This is a big subject. Mightier minds than mine have tackled this for the last two thousand years and still don't have a perfect, clear understanding. However, it is a question that all of us wrestle with, therefore it is a question that needs discussion and some kind of answer. We will be relying heavily on the Word of God to give us some clarity.
The first questions we will try to answer are, "How can God be three people in one? How does the Trinity work and does believing in the Trinity cause you to be an idolater? The Trinity is one of the most difficult concepts in Christianity to understand and, as we mentioned before, it has been pondered for centuries by theologians and great thinkers.
You hear people trying to describe the Trinity as a three leaf clover, three different leaves make up one clover. That explanation is probably good for a child the first time they ask. It is easy to understand and actually a pretty good answer. But most of us aren't children and we are looking for a deeper answer.
You will often hear people say things like, "You are a trinity. You have a body, a soul and a spirit. That makes you a triune being." This, too, is all fine and well except for the fact we can't even get our heads around our spirit. We most often roll up our soul and spirit into our consciousnesses. So, this definition also, leaves us wanting more.
We could say that humanity could work as an explanation. After all, humanity is one. We are all part of humanity, Some things apply to all of humanity while some things apply only to the individual; or a family that has parents and children. It functions as a unit with common goals and values but is still comprised of individuals.
This is the way I like to think of it. I don't claim that it is complete but, I like it. God the Father thinks and speaks, this is the person Jesus, The Word. God the Father and God the Word love each other so powerfully that that love manifests as a being, the person Holy Spirit. One didn't exist before the other. This is just the way God is, eternally. God the Father with His Thoughts and Words that are manifested as an individual, and the complete love of God manifesting as another individual, the Spirit of God.
I know that other religious schools of thought consider the Christian trinity a form of idolatry because Christians worship Jesus and they would be right if Jesus was just a man. But, Jesus isn't just a man. He is the Word of God, THE God, the TRUE God, made flesh. To say it another way, the Word of God took on a body for the sole purpose of dying for our sins.
People lose sight of this. Jesus altered Himself eternally for us. He existed eternally as the Word aspect of God but became a man on purpose and will never be the same for it. That is a powerful thought and it should humble us mightily.
I hope this helps those of you questioning to get your head around the Trinity just a little bit. Now lets look at how we know Jesus is the Word, the carrier of God's thoughts and will to us. The Apostle John made this clear at the very beginning of his gospel,
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God." John 1:1-2.This takes us back to Genesis 1:1, the very first verse in the Bible which says,
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
Then Genesis 1:3 says,
"And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light."
We see the word of God is the creative force behind it all. Throughout the whole process of creation (Genesis 1) we read,
"And God said let there be..."
"All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made."
It says in I Corinthians 8:6,
"Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist."Paul is showing us several things in this passage. One is that other people worship other gods and bow to other lords. We however, do not. We worship the true God and bow to the true Lord, Jesus Christ. But, the nugget hidden in this verse is that we exist for God and through Jesus Christ. Jesus is again shown as the Creator.
Now, on to the theophanies. A theophany is a manifestation or appearance of God to a person.
On the surface, or if you don't really know the Bible very well, you may not have a problem with God appearing to men and women in the Old Testament; but, as you read along, you will undoubtedly come across scriptures like Exodus 33:20 which says,
"But He said, 'You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live."The context of the story is that Moses asked God if he could see His glory. God told Moses that He would cause all His goodness to pass in front of him. God said He would put Moses in the cleft of a rock and cover his face and would remove His hand so Moses could see His back but His face must not be seen. That sounds pretty solid. No man can see the face of God and live.
However, you come across many places in the Old Testament where people- men and women- claim to have seen God. As a matter of fact, Gideon cried out,
"'...Oh no, Lord GOD! I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face!'When you see the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament, your are seeing a theophany, an appearance of Jesus. Angel just means messenger (carrier of the Word) and while there are heavenly beings that deliver messages from God that cause us to lump all of the messengers together as angels, we know that the Angel of the Lord is God because He receives worship and has the name of God,
But the Lord said to him, 'Peace be with you. do not be afraid, for you will not die,'" (Judges 6:22-23).
"Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to his voice; do not defy him, for he will not forgive rebellion, since My Name is in him," (Exodus 23:20-21)
In Genesis 16:7-13, the Lord's Angel found Hagar and she called Him the God who sees me.
Genesis 18:1-2 says that the Lord appeared to Abraham in the heat of the day with two others and Abraham ran to meet them and bowed low to the ground. Abraham recognized Him as God. God didn't just appear to Abraham, He ate with him and revealed His plans for Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham prayed to Him as God.
There are other instances too, like Jacob (Genesis 32:24-30) and Samson's parents (Judges 13:3-22),
How can this be? Some have called this a contradiction in the Bible, no man can see God but then He appears over and over again. We go right back to the first chapter of the Gospel of John to find our answer. John tells us in 1:18,
"No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him."
No one has see the Father, the Son has made him known to us.
I hope this helps. As I said, these are hard things to understand. I encourage you to read the Word of God and ask Him to reveal Himself to you and He will. Jesus said in John 14:23-26,
"If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words. The word that you hear is not My own, but it is from the Father who sent Me. All this I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you."
This passage of scripture clearly indicates the three persons of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus isn't giving us His words, He is giving us the words of the Father. Jesus is the Word that comes from the Father. The Holy Spirit (the guiding Love of God) reminds us of the Word of God. The message here is, read the Word and God the Holy Spirit will reveal Himself, God in all His wonder, to you.
A short comment on John 14:23-26.
ReplyDeleteThe Lord Jesus makes a statement saying “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word;”
That simply means, ‘IF’ we love the Lord Jesus Christ, then we will ONLY believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and in absolutely no one else.
If we would add another one to our Lord Jesus Christ, that would make us transgressors of the first and second commandment and His word is NOT in us.
Jesus continues to say, “My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him, whoever does NOT love Me does not keep My word”.
ART, does that mean that somebody else, another God would love us ? May that NEVER be !
To think that, only indicates that His word is NOT in us.
So then, what does the word say about the Father ?
Look what Jesus says to you today, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, ART” ? (John 14:9)
And then Jesus tells you everything about the Father.
And John 16:25, and Isaiah 9:6, and Jeremiah 3:19, and Isaiah 63:16, and 1 Corinthians 8:6, and John 10:31-32, etc.etc. and numerous more :-)
Paul
Thanks again, Paul. I appreciate all the scriptures you bring to bear. The Bible also says that by two or three witnesses, everything is established (Deuteronomy 19:15, John 8:17, and others).
DeleteDaniel 7:9, 13-14 says:
I watched as thrones were put in place and the Ancient One sat down to judge. His clothing was as white as snow, his hair like purest wool.
He sat on a fiery throne
with wheels of blazing fire,
As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence.
He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.
Jesus, Son of man is led into the presence of the Ancient of Days in this passage.
Revelation 5:1-7 (I know it's a long passage but all of it is necessary to the point) says:
Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals.
And I saw a strong angel, who shouted with a loud voice: “Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it.
Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it.
But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth.
He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne.
It's pretty obvious that Jesus takes the scroll. Wouldnt you agree that it is the Ancient of Days on the throne?
Yes ART, it is the Lord Jesus Christ who takes the scroll, and Jesus Christ alone is the Ancient One, and it is the Lord Jesus Christ who is seated on the throne, and no other entity or person or god is able to sit on the throne of God to rule and to judge the nations and the churches and every individual's heart but the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
DeleteAnd that testimony has been confirmed by numerous witnesses, by all the Prophets and Apostles and witnesses, and last of all by me Paul.