Truth 9: The Trinity
Truth 10: God’s Kingdom
October 9, 2018
Truth 8: Jesus’ Bodily Resurrection
October 7, 2018
Biblical Truth #9: The Trinity
Imagine an item that is both three distinct things, and yet also one whole thing. One simplistic example is H2O, which is commonly known as water. H2O can be a solid, liquid, or gas (i.e., ice, water, or steam), but regardless of the different state it’s still individually, and collectively, H2O. Another example is a triad on a piano. A triad is made of three notes that all sound distinct and different from one another, yet when played together they make one harmonizing sound. The Bible states God is like that triad. The Bible refers to these three notes as persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Yet these persons are all God apart from one another and also with one another, three but also one. If this sounds puzzling then don’t worry. If God is the author of things making “sense” then it is likely that some things about him will not make “sense.”
The Father and Son
The Father guides most of the Old Testament. It is to him that all Israelites prayed, to him who they sacrificed animals, and he who performed miraculous workings in nature. Then, in the New Testament the Son takes the center stage as the God-Man Jesus. He is born miraculously and begins to inform his followers how unique and special is the relationship between him and his father. He performs miracles upon command and with the authority of God. He finishes his work by his greatest miracle of all, rising from the dead.
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is actually first mentioned in the Old Testament and is mostly referenced to human activity that is empowered by God. Humans that otherwise would be incapable of mighty deeds are described as having the Holy Spirit descend upon them. At Jesus’ baptism, one of the most trinitarian passages, the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus like a dove as God the Father claims Jesus as his son. Across the pages of Scripture, the Holy Spirit is seen as personally involved in the hearts of humanity. He is the one that changes hearts and guides the actions of Christians. He also provides gifts that empower the Christian in his lifetime. They are able to heal the sick, discern lying prophets from true prophets, hear the voice of the Lord as a message, and many more attributes that those living in the first century and beyond performed.
One of the most powerful demonstrations of the Holy Spirit is the speaking of differing languages by the first Christians that caused the Gospel to be spread quickly. Christians were able to journey to Spain, Rome, Ethiopia and other neighboring lands without difficulty because the Holy Spirit allowed the language barriers to disintegrate. Without this component, Christianity would have never spread as fast and as broad as it did, especially after the Roman persecution of Christians began. The Bible states that all of this was accomplished by the Holy Spirit, appearing spectacularly as tongues of fire that rested on each of the apostles.
Up until this moment, the Apostles were a rag-tag group of somewhat trained but still simple-minded fishermen, tax collectors, and zealots who were afraid of Jewish opinion and persecution. After the Holy Spirit descended on them, Peter, stands before a crowd of three thousand Jews condemning them for the murder of Jesus and a call to repentance. The change is so startling only a supernatural explanation fully explains it. Not only this, three thousand Jews accepted Peter the fisherman’s words as truth that very day. Only the power of the Holy Spirit could answer these powerful examples of Christianity’s beginnings.
