The Trinity: Part I
Acts 2:32 “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. 33 “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.
Introduction
This morning we come celebrating the Trinity. That is, we come celebrating the fact that the God we worship is one God and three persons.
Now as we celebrate this holy mystery, I want us to turn our attention to God’s Word in order to see the necessity, vital importance, and centrality of the Trinity to every aspect of salvation and life. Not only that I also want us to dispel two common misconceptions concerning the Trinity.
I. God is Triune– As we turn to Scripture one of the first things we find is the fact that Trinity is not a theological invention or human theory about God. Rather, Trinity is God’s concrete self-revelation of Himself. In other words, Trinity is who God tells us He is in both the Old and New Testament.
Isaiah 48:16 “Come near to Me, listen to this: From the beginning I have not spoken in secret, From the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit.” FN#1
Thus, the first myth/misconception that we need to dispel is that the Trinity is taught only in the New Testament. Think about it:
· We cannot go two verses into the Bible without being confronted with the notion of the Trinity (In the beginning God created and the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the waters)
· Later in that same chapter God says, “Let us make man in our own image” FN#2
· In Gen chapter 18, Abraham is visited by three men, two of whom are identified as angels but the third speaks as God and is identified as YHVH
· In Psalm 2 we are told to do homage to the Son. Later in Psalm 110 David say the LORD says to my Lord sit at my right hand.
· In Isaiah 9 the child to be born and the son to be given is called Mighty God, Eternal Father, and the Prince of Peace.
· In the book of Ezekiel we see the Spirit of God filling the Temple and then later departing from the Temple
· In Daniel chapter 7 we see one like a Son of man approaching the heavenly throne of God to be given an everlasting kingdom.
· In the book of Zachariah we are over and again confronted by one who is God and who is sent by God FN#3
However, that said, the emphasis and focus of the Old Testament is clearly on the oneness of God. Importance: Think about it: God begins by stressing His oneness least His people confuse the notion of Trinity with the many gods they see in the nations all around them. Nonetheless, God leaves numerous and conspicuous indicators of His Triune nature throughout the Old Testament so that when Christ arrives His people can look back and immediately recognize that this is what God has been showing them all along. In other words, what the Old Testament introduces, the New Testament clarifies and expounds. FN#4
Bottom line: the first myth/misconception that we need to dispel is that the Trinity is taught only in the New Testament.
B] The second myth/misconception that we need to dispel is that the Trinity is a peripheral or esoteric teaching.
Instead, the Trinity is at the very heart of Scripture. Notice then, when we turn to Scripture what we find is that the Trinity is not just taught by Scripture, it is taught at every key point and in reference to every major doctrine of Scripture.
In fact, every verse, passage, and promise of the Bible is what it is because God is triune. Deny the Trinity and not one verse, passage, or promise of Scripture is true. In other words, whenever God reveals Himself, He does so as He is, which is Triune. Wherever God turns to work, He does so as He is, which is Triune.
Creation: The Father created through the Son/Word as the Spirit hovered over creation applying and insuring the work (Gen 1:2/Gen 1:26/Ps 104:30)
Hebrews 1:2 in these last days God has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
Genesis 1:2 and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Old Testament: the entire Old Testament is about the Father’s promise to send the Son through a people with whom His Spirit/Presence dwells (Isa 63:11/Ps 2:1-12/Jn 5:46/Lk 22:27,44)
John 1:45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote,
Incarnation: The Father so loved the world that He sent the Son, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35)
Christ’s Baptism and Earthly Ministry: remember, at Christ’s baptism, we see the Son emerging from the water, the Father speaking, and the Spirit descending like a dove. Importance: remember Jesus’ Baptism initiates His earthly ministry. As such, what we see in Christ’s baptism is indicative/true of His entire earthly ministry: Jesus is affirmed by the Father and anointed by the Spirit that He might make God and God’s salvation known. In other words, to see Jesus ministering at any point during His early ministry is to encounter the whole of the Godhead at work (Mark 1: 9-11) (John 3:16/Luke 4:14,18/Mat 12:28/Jn 14:8-9).
John 14:10 “The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
Luke 4:14 And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit;
Crucifixion: The Father reconciled us to Himself through the Son, who offered Himself by way of the eternal Spirit (II Cor 5:18-19/Hebrews 9:14)
2 Corinthians 5:18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself
Hebrews 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Resurrection: The resurrection is a work that Scripture attributes to each person of the Trinity (Galatians 1:1/John 10:17-18/Rom 8:11)
Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.
John 10:18 “No one has taken My life away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
The Christian Life: every aspect of the believer’s life/walk (your new birth, growth, God’s ongoing care, and your final glorification) are all attributed to each member of the Trinity (Jn 14:17,23/Ephesians 2:18/2 Corinthians 1:21-22/1 Peter 1:1-2).
Take for example, prayer- we pray to the Father, through the Son, assisted by the Spirit (Rom 8:26).
