Essential Belief In A Triune God

I Introduction:

A) Last week we talked about what God was not

1) I told you that he was not one of many gods

2) I told you that he was not a god that, like an actor took on the role of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

3) We discussed a few of the attributes of God that Christ and the Holy Spirit share. They are one in essence but have distinct personalities that complete and compliment God.

(a) Omnipresent – Is present everywhere. There is no place we can go and hide from God.

b) Omnipotent – God is all powerful, all that has been created was created at the hand of all mighty God.

(c) Omniscient - God is all knowing. He knows your joys, your hurts, your pain, your sorrow, your gratitude and greed, your love and your lust.

II It is essential to the perfection of God

A) We believe in the absolute perfection of God.

1) His Works are perfect Deut 32:4

2) His way is perfect 2 Sam 22:31; Psalm 18:30

3) His law is perfect Psalm 19:7; James 1:25

4) His beauty is perfect Psalm 50:2

5) His faithfulness is perfect Isaiah 25:1

6) His peace is perfect Isaiah 26:3

7) His creation was perfect Ezekiel 28:12-15

8) His will is perfect Romans 12:2

9) He is perfect (Christ) Hebrews 7:28

10) His sacrifice was perfect Hebrews 10:10

11) His gifts are perfect James 1:16

12) His love is perfect 1 John 4:8

( a) The Bible says that God himself is love (1 John 4:7,8)

(1) He loves first

(2) He loves most --------à No one or no thing can compare to the love of God

(3) He loves best

B) If the trinity were not true, then before the creation of anything God could not have been love, and thereby would not have been complete or perfect in nature

1) The American Heritage Dictionary defines perfect as

(a) Lacking nothing essential to the whole; complete of its nature or kind

2) The American Heritage Dictionary defines love as:

(a) A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.

(b) A person who is the object of deep or intense affection or attraction; beloved. Often used as a term of endearment.

(1) God would not have been complete until he created something that could have been the object of his affection

(2) Love is an impossible act to a solitary being

(C) The fact that God is one, yet exist in three persons helps us to understand how God could be love. He idd not become love; He always was love because he could manifest His love toward the other personalities in the Godhead.

III It is essential to God’s revelation of Truth

A) Hebrews 1:1-2 (NIV)

1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,

2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.

1) Hebrews 1 - Tells us that God has revealed himself to us through His Son. In fact Hebrews 1:3a says, “3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…”

2) John 14:9 – Jesus says, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”

3) John 1:1,3,14 - 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

4) We see through the scriptures that Jesus is the perfect representation of God, in fact he is God clothed in flesh.

B) If the trinity of God were not true, then Christ would not be God and could not perfectly know God or reveal God.

1) The Bible says that we see but a poor reflection, or as the New living translation says, “imperfectly as in a poor mirror.” Now our knowledge of God and understanding of His infinite divine, perfect character is only seen in part. If Christ were not God then he too would only have a limited knowledge of Who God is.

2) Christianity claims to be the only true religion because Christ is the only true revelation of God. But if He is not God then:

(a) We can not be sure of his revelation of God

(b) The WORD OF GOD would become void because it would be lying about who Christ is and would misrepresent God because God would not misrepresent himself.