Sunday, January 26, 2014. God Is, Part Three: God Is Triune!

- Pastors rarely teach from the pulpit on the doctrine of the Trinity and we fail to do so at the church's peril.

- Many people fail to see the importance of the doctrine of the Trinity and so the Scripture's teaching on the Triune Godhead fails to be applied to everyday life.

- Teaching on the Trinity is an overwhelming task which is too big for one lesson or one sermon. So, today we will just touch on the subject.

- Historically, the First Council of Nicaea, 325 A.D., is very important for us because the delegates representing all the churches of the Roman world were united in rejecting all anti-Trinitarian teaching and in affirming Trinitarian doctrine as well as the teaching that Christ is both fully God and fully human.

- Out of the Council of Nicaea comes the Nicene Creed, which is an accepted creed around the world to this very day. (It also happens to be number 717 the back of our hymnal included for our use in worship and prayer.)

- Suffice it to say that since the days of the early church the doctrine of the Trinity has been of key importance.

- Let's explore the Scriptures together to discover the Trinity afresh and its importance for us.

- A good rule of thumb when studying doctrine is to stick with the Scriptures.

- As Jesus has said, "What is written in the Law? How do you read them?" (Luke 10:26)

- The first book of the law is Genesis and Genesis is the account of beginnings, so let's start taking our cues there.

- Genesis 1 refers to God numerous times. Spirit of God is present and God creates through speech, which tells us something about the power of words.

- Speaking of words, the word for God used throughout this chapter is Elohim a plural form of the word El meaning God.

- Now, if a Hebrew writer had wanted to use the singular word, that was certainly an option, but the writer did not.

- And this writer recorded Genesis 1000's of years before the concept of the Royal "We," so that has to leave us wondering why the author of Genesis refers to God in the plural consistently.

- In fact, Elohim is used 4000 times in reference to God throughout the Old Testament.

- So God is very often plural, which English does not reflect.

- Then we come to the creation of human beings, Genesis 1:26. 'Then God said, "Let us make man in our image."'

- As we've already said this was way before the concept of the Royal "we" ever existed.

- So in this one verse, we have God being referred to in plural, as Elohim, then we have God referring to himself using two plural pronouns and not only that, but the verb "to make" is also plural.

- And this isn't the only time this happens in Genesis. Let's look at 3:22 and see what happens after sin enters the world.

- 'Then the Lord God said, "Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil."'

- We find the same thing again in Genesis 11. "Look!" He said, "The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! Come, let us go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won't be able to understand each other." (6-7)

- Genesis isn't the only place we find this use of plural to describe God.

- We find it again in Isaiah 6:8 with the call of Isaiah. Then I heard the Lord asking, "Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?"

- Now, in each instance where the plural pronouns, us & our, were used God was speaking to himself. That is the plain meaning of the Scriptures we have examined to this point.

- Dare we deny or attempt to explain away the Scriptures which hint about the plurality of the person of God?

- Let's continue our examination of the Scriptures. The Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4-5, has much to say.

- Hear, O Israel: Yahweh, our Elohim, Yahweh is One, and you shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your strength.

*- The Hebrew for "One" comes from a verb meaning to unify. It is used to describe marriage in Genesis 2:24, which states, "This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one."

- The unity of marriage contains plurality!

- Let's back up a moment to Genesis 1: 27: "So Elohim created human beings in his own image. In the image of Elohim he created them. Male and female he created them."

- Notice the male and the female together reflect God's image. So both marriage and the image of God, teach us not only about how God has designed humanity, but also about God himself.

*- Marriage is unity and plurality and the image of God is unity and plurality and God has designed these things after himself and he is unity in plurality.

- God is not only united, but God is unique. By his very nature, He is the only God, which exists, yet in himself, He is not alone, rather he is united.

- This message disagrees with the assumptions of the pagan world which worships many gods who were divided, dissimilar, and in continual conflict with one another and who cared little for those who served them.

- Have we heard enough evidence from the Hebrew Scriptures, the OT, yet?

- I want to avoid getting bogged down with the too many Scriptures and focus on some NT Scriptures which point to the Trinity through a handful of examples.

* - First, Jesus' baptism.

- In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (which is the Baptizer's testimony) all three persons of the Trinity are present in this scene.

- A voice from heaven declares that Jesus is "my beloved son."

- The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus which Luke emphasized was in bodily form like a dove.

- The point, the gospel writers made was that this was a real event. It was not a vision.

- The voice from heaven confirmed that Jesus was, and is, the Messiah, the Son of God.

- The Holy Spirit coming down from God and alighting on Jesus in bodily form was the anointing of the Messiah.

*- The plain reading of these baptism accounts of Jesus present Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; three persons as one God with one aim, to launch the kingdom of God.

* - Second, the Great Commission.

*- Matthew 28:18-20, 'Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."'

- Anti-Trinitarians base their argument against the Trinity in this passage around "name" because it is singular.

- God is one, they argue, because the Scriptures say he is one. Being baptized into the name, rather than names, they assume supports their argument that God is not triune.

- Trinitarian's, however, also affirm that God is one, but without ignoring, denying or explaining away the mountain of evidence in the Scriptures which declare that God is united as three in one.

*- To be baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is to affirm one God who is three persons, and to affirm that life, strength, and grace for each day come from him alone and no one else.

*- Third, the Spirit's Arrival at Pentecost.

*- Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem, where they would receive the promised Holy Spirit and then be witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

- The arrival of the Holy Spirit is a Trinitarian event reminding the reader of God's actions under the old covenant.

- Tongues of fire rest on the heads of the disciples as they are anointed and filled with the Holy Spirit.

- God is praised in diverse languages the disciples had beforehand never spoken.

- Peter preaches on the prophet Joel, explaining the amazing events which have to do with the Spirit being sent by Yahweh-Elohim.

- The Holy Spirit has come because God raised Jesus from the dead and he is now the victorious, ascended Lord and Christ.

- Together with the Father, the Lord Jesus sends the Holy Spirit.

- "When sinners repent and believe the gospel of God concerning Jesus the Lord, then they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is to them the Spirit of the exalted Lord Jesus" (Toon, 206).

- Because God is Triune, we can stand forgiven, our broken relationship with the Father restored through his Son.

- Because God is Triune, we can have life by the power of his name as Jesus lives.

- Because God is Triune, we can learn to love as he loves by the gifts & fruit of the Holy Spirit.

- Our Triune God is the author of life, forgiveness, and love.