, and their struggle on behalf of the faith once delivered for all mankind
• The Trinity in the Bible
  • The word trinity (tri-unity) doesn’t appear in the Bible, nonetheless the truth of it certainly does!
    • God is one, completely unified and eternal being
    • Yet 3 distinct persons – God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit
    • Sharing a single common essence
  • God the Father is God
    • In the beginning, God… – He is eternal
    • Deuteronomy 4: 35, 6: 4 – the one and only God
  • Jesus is the Son of God
    • Hebrews 1: 1-4
    • And is eternally God – John 1: 1, Colossians 2: 9, John 5: 16-18, John 8: 56-59, Matthew 14: 22-33
    • And is one with the Father – John 17: 20-26
  • The Holy Spirit is a Person
    • And is God – Acts 5: 1-5, Hebrews 9: 13-14
    • And is one with the Father and the Son – 1 Corinthians 2: 11-13
  • Trinity Appearances in the Bible
    • Creation – Genesis 1: 1-2 and John 1 – all present at creation
    • Baptism of Jesus – Matthew 3: 16-17
    • Transfiguration – Matthew 17: 1-8
    • Jesus to send the Spirit – John 16: 7-15
    • Salvation – 1 Peter 1: 1-2
• Understanding the Trinity
  • Analogies will always fail us
    • 3 forms of water, parts of an egg, different roles of a person, clover, etc.
    • Each can highlight some useful truths, but quickly slip into some total failure to understand God’s nature
  • Instead, here is a helpful diagram
  • Walk through the Nicene Creed (initially written at the Council of Nicaea in 325AD, updated at the Council of Constantinople in 381AD).

“We believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all ages,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made;
of the same essence as the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and was made human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried.
The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will never end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life.
He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
He spoke through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look forward to the resurrection of the dead, 
and to life in the world to come. Amen.”

• Misunderstand the Trinity (Heresies)
  • Throughout history, Christians have misunderstood the Trinity, often out of a desire to relaly gain human understanding of something we can’t fully fathom
  • We get so focused on upholding one truth of the Trinity that we distort or compromise others
  • Another helpful diagram
    • The corners of heresies
    • The edges are the truths that correct the heresy at the opposite corner
  • Tritheism
    • The idea that Christians believe in 3 gods – the Muslim and Jewish objection to the Trinity
    • No, there is one God, one divine essence, in 3 persons
  • Modalism
    • God expresses Himself or appears in different modes or phases, like Clark Kent and Superman
    • First God was the Father, then He came as the son, now He works through the Holy Spirit
    • It’s easy to understand, but it’s wrong and makes no sense of moments like the baptism of Jesus, the transfiguration, etc. 
    • It also ignores everything Jesus said that clearly marked Him as distinct from the Father
    • Still a challenge today – T. D. Jakes for example
  • Subordination
    • Makes God the Father supreme and the true and eternal God
    • Jesus and the Spirit are viewed as special, but  not truly eternally God or equal to the Father
    • One modern version of this is Jehovah’s Witness

Closing Praise & Prayer

Ephesians 1: 3-14 – what the  Trinity has done for you!