Do you believe that there would never have been Bible if not that man lost his Life? The laws and the Ten Commandment would have had no relevance if not that man was separated from the Life he was created to carry. All ritualistic process of religious worship would not have been put in place if man had maintained the Life of true religion. Every man would have had no need of telling his brother, saying, know the Lord. For the law was already written and encrypted upon his heart. But today we have what is called the Bible because of the tragic accident that occurred to humanity when man lost his Life. The Bible reveals the plan and labour of the Creator at restoring back to man his lost Life. It is in the process of redemption as revealed in the Bible that we discover that God is One in essence, three in Persons and one in purpose.
There are many things people glory about today. Many glory in their beauty and some in their family background. Others in material possession and personal achievement, while some glory in academic qualification. Whatever form the glorying takes, it is all glory in vanity as the Lord commands, let him that glories glory in the fact that he knows Me. Our Life cannot really be profitable unto God until we come to the full realization of God and His purpose. Now God is revealed to us in the sixty- six volume Book known as the Bible. Remember, it is in the process of bringing back the lost Life that we see God revealed. The Bible is a simple story of God’s progressive work in restoring life back to the fallen man. Now, this work of redemption as revealed in the Bible shows the ministry of three distinct personalities from heaven. The Bible also tells us who these three are. “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” John 5:7)
The Godhead and its Trinity is one of the deep mysteries of the kingdom of God revealed to us in scripture. It is one of the greatest tenets of the Christian faith that is better believed than mentally understood because it is anchored on the nature and person of God. The subject has, through the ages confounded the wise and prudent but conferred on the faithful, trusting believers the blessings of simplicity of faith. Through reasoning, man can never attain the Trinitarian conception of the Almighty God; neither can he by searching or logical inquiry understand the nature of God. The error many people have fallen into is an obsessive desire to rationalize this teaching.
Some contend that the word “Trinity” is not in the Bible, and this has hindered their acceptance and believe of it. They have forgotten that the word, ‘Bible’ is not in the Bible, yet they use the word without reservation. They also fail to note that the word. ’Rapture’ is not in the scripture. But shall we disbelieve the scriptural teaching on the Rapture because the word is not directly written in the Bible?
Another reason some find it difficult to comprehend the scriptural revelation is that they try to compare the human structure with the divine. They reason that it is incomprehensible to talk about one and only God, yet with a Son and Spirit that are co-equal with Him. They have forgotten that it is not possible to know everything about God; else He would cease to be God.
Yet, we make bold to say that there is enough evidence in the scripture to give us all the profitable knowledge we need to have about the nature and attributes of God. He has sufficiently revealed Himself in His word so that every sincere seeker may come to the knowledge of His will and purpose.
Believers must therefore be on their guard not to fall into the same errors and temptations but come with open minds into the statuary of God so that He might reveal His will and purpose to us. Let us, once and for all, lay up this truth in our hearts and be free from being “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in want to deceive”.
May we, therefore, categorically state just as we have believed the facts of atomic or nuclear energy, solar energy or the computer, even before we understood their nature, we must likewise, accept the fact of the Trinity as a teaching revealed in God’s word, and that it is doctrinally sound. Every believer must accept the gospel truth of the Trinity by faith, recognizing that God remains the eternal repository of all mysteries. For “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law”. With all his searching, man has not been able to discover for himself the deep things of God. In fact, we cannot fully grasp the pearls of God’s word except through the revelation of His Spirit.
Right from the beginning, when the earth and man was created, the notion or concept of the trinity of the Godhead has been revealed. The word which is translated ‘Go
d’ in Genesis 1:1 is Elohim, the plural of El (“the strong Ones”). “Him” therefore, means, ‘the strong ones’. This uni-plural noun appears more than 2700 times in the Old Testament. It is interesting to note that God Himself, from the beginning, used plural nouns to explain the work of creation “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let than have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the Cattle, and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:26). The use of the pronouns, ‘us’ and ‘our’ implies the involvement of more than one personality in the creation of man-trinity therefore emphasis the unity of three persons in one God. The scripture clearly trades that the Godhead consists of three separate, distinct, and recognizable personalities and qualities, perfectly united in one. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are different Persons in the Godhead, not merely three names for one Person. The Father is called God (ICor 8:6 , Ps 89:26, IChro 29:10; Isa 63:16; Matt 6:9), the Son, Jesus Christ, is called God (Psalm 45:6,7; Isa 9:6,7; John 20:28), and the Holy Spirit is called God (Act 5:3,4;ICor 3:16,17; 6:19,20;Heb 3:7-9; 10:15,16)
d’ in Genesis 1:1 is Elohim, the plural of El (“the strong Ones”). “Him” therefore, means, ‘the strong ones’. This uni-plural noun appears more than 2700 times in the Old Testament. It is interesting to note that God Himself, from the beginning, used plural nouns to explain the work of creation “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let than have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the Cattle, and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:26). The use of the pronouns, ‘us’ and ‘our’ implies the involvement of more than one personality in the creation of man-trinity therefore emphasis the unity of three persons in one God. The scripture clearly trades that the Godhead consists of three separate, distinct, and recognizable personalities and qualities, perfectly united in one. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are different Persons in the Godhead, not merely three names for one Person. The Father is called God (ICor 8:6 , Ps 89:26, IChro 29:10; Isa 63:16; Matt 6:9), the Son, Jesus Christ, is called God (Psalm 45:6,7; Isa 9:6,7; John 20:28), and the Holy Spirit is called God (Act 5:3,4;ICor 3:16,17; 6:19,20;Heb 3:7-9; 10:15,16)
From the foregoing references, it is clear that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three distinct Persons, co-eternal and co-existent in power and divine attributes. These three personalities are the uncreated Beings who created the heaven and the earth. They have always been and will continue to be. And they are united in every sense. There is no possibility of disagreement between them because they are one in mind, character and purpose. In every action, the three are equally active. The Father is the Creator (Gen 1:1,2; Psalm 100:3; John 1:3) yet the works of creation are ascribed to the Son and the Spirit. (Job 26:13; 33:4; Col 1:12-16; Heb1:2,3).
A 4th Century Christian creed puts it this way. “We worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity….. For the person of the Father is one, of the Son another, and the Holy Ghost another. But of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost there is only one divinity, equal glory, and co-eternal majesty…. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet there are not three eternals but one eternal… Thus the Father, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in This Trinity, there is nothing first or last, nothing greater or less. But all the three co-eternal persons are co-equals among themselves so that through all, as in above said, both unity in Trinity is to be worshiped.” Of a truth, great is the mystery of godliness! “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory”
This doctrine of the Trinity is essential to God’s revelation of truth.
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, and the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Christ is the revelation of the Father and the express image of His person. “Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not know me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father, and how sayest thou then, show us the father?” (John 14:9)
Now if there is no Trinity, then Christ is not God and cannot perfectly know or reveal God. So then, Christianity is the only true religion because Christ is the only true revelation of God, but if Christ is not God then we cannot be sure of His revelation of God, and Christianity will be just another religion like all other religions having its portions of truth and portions of error. But if Christ is God, and indeed He is, as the Bible declares that He is, then Christianity is the absolute revelation of God’s will for mankind. So, then the purpose of God’s revelation of Christ the Life of men is the purpose of the Triune God. The work of man’s redemption is a plan before the foundation of the world by the Father, executed by the Son at the appointed time, and directed by the Holy Spirit.
to be contnued…