In both the Old and New Testaments God’s people were surrounded by cultures that believed that there were many gods. Yet the Scriptures taught that there is only one true God. ‘I am the LORD, and there is no other, beside me there is no God’ (Is. 45:5). But how can Christians say that there is one God and yet talk about God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit? J. I. Packer says that this confronts us with ‘perhaps the most difficult thought the mind has ever been asked to handle.’
Within the Old Testament there are several indications of the complex relationship of the triune God. For example in Genesis 1 God says ‘let us make man in our own image.’ This might be considered to be a royal ‘we’ were it not for the fact that the New Testament makes the existence of three persons in the God-head clear. Other Old Testaments indicators of the triune nature of God are the fact the Spirit of God, the angel of the Lord or the wisdom of God ‘seem to be acting as separate from God and yet being God at the same time’ (The Blueprint, Mathias media). Some of the Old Testament passages that look forward to the promised Messiah speak of his divinity—for example he is called ‘Mighty God’ in Isaiah 9:6 and God in Psalm 45:6-7. In the New Testament we see distinction between the Father, Son and Spirit and yet their unity—Jesus commissions the disciples to baptise people in the name [singular] of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Mathew 28:19).
As we try to understand this complex relationship there are some explanations that we must reject. Clearly we can not claim that the Father, the Son and the Spirit are three different gods. We cannot say that each person is one-third of God, for example the Son is not one third God but is God. Neither can we claim that there is one God with only one person in the Godhead—whether that is through denying that the Son and the Spirit are God or by claiming that God appeared in different forms at different times (i.e. that God became the Son and appears as the Spirit).
What the Bible gives us is a complex picture. It shows God living in intimate relationship. This is something that goes beyond human understanding. It is an idea that humankind would never have thought up were it not revealed to us. The doctrine of the Trinity certainly makes Christianity unique among the world’s religions. Yet even though this is a difficult teaching it should not be ignored. The Trinity has many important implications as we will see in the third, and final, part of this blog.
Within the Old Testament there are several indications of the complex relationship of the triune God. For example in Genesis 1 God says ‘let us make man in our own image.’ This might be considered to be a royal ‘we’ were it not for the fact that the New Testament makes the existence of three persons in the God-head clear. Other Old Testaments indicators of the triune nature of God are the fact the Spirit of God, the angel of the Lord or the wisdom of God ‘seem to be acting as separate from God and yet being God at the same time’ (The Blueprint, Mathias media). Some of the Old Testament passages that look forward to the promised Messiah speak of his divinity—for example he is called ‘Mighty God’ in Isaiah 9:6 and God in Psalm 45:6-7. In the New Testament we see distinction between the Father, Son and Spirit and yet their unity—Jesus commissions the disciples to baptise people in the name [singular] of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Mathew 28:19).
As we try to understand this complex relationship there are some explanations that we must reject. Clearly we can not claim that the Father, the Son and the Spirit are three different gods. We cannot say that each person is one-third of God, for example the Son is not one third God but is God. Neither can we claim that there is one God with only one person in the Godhead—whether that is through denying that the Son and the Spirit are God or by claiming that God appeared in different forms at different times (i.e. that God became the Son and appears as the Spirit).
What the Bible gives us is a complex picture. It shows God living in intimate relationship. This is something that goes beyond human understanding. It is an idea that humankind would never have thought up were it not revealed to us. The doctrine of the Trinity certainly makes Christianity unique among the world’s religions. Yet even though this is a difficult teaching it should not be ignored. The Trinity has many important implications as we will see in the third, and final, part of this blog.
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