The Trinity - Lesson 1

The Trinity

Lesson 1

Recently I gave a series of three lessons to the young adults in our church. They had requested to know more about the Trinity, a fact I was mightily impressed by. This is the first of three posts that contain some notes I used. They are a bit rough and ready, but I hope you find them useful.

The other two lessons can be found at:
The Trinity - Lesson 2
The Trinity - Lesson 3

Bibliography

Delighting in the Trinity - Tim Chester

The Good God -Michael Reeves

The Forgotten Trinity -James White

Introduction

First of all we will try and get a picture of why the Trinity is so important, and not just an obscure doctrine invented to confuse the rest of us.

Suppose we read the Bible, starting with the Old Testament, and we see that God is the creator and He is all powerful. Then we see that He is also a holy God, and demands that His people are holy. There are the two greatest commandments:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

Love your neighbour as yourself.

Who can honestly say that he has done these things? Then we read in Deut 28:15

If you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all His commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you.

My, we are in big trouble now. But let’s then turn to the New Testament, what do we learn about Jesus? We see that all things were created through Him and for Him.  We see that He has been given all power and authority. In the sermon on the mount He says our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees. He says if we look at a woman with lust we are guilty of adultery, if we have hatred for our brother in our hearts we are like a murderer. We also read that the Holy Spirit will come into the world to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgement.

We still seem to be in big trouble, but then we also see that Jesus came to save sinners, He came to forgive. He went to the cross and took upon Himself the punishment that we deserve. He rose again so that we could have eternal life. Things are looking better! Then we read that God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son so that we would not perish but have eternal life. So the Father loves us too and He and the Son were working together in rescuing and forgiving us. 

And the Holy Spirit works to open our hearts and minds to see the goodness of God in Christ. He bears witness to who Jesus Christ is. But we also read that He works in our hearts so that we cry “Abba Father”, so that we may know that God is our Father.

We see throughout the Bible that God has a plan and a purpose, then we read in the New Testament that all His plans are fulfilled through Jesus Christ (we also read this in Isaiah as well). Moreover, the Holy Spirit works in our lives to sanctify us, to transform us, to make us ever more Christlike, and He works so that we are involved in God’s plans. God works out His plans and purposes in us and through us.

I could go on with many more things, but are you starting to get a feeling of how the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, are in complete harmony, working together as one. Of how God’s relationship with us, of how our knowing God, of how His plans for our lives, and our lives for His plans, is all completely dependent upon God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

We will look at some of the “technical” aspects of the Trinity, ie theological understanding, answering criticisms, etc, but I also want us to understand the heart of the matter. The Trinity is about who God is, His relationship with us, and His work in our lives.

Definition of the Trinity

God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God.

Fully God means:

Eternal

Omnipresent - everywhere

Omnipotent – all powerful

Infinitely wise

Infinitely holy

Infinitely loving

Omniscient – all knowing

Biblical Basis

The Bible never mentions the word trinity, but does say that:

1. God is three persons
2. Each person is fully God
3. There is one God

These three statements make up the doctrine of the Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity summarises what the Bible says about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.