No More Lone Rangers

No More Lone Rangers- 2 Corinthians 13:14

Sermon for 5/4/2008

Introduction:

Bring an egg and how that displays the trinity. 3 parts but still one egg- Might help some.

WBTU:

A. (2 Cor 13:14 NIV) May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

B. What a nice way to end his letters to the Corinthians.

C. Much deeper than that. Here Paul introduces a theological concept, the concept of the Godhead, or more commonly referred to as the Trinity.

Thesis: Talk about 2 things this morning. First, talk about the doctrine of the Trinity. Lastly, talk about how this applies to the Corinthians and to us.

For instances:

I. The doctrine of the trinity.

A. There are 3 persons who are each described in the Bible as being deity. These are: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

B. Other Scriptures besides 2 Corinthians 13:14 give evidence to this:

1. (Rom 15:30 NIV) I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.

2. (1 Pet 1:2 NIV) who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

C. In describing the Triune nature of God, the best approach is to use statements that simply express oneness and plurality without elaborate explanation.

D. A simple way of summarizing the Triune nature of the Godhead:

1. Three in person

2. One in nature, glory, and purpose

3. 3 = 1 = 3 or 1 = 3 = 1

E. Our songs summarize this: The Church’s One Foundation- Yet she on earth hath union with God the Three in One; Come Thou Almighty King- To Thee, great One in Three, Eternal praises be.

F. Three errors that need to be avoided:

1. there are three gods. (Deu 6:4 NIV) The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

2. There is one God who pretends to be three different persons.

3. There is one absolute God and two gods with lesser qualities.

G. Notice something here that the Godhead works together as a team, in community.

1. Creation- In the beginning God (plural in Hebrew for God) Genesis 1:1

A) (Gen 1:2 NIV) Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

B) (John 1:1 NIV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.(John 1:2 NIV) He was with God in the beginning.(John 1:3 NIV) Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

C) (1 Cor 8:6 NIV) yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live.

2. Creation of Man- (Gen 1:26 NIV) Then God (plural) said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness." Can angels make something out of nothing?

3. Our Salvation- Picture of 2 Corinthians 13:14

A. Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ

1. (John 1:16 NIV) From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.(John 1:17 NIV) For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

2. Grace is God’s riches at Christ’s expense. (Eph 2:8 NIV) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--

3. Robert Baldwin: ‘We can journey to Calvary over and over and we will return with our cups full and over flowing. When we are down and so discouraged that we feel no one cares what happens to us, then we journey out to Calvary, for, “This is love.”’

B. Love of God

1. John 3:16

2. ’The measure of the love of God is in what, or I should say, who He gave. He gave His Son. His life. His only begotten. He gave everything, nothing held back, every last ounce, all in all.’ If you want proof that God is love look to the cross of Calvary; look at the Son of God dying in agony of soul bearing the sin of the world! ‘…if we are looking for a definition of love, we should look not in a dictionary, but at Calvary.’ There can be a tendency today to focus purely on the Lord Jesus and the sacrifice that He made in giving Himself up to the cross. But we must never forget too the great infinite love of the Father and what it cost Him to send His Son for us.