Thursday, June 2, 2005
Isaiah 6:3 Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!
OUR TRI-UNE GOD
One of the teachings of Scripture which separates Christianity from the teachings of other religions is the doctrine of the Trinity. But neither the word Trinity nor the word Triune can be found anywhere in the Bible. These are man-made terms which we use to describe a Biblical teaching -- one that is found throughout Scripture.
Having been taught the doctrine of the Trinity from early on, we regularly think in terms of the three individual persons of the Trinity. We associate the work of God the Father with the Creation and Preservation of the world; we think of the work of God the Son in terms of becoming man and dying on the cross for our redemption; and we usually connect the working of God the Holy Spirit to the creating and strengthening of our faith through the Word of God. We regularly think in these terms when we read certain phrases or sections in our Bibles.
For example, when we read Paul's words in the opening verses of Ephesians, where He says: "He chose us ... before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons ... according to the good pleasure of His will" (Ephesians 1:4-5), which person of the Godhead do you think of? Paul is speaking of an individual person of the Trinity in that verse, and the context shows us that the person He is referring to is God the Father (see verse three).
Speaking of another person of the Trinity Paul says in 1 Corinthians "but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified ... by ..." which person of the Godhead? "the Spirit of our God." Paul continues (1 Corinthians 6:11). When we read Colossians 2:9, "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily," we automatically think of Jesus (back up to the reference to Christ in verse 8).
Sections just like these are found throughout the Old and New Testaments. Each time we open up our Bibles we are continually reminded of the work of all three persons of our Triune God -- God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!"