Ephesians 2:18 for through Christ we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
Another example is reading your Bible- The Son reveals the Father and that revelation is preserved in Scripture by the Spirit (John 16:13-15/II Peter 1:21-22).
Bottom Line: the second myth/misconception that we need to dispel is that the Trinity is a peripheral or esoteric teaching. Instead, every verse, passage, and promise of the Bible is what it is because God is triune.
In other words, the Trinity is at the heart of Scripture. Therefore, the Trinity is self-consciously to be at the heart of your worship, witness, and walk.
Footnotes
1] It would not surprise me at all that when John was penning the opening chapter of his Gospel that he had his eyes on this very verse. Regardless the theology of the two portions of Scripture is exactly the same.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
One of the main reasons John describes Jesus as the “Word” is because He is the voice we have heard speaking throughout the Old Testament (he has not spoken in secret. We know and recognize His voice). It was Christ who’s voice we hear at creation, uttering the word, “let there be light”, calling creation into being.
John 1:3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
It is the Christ we hear calling to Moses from the burning bush. His is the same voice we hear on the mount, explaining the Law that we heard on Mt. Sini giving the Law
Matthew 5:1 And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 And opening His mouth He began to teach them, saying…..21 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ 22 “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court…… 7:28 The result was that when Jesus had finished these words, the multitudes were amazed at His teaching; 29 for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
It is the voice of Christ we hear speaking through the Old Testament prophets
1 Peter 1:10 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, 11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.
It is Christ we encounter throughout the Old Testament making God and God’s promise of salvation known
Jude 1:4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5 Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord (Jesus), after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.
Thus when Jesus tells us that His sheep follow Him because they know His voice, the meaning is deep and profound. They know His voice because it is the same voice they have heard speaking to them throughout Scripture
John 10:4 “When the shepherd puts forth all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 “And a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
2] Let us make man:
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
You will often hear people say that far from pointing to the Trinity God is simply speaking to the angels in the heavenly court. However, the problem with this understanding is that absolutely nowhere in Scripture is man said to be made in the image of angels. Instead, Genesis 1 along with the rest of Scripture is clear; man is made exclusively in God’s image.
Genesis 1:27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Finally, the whole of Scripture underscores the fact that men and angels are very different sorts of beings with very different purposes and trajectories.
Hebrews 2:5 For God did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. 6 But one has testified somewhere, saying, “What is man, that Thou rememberest him? Or the son of man, that Thou art concerned about him? 7 “Thou hast made him (man) for a little while lower than the angels; Thou hast crowned him (man) with glory and honor, And hast appointed him (man) over the works of Thy hands;
Psalm 8:5 Yet you have made him (man) a little lower/less than the heavenly beings/angels and crowned him with glory and honor.
Another suggestion that you will often hear is that God is using the “Royal We” (i.e. referring to Himself in the plural to underscore His majesty). The problem with this idea is that the “Royal We” (or majestic plural) is something that is completely foreign to Scripture or Biblical times. Instead, it is a purely English grammatical quirk/invention that has its roots in the 1100s. In fact, it is the British monarch Henry II (1133-1189) who is the first person known to ever use the “royal we”.
However, the real problem with either of the two suggestions above is that Genesis 1:26 is an instance of a well-known literary/theological device seen over and again throughout Scripture (both Old and New Testament). For simplicity sake, this device or unique manner of God’s revelation can be called “Divine Dialogue”. The idea is that the author of that particular portion of Scripture is caught up in the Spirit to the very throne room of God and allowed to listen into a conversation between the members of the Godhead. Other well-known examples of this are:
Psalm 110:1 The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand, Until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet.” 4 The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “Thou art a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
Matthew 22:41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.” 43 Jesus said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, 44 ‘The Lord said to my LORD, “Sit at My right hand, Until I put Thine enemies beneath Thy feet “‘?
Isaiah 6:1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Revelation 1:9 I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos, because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet,
3] For example
Zechariah 2:10 “Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,” declares the LORD. 11 “And many nations will join themselves to the LORD in that day and will become My people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you.
4] Notice the result: when we step back and take in the whole witness of the Old Testament, the picture of God that the Old Testament provides is identical to the picture of God given and elaborated upon in the New Testament:
· God is enthroned in heaven reigning far above all creation.
· His Word/voice (His logos) is constantly heard making God known from within creation (for example: the creation account itself, Mt Sini, calling to Samuel when he was a boy)
· Finally, the Spirit of God fills, leads, instructs, equips, and strengthens God’s Old Testament people (cloud by day, the prophets, Samson)
In other words, the description of God in the Old Testament is the very same description of God assumed by the New Testament and expounded therein.
In fact we can go so far as to say that there is nothing in the New Testament that is not first introduced in the Old Testament (if you don’t hear it in the Old it is not in the New. In turn, if you see it in the New it is established in the Old). Likewise, what the Old Testament introduces is exclusively what the New Testament sets about to fulfill. Thus, there is exact and comprehensive agreement in the self-revelation that God has given us in the Old and New Testaments.