One God? or Three?

 

 

There is much confusion and argument over the concept of the trinity. How can there be ONE God yet three? However, is there confusion and a battle over H₂O? Is it not three: water, steam and ice? Yet one element? Most all known elements are like this one in that they can be a liquid, a solid, or a gas yet their essence does not change. Could this reflect the One who created all things?

In the OT, the word for one does not signify isolation or aloneness. Hebrew has another word for that idea. Instead it is an important word that describes marriage making two people “one flesh,” yet they do not lose their individuality.

It is the same idea expressed in descriptions of God. The Shema, Israel’s confession of faith says: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” stressing monotheism (that there is only one God) and the uniqueness of Israel’s God, but this does not suggest that the Lord God is a solitary, isolated, alone individual. Like marriage, God is described in relationship to Himself. In Genesis 1:26 He says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness . . . .” which is consistent with NT teaching about Him.

The NT uses a Greek word that refers to “one God” and also to explain the unity in the body of Christ. We are members of “one body” and are “one in spirit” with “one hope” and “one Lord” and “one baptism” and “one faith” yet we are many. This one God is also spoken of many as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

In human terms, one crowd is made up of many people, and one team is two horses, yet one God is not three gods. Instead, this One God is three distinct Persons, each Person being fully God, yet there is only one God. Again, H2O illustrates as one element in three distinct forms yet there is only one H2O.

John Piper (LINK) points out that the Bible speaks of the Father as God, Jesus as God, and the Holy Spirit as God:

Philippians 1:2. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Titus 2:13. “Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Acts 5:3–4. Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”

Some might argue that these are merely three different ways of looking at God, or simply ways of referring to three different roles that God plays, but the Bible also indicates that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons. For instance, the Father sent the Son into the world, and when the Son returned to the Father, they sent the Holy Spirit into the world.

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. When I pray, my concentration might be on my heavenly Father, or on my Savior Jesus Christ or I might be thinking of the Holy Spirit who helps me know how to pray, yet my words are heard by each Person in this triune God. He is united in how He cares about me and how He will respond to my prayers. I have confidence that there is no division in the Godhead. I can also see from thinking about Him how He wants His people, me included, to think about each other — in unity and in sharing the love, peace, and joy that He gives us without division. In Him, we are one.

 

Seeing His Likeness

 

Some years ago a certain entertainer stood on a beach, threw her hands in the air, and declared, “I am God.”

Apparently, she fell for the same line that a certain snake said to another woman standing in a garden. The snake suggested, “You will be like God knowing good and evil” and that woman thought this was a good idea. She forgot, or ignored, or did not realize that she had been created in the image of God, or if she did, she didn’t think that was good enough.

Genesis 1:26. Then God said, “Let us make man (general term for humankind) in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Before thinking of the implications of her decision, I’m thinking of the wonder of being created in the image of God. Note that He uses plural words to describe Himself. The Scriptures brings out that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, perhaps a hint that we are like Him in that we are body, soul, and spirit. Aside from that thought, the above verse says He gave humanity dominion or authority over the world and we share in a smaller way the dominion of God over all creation. Another suggestion is in the “Let us make . . .” is that the godhead is creative and communicates with one another. We are and do that as well.

We also have the capacity to think, feel emotion, make decisions, to love and hate, to know God even, all because we are like Him. Yet there is nothing in the entire Bible that says He is like us. The decision to “be like God” by doing the only thing God forbid has smeared that likeness. Our sin has made a muddled mess that distorts His image in us into a faint idea of what it should be.

The OT word for LIKENESS is used in many ways. It can denote a simple comparison, an image or pattern, a shape or figure, even an audible similarity. It is used in Ezekiel’s visions of unfamiliar forms and shapes that he tried to compare with things he knew. The inspired writers of those OT books give clues in their word choices, yet God is not visible and humanity is muddied up with sin, meaning we struggle to understand what God is like.

The NT offers a better way to know what God is like — the Son became one of us! This member of the godhead “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:7–8) His reason for this was to deal with sin and clear it away so God’s image can shine in us as God intended! Romans 8:3–4 says more about this process:

“For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

The NT word for likeness can refer to “a similarity, a likeness.” It describes the incarnation of Jesus. Jesus was fully human and fully divine. By taking on the likeness of humanity, Jesus took on mere human appearance but unlike us, He was sinless and therefore uniquely human, unmarred and perfect.

Not only that, He revealed what God is like. Hebrews 1:3 declares, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature . . . .”

Even so, that certain snake is still at work. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says, “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Without faith, we cannot see Him as sinless, the perfect sacrifice who died bearing our sin and who rose from the dead defeating sin and death and making salvation available to all. Instead, those who are blinded make themselves god of their own lives. Some are deceived to think that they are god.

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. I cannot see God nor fully understand what He looks like, but through the words of those inspired by His Spirit, I can see Him in Jesus Christ and in those who are forgiven and cleansed, who walk in the Spirit and deny their old fleshy nature. None of us are God, but we bear His likeness and my greatest desire is that I can bring Him glory by letting His likeness shine through my life. As 2 Corinthians 4:11 explains, “For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”