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.

 

Hope is a Person . . .

 

 

I’ve been reading a fiction series in which the main character is often in danger and hopes her influential father will come to her rescue. As soon as she sees him, her trust is rewarded because his mere presence assures her that she is safe.

This isn’t quite how the Bible defines HOPE but close. It is like the smell of fresh-baked bread as you walk into the house — you cannot see or eat it, but you know it is there waiting to be tasted.

This is like biblical hope. I know the reality of Jesus Christ and although I cannot see Him, I know that He exists and is a real part of my life, both now and in the future. It is in Him I put my hope. In the NT, hope sometimes means wishing or desiring but mostly it is about this firm conviction and faith in Jesus Christ meaning hope is much like faith. He is not visible yet I know He is with me and one day I will see Him.

Hebrews 11:1. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

1 Peter 1:13. “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Hope is not so much a wish as a person because it is based on who God is and what He is doing, His power and promises. It is “through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

He is the “God of hope” who fills me with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit I can abound in hope. That is, this biblical hope is a joyful expectation rather than an anxious emotion based on an “I want” — for which I have no assurance.

Romans 5:5 says, “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” By His power and grace, believers simply know for certain that our future is secure, not because of how we feel about it but because of our God who says so!

This hope includes several things besides the promise of seeing Jesus and having eternal life. Romans 8:20–21 says, “In hope, the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” and Galatians 5:5 tells me that “through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.” Yet the greatest is the One who is my hope:

Colossians 1:27. “ . . . Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

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

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. My hope is strengthened by Scripture that tells me what God has done and is doing, and by the gracious assurance of the Holy Spirit. Like a helmet, this hope protects my mind and gives joy to my heart. It also causes others to wonder about my reasons for this hope and gives me opportunity to share it with those who have no hope and are yet without God. I want them to also know the One who grants this amazing gift.

Romans 15:4. “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

With gratitude for hope, I am compelled “In my heart, to honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks for a reason for the hope that is in me; yet do it with gentleness and respect” — “remembering that I was once separated from Christ, alienated . . . . and a stranger to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:12 and 1 Peter 3:15)

Praise You Jesus, You are my living hope.