The Triune God

Transcript:

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

God is a being like no other. Since the Creator is the one who gives being to everything—something no other being can do—it follows that He must be categorically unlike anything else. Thus, we should not expect to totally comprehend God.

However, just because we cannot know God fully, doesn’t mean we can’t know him Truly. Although we are unable to “climb up” and discover God, this is no hindrance for God to, so to speak, “come down” and reveal Himself to us. And this is exactly what God has done for us in the Bible.

Now, one truth God has revealed about Himself is that from all eternity He has existed as a love relationship of three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is what we call the Trinity.

The theologians summarize this in three basic propositions:

· First, each person of the Trinity is equally God—the Father is God; the Son is God; the Holy Spirit is God.

· Second, the three persons of the Trinity are all eternally distinct persons—the Father is not the Son; the Son is not the Father; the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son.

· And yet, thirdly, there is only one God—One God in three persons, and three persons in one God.

Although we can know this for certain, yet the triune nature of God remains a great mystery—something we will ponder, worship, and delight in all our days. Although we may not get our minds around it, yet this truth drives us to praise God, for by it we know that love is real because we now know that God IS eternal love relationship.

And that’s something, not only to think about, but to adore in worship, from the Kingdom Perspective.

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete."

~1 John 1:1-4 (ESV)

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

~John 17:20-26 (ESV)

*Below, we are appending some basic catechism questions that go along with this Kingdom Perspective. A catechism is a classical Christian teaching device, helping both children and adults better understand the unique claims of the Bible. Below, you will find questions taken from both a children’s catechism and a more advanced catechism. For the full catechisms, you may go to our website by clicking here.

Questions for Kids: A Basic Catechism for Children

14. How many Gods are there?

There is only one true God.

15. How many persons is this one true God?

Three. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

An Advanced Catechism

8. Are there more Gods than one? 

There is but one only, (Deuteronomy 6:4) the living and true God. (Jeremiah 10:10)

9. How many persons are there in the Godhead? 

There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one God, the same in essence, equal in power and glory. (1 John 5:7; Matthew 28:19)