The Trinity

The Doctrine of the Trinity and what it means to us.

Well today I am going to talk about a subject that is probably inferred to in many many sermons, but is only rarely in my experience spoken about as a subject in its own right and that is “The Doctrine of the Trinity and what it means to us.”

This subject of the Trinity is inferred from Genesis through to Revelation

 Genesis 1:1-2  (AMP) 1 In the beginning God (Elohim)created  the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void or a waste and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. The Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.

So immediately in Genesis 1 we can see that that the word Elohim is used for God which is plural and in addition there is the Spirit of God (note Spirit capital S implying a separate and distinct Spirit not a lower case spirit of God)

Then is vs 26 Genesis 1:26  (NIV)26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,…..

Note our likeness- plural.

Then all the way to Revelation 1

 Revelation 1:8  (NIV)8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”… Rev1 17-18…..”… I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

And of course in John 1:1 (NIV)  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

There are many other verses that substantiate the doctrine of the Trinity, but that’s not the objective today. I am assuming that we all accept this doctrine. What I would like to bring out today however is the fact that almost wherever you go in scripture we will find that if we have a deeper knowledge of the Trinity  it will add another dimension and depth to understanding the scripture 

In so many situations and particularly in reading John 1:1 there needed to be clarity on comments made by many that the Christian faith was in fact polytheistic and serving 3 God’s.

But in fact serving three God’s could not be further from the truth in Christianity. The 3 persons of the Trinity however created problems for many trying to understand this concept. And so the Nicene Creed was developed in the year 325 to clarify these doctrinal issues. This was basically in response to a person by the name of Arius and what was known as the Arian controversy. Arius rejected the current biblical doctrine of the Trinity and instead promoted the idea that not only are the Father and the Son are two separate beings but that the Son was created by the Father before the creation of the world. Therefore, Arius believed that Christ was God the Father’s first creature and that it was through the Son He created all “other” things. Thus, Arius denied the full deity of the Son saying he was not God, as well as the deity and personhood of the Spirit. This is basically what the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe today

Just quickly to refute this, because it is applicable to the Jehovah Witnesses today;

Firstly the Spirit is a person and we have a recording of what the Spirit said. For example,  in Acts8:29 we read that “the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and join this chariot’” Power does not speak to someone. Power is impersonal, but a person speaks..

Secondly many verses refer directly to Jesus as God eg Thomas said “My Lord and my God” and in

Titus 2:13  (NIV)13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ,

But lets take a look at the Nicene Creed and get a better understanding of the Trinity


Nicene Creed (Amended 381)

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. 

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds *  

Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, 

And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary, and was made man he was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; from thence he shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead and whose kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spake by the prophets. 

In one holy catholic** and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.


Note 

* that is eternal 

**catholic as an adjective not the Roman Catholic Church . ie  it means the whole or universal Christian church .


So the Father Son and Holy Spirit are not created as we are, but are of “one substance” with the Father, but are three separate persons

As an analogy I think of it as three gingerbread men. All of the same substance- gingerbread but three different gingerbread men!



You may find that God being wholly present in each one difficult to comprehend. However if you believe in the omnipresence of God, it is really not that difficult to imagine. And especially if there is no time dimension. In fact no time dimension makes omnipresence quite logical and any objections to the Trinity are null and void?

So our Christian belief in respect of the Trinity is on a solid biblical foundation and is not an incomprehensible aspect of our faith.

Importantly however we need to look at the practical implications of the Trinity in our life today and why its so important.

I wonder if we will ever appreciate the gravity of what happened on the cross if we did not consider the Trinity? Just think about it, here we have mankind hitting nails into the hands of God, our creator. This is not a created person that has been sent to bear the pain. God Himself is feeling every nail as it is hammered in, every spear that is going into Him. God is not watching this from a distance. At the same time the Father is looking on and seeing the pain we are inflicting on His Son. It is beyond comprehension that we can do something like this to our Creator, to the sustainer of our life! How depraved we are!

