Unity Series

Dakota Community Church

September 4, 2011

Unity

Jeremiah 9:23-24

This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD.

This morning we continue: “God’s Incommunicable Attributes” with a look at the unity that exists in our triune God.

First of all I want to note that God is different than man in this aspect of His being.

Even within our own being we recognize division between body, soul, and spirit.

Galatians 5:17

For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

In this life, on this fallen planet we may experience momentary glimpses of something that is almost unity.

Genesis 11:6

The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

Acts 2:1

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

(NKJV where unity is implied more prominently than in the original text)

These glimpses are nothing compared to the eternal unity that exists as the LORD who is ONE – Father, Son and Holy Sprit.

The Triune God in three sentences:

There is one God. God is three persons. Each Person is fully God.

St. Augustine describes the Trinity with these seven statements:

1. The Father is God

2. The Son is God

3. The Holy Spirit is God

4. The Father is not the Son

5. The Son is not the Holy Spirit

6. The Holy Spirit is not the Father

7. There is only one God.

Why are we bothering to spend time on this kind of thing?

The word “trinity” is not even in the Bible.

This kind of talk leads to nothing but arguing and church-splitting.

Let me remind you that we are out to know the Lord – AS HE IS

Truth matters all the time and in every circumstance but never more than in our pursuit of the knowledge of God.

We live in a day when everything is “relative” – even the definitions of right and wrong vary depending on circumstance for many people.

Our theology cannot be about what makes us feel comfortable or what “works for us”, rather we need to be about what is objectively real and true.

If the doctrine of the Trinity best describes the reality of God’s existence, we need to know it.

Our misunderstanding of this doctrine has some potentially devastating consequences.

If Jesus is not GOD it matters a great deal. Are we to worship a created Jesus?

Should we pray to Him?

Worshipping and praying to a created Jesus would be blatant idolatry.

To the Bible then:

1. The Triune God in scripture

Although the term “Trinity” is never used in the Bible, the concept is seen throughout.

Deuteronomy 6:4

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

This is perhaps the greatest statement of monotheism in the Torah, the word translated “one” is a word which means a collective one, such as a bunch of grapes, or as in “one people”.

“Echad” is the same word used in Gen 2:23-24 in the statement that the man and woman shall become “one flesh”.

Genesis 1:26

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth…

Genesis 3:22

And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”

Isaiah 6:8

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

In many instances there are two persons implied in the passage, both addressed as God or “the Lord”.

Psalm 45:6-7

Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.

In the New Testament we see that this was indeed a reference to Christ and the Father.

Hebrews 1:8

But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”