Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
9/6/2022
How Can Jesus be God and Man… The Trinity. Part II
Yesterday we said, that In order to have a more complete grasp of Christ’s incarnation, it is necessary to have some sort of understanding of the Trinity. Might I ask when was the last time you thought about the incarnation or the mystery of the Trinity? We have heard it referenced so many times we just believe it's true, but have you really ever really studied the facts as laid out in God's book of direction or handbook?
Monotheistic religions hold in common the belief that there is only one God and therefore only one divine essence. Christian monotheism does differ from other monotheistic faiths in its understanding of how this essence is possessed by God, even though Christianity agrees that there is only one God and only one divine essence. Other monotheistic faiths teach that the one divine essence belongs to only one divine person. Historic, biblical, and orthodox Christian monotheism, however, says that the one divine essence belongs equally to three distinct divine persons.
God is not merely Allah, for example; He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The doctrine of the Trinity states that God is one being, and this one God exists as three distinct Persons. This truth means, first of all, that we must distinguish each Person of the Trinity from the other two. The Father is not the Son or the Holy Spirit, the Son is not the Holy Spirit or the Father, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son. They are each a distinct center of consciousness, a distinct form of personal existence. Yet, they all share the exact same divine nature/essence. Thus, the three persons are one being. The divine being/essence is not something that is divided between the Persons with each Person receiving one-third. Rather, the divine being is fully and equally possessed by all three Persons such that all three Persons are each fully and equally God.
Although there are over 40 scriptures that speak to God’s Trinitarian, we do not get a full-orbed revelation of the Trinity until the New Testament. John 1:1–18, for example, is a clear teaching on the deity of Christ, the Word who in the beginning was God and was with God. There are also texts wherein the three persons are so closely associated so as to imply that all three are fully divine (for example, 2 Cor. 13:14).
Clearly, the Bible states and teaches that God is triune.
Matthew 28:19 (RSV) "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit".
The Trinity is a doctrine that we cannot fully understand, although there is much we can say. But we do not need to fully understand it in order to affirm it. It is taught in God’s Word, and we are responsible to believe what God’s Word teaches even when complete comprehension escapes us.
Is 55:9 God's ways are far above ours.
Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, . . . ; Jesus applies this to Himself in Lk 4:16-30)
John 15:26 But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me;
Who sanctifies believers? The Father (1 Thess 5:23); Jesus (Heb 13:12); the Holy Spirit (1 Pet 1:2).
So, how does the fact that God is three Persons in one Being
relate to the incarnation?
To answer, let’s consider another question:
Which Person became incarnate in Jesus Christ? All three? Or just one? Which one? The biblical answer is that only God the Son became incarnate. The Father did not become incarnate in Jesus and neither did the Holy Spirit. Thus, Jesus is God, but he is not the Father or the Holy Spirit. Jesus is God the Son.
The truth that it is only God the Son who became incarnate is taught, for example, in John 1:14, which says “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” In context, the Word is God the Son (cf. 1:1, 18, and 3:16). Thus, it wasn’t the Father or the Holy Spirit who became man, but God the Son.
Likewise, at Jesus’s baptism, we see the Father affirming, “You are my beloved Son, in You I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). He did not say, “You are me, and with myself, I am well pleased.” Rather, the Father affirmed that Jesus is the Son, his Son and that Jesus is well pleasing to him. In this same verse, we also see that the Holy Spirit is distinct from the Father and the Son, for the Holy Spirit is present in “bodily form like a dove.”
Why is it important to know that Jesus is specifically God the Son? For one thing, if we do not understand this truth, we will be mistaken about the very identity of our Savior. Further, it greatly affects how we relate to our triune God. If we think that Jesus is the Father or the Holy Spirit, we will be greatly misguided and confused in our prayers.
Tomorrow let's discuss that Jesus has not always been man…. What?
The fantastic miracle is that this eternal God became man through the incarnation approximately 2,000 years ago. That’s what the Incarnation was: God the Son becoming man. And that is the great event we celebrate at Christmas. 2nd Cor 13:14 "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all"
Lastly, how does the Trinity practically apply to our everyday life?
As the source of all, He is to be served as the object of all. Father God is the One to whom we respond with love, prayers worship, and adoration. We also worship the Son and the Holy Spirit, but because even the Son and the Spirit give glory to the Father and share in his glory (e.g., John 16:14-15; 17:4-5), we worship the Three-in-One with an understanding
that the Father is the ultimate object of all.
Tomorrow in part III let's discuss Jesus as 100% man.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAxPm64Vrb8
Jershika Maple Performs for KING & COUNTRY's
"God Only Knows"
Excerpts are taken from the publication Tabletalk
and heavily from Gotquestions.org