Unfortunately there was no other way. If God had created a being or created Jesus to die at the cross it would not be the same. It would be an arms-length transaction. For reconciliation to take place, it has to come from deep within, from the heart and hence of the blood. Im reminded of the Cain and Abel sacrifices. The work of the hands of Cain (fruits of the soil) would never have been a suitable sacrifice. Now we can understand


2 Corinthians 5:19  (NKJV) 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, …not counting their trespasses against them……., and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Even at the moment of deepest darkness, God the Father and God the Son were acting together to bring about a reconciliation with the world. Our salvation is achieved entirely by God.

The second aspect of this that we seem to lose focus on,  is the purpose of the crucifixion. It rolls off our tongue:  ”so that our sins are forgiven and we can have eternal life”. Yes we may be right but I think we are heading down a side track and missing the highway, or the main road!


Galatians 4:4-7  (NIV) 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

 This happened so that we can be reconciled to God, and be adopted into his family and have the Holy Spirit in our hearts! And in doing so, and by being part of the family of the Triunion God and be completely fulfilled in our relationship with Him. And so we are redeemed, restored and renewed. Eternal life is almost a by product!

Look what Isaiah says..

Isaiah 43:1  (NIV) “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;    I have called you by name; you are mine.


Ezekiel 36:25-28  (NIV)25 ……. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you ……...28 Then …… you will be my people, and I will be your God.

 This is reconciliation to God. Father Son and Holy Spirit! We need to enjoy the journey!


Ephesians 1:13-20 (NIV)

When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

…… 17 I keep asking that the God [ and then he refers to the whole Trinity] of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.

We have God’s power in us!

Genesis 2:21-24 (NIV)21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones    and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called ‘woman,’    for she was taken out of man.”

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

 Ever wondered why God took a rib out of man to form woman?  Like the Trinity where Father Son and Holy Spirit are of the same substance and yet they are one, so is marriage. The woman is of the same substance as the man yet in marriage they become one and together with the Holy Spirit this is very much a tri-union entity. 

Not only do they become one in the spiritual realm, but  as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is equal in every way so too is male and female, there is no inequality. And when the Son said to the Father let not My will be done but Yours, this was not a reflection of hierarchy but of respect from a position of equality, just as it should be in marriage.

Secondly just as the rib which came from man to form woman became reunited as one flesh in marriage which together with the Holy Spirit  became a complete and balanced entity in the spiritual realm, so is the Father Son and Holy Spirit a completely balanced and single entity in the spiritual realm. So there can never ever be a marriage between man and man and woman and woman It’s a rebellion and a rejection of what God has prepared for us


In general and without being too dogmatic about it we pray to the Father.

Jesus taught us this with the Lord’s prayer  “Our Father who art in heaven…”

And we know that we are adopted into ‘sonship’, one that enables us to cry out “Abba, Father” see John 1:12-13 (NIV)12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God 

And so it is natural for children to call out to their Father


 Paul follows this in  Ephesians 1:17  (NIV) 17 I keep asking that ….. the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[a] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

But there is nothing wrong in calling out to Jesus after all He is God and He is our mediator. Paul does this in Corinthians

1 Corinthians 1:2  (NIV)2 To the church of God in Corinth, …… together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

Paul also prayed to Jesus when he “besought the Lord” to remove his thorn in the flesh (2 Cor 12:80 )


Keep in mind even the angels worshipped Jesus

Revelation 5:13  (NIV)11  13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb  be praise and honour and glory and power, or ever and ever!”


But while prayer to the Father would have the pre-eminent position in the New Testament, we should remember Jesus words in John 14:13  (NIV)13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

So we should not neglect to pray “in the name of Jesus”



So there we have it. The Trinity is not a theoretical concept for Minister of religion to pontificate about but something of great significance to our faith. Something that opens the eyes of our hearts

Deuteronomy 29:29  (NKJV)29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.