Today is Trinity Sunday AND Father’s Day! And, I could hardly wait for Trinity Sunday to arrive! To me the Trinity is fascinating!
People have tried over the centuries since Christ to define the Trinity and explain Him in ways that the human mind can understand.
First, let’s take a quick look at a Scripture from the Holy Bible which distinctly shows the existence of the three persons of the Trinitarian Godhead existing at the same moment of time.
Matthew 3:16-17
“As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.’”
And, Paul, writing to the Corinthian church makes the following statements.
In 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 he states:
"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons."
And then in 2 Corinthians 13:14 Paul states:
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all."
Finally Jesus Himself states in Matthew 28:19
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit …”
Just recently I came across a video on YouTube that made a bit of fun of people’s attempts to use analogies that explain the Trinity.
Here are some examples of analogies people have tried to use in order to bring some understanding to our minds regarding the Trinity.
The egg - yolk, white and shell
This analogy denies the unity of the God-head. The problem with this analogy is that an egg yoke is of a very different substance than a shell. Also, the egg is made up of three distinct and unalike parts. This analogy actually teaches the heresy of tritheism.
Tritheism is the teaching that the Godhead is really three separate beings forming three separate gods.
Then there’s the example of water …
This analogy says that the trinity is like water. Water has three states: solid, liquid, and gas. Although the water changes forms it is still H2O. Just as water changes forms so too is the trinity.
Modalism is probably the most common theological error concerning the nature of God. It is a denial of the Trinity. Modalism states that God is a single person who, throughout biblical history, has revealed Himself in three modes or forms.
Then there’s the example that goes like this …
The trinity is Like a man who is a father, husband, and son. Although he is one he has different roles to different people. The trinity is like this man.
The problem with this analogy is that it denies the distinction of persons in the God-head. The analogy breaks down because I can simultaneously be a father, husband, and son to any one person. In reality, I change my role depending on who I am interacting with. As a result, this analogy actually teaches modalism.
(Don’t forget the Arian heresy or Subordination)
There’s a simple reason they don’t work: The Trinity, as such, isn’t like anything in creation. True, we humans are image bearers but nothing in creation serves as an analogy for the Trinity because the Trinity is a doctrine of special (Biblical) revelation not nature or reason. That’s not to say that it’s not reasonable to believe the Trinity but only that it’s not revealed in nature per se, i.e., the doctrine of the Trinity cannot be deduced from nature. All analogies from nature are necessarily natural, ergo they’re invalid.
We cannot even successfully define the Trinity in an image.
We as humans have a desperate need to understand. What we cannot understand we either dismiss or trust by faith.
Dismiss, explain away or trust by faith …
A friend of mine once told me about going to church and hearing a sermon on Jesus feeding the 5,000. The pastor said that in all likelihood all of the people who were there actually had food with them but it was only after they saw the young boy give his loves and fishes to Jesus that they dared to take their food out from wherever they had it hidden on their persons. To this preacher the miracle was that Jesus gave them the ability to share with others and not in the miraculous multiplication of the five loaves and two fishes!
Understand or dismiss - faith is something else.
One person who tried to establish an understanding of the Trinity was Athanasius.
Creeds - not Scripture but help us to understand, such as the Apostles - Nicene (attempting to define the Diety of Christ) Athanasian - (Trinity)
[W]e worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance.
For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. But the godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.
Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.
The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.
And yet they are not three eternals, but one Eternal.
As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated, but one Uncreated, and one Incomprehensible.
So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Spirit Almighty. And yet they are not three almighties, but one Almighty.
So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. And yet they are not three gods, but one God.
So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord. And yet not three lords, but one Lord.
For as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge each Person by Himself to be both God and Lord, so we are also forbidden by the universal Christian faith to say that there are three gods or three lords.
So there is one Father, not three fathers; one Son, not three sons; one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.
And in the Trinity none is before or after another; none is greater or less than another, but all three Persons are co-eternal together and co-equal. So that in all things, as previous stated, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.
That is amazing! Now, we have a God which we can’t comprehend fully but He is also a God who wants to be known and because He wants us to know Him He gave us His Holy Word, His one and only Son to walk among us and His Holy Spirit to reveal the way to know Him.
So, since it is Father’s Day what can we draw from observing our Triune God?
God is Holy!
As our memory Scripture states it is His desire that we be holy as well and that not only does He call us to be holy but He enables the accomplishment of holiness as well!
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
“May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it.”
Of all of the things we can do to be good fathers or mothers or sons or daughters or sisters or brother or aunts or uncles or second cousins twice removed the greatest thing we can do is to be so absolutely in love with God that it pours out of us and gets all over everyone else!
This holiness is not legalism where you’re wound up all of the time patrolling the world for filthy sinners!
This holiness is not the everything-goes type of love that says live your life anyway you want. It doesn’t matter! The God of eternal love has a mansion just for your highness! It’s all about you!
Listen. If your life is unholy what kind of a witness can you be?
I’m not talking about trying to live a perfect life and neither does the Bible! The Bible is not results oriented or we would still be under the law! The Bible is relationship oriented. That’s why the two great commands which are the foundation of all of the law and the prophets are built on love! But! The proof of that love is obedience to Christ!
It is not don’t murder or gossip because murder is bad! It’s don’t murder because the presence of God is so precious to my life that if I murder someone or if I murder their reputation by gossip I know that it will cause a separation between me and the Lord and the thought of that happening, of that separation almost makes me quake with dread!
It’s a love that is ridiculous! So, ridiculous that if someone offends you or cheats you or hurts you, you don’t strike back because that holy love of God has given you a holy love for others and if by not striking back you can bring them to Christ you will be demonstrating the holiness of God to them which may just draw them to Christ!
So, to be a good Dad or any kind of relative or person seek the holiness of God to be a part of your very own life!
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If you want to be a good Dad, die!
Do you know why some people don’t have an awesome relationship with their kids? They live separate lives!
I’m consumed with my life! For the first five years of fatherhood I was like that! I worked all of the overtime I could get. And then almost every weekend I was gone if not most or all of the weekend ministering with at Gospel music group. Karenlee was left to fend for herself. She had to get the kids ready for church and get them there and take care of the household.
Was what I was doing bad?
No but was it God’s highest calling for me?
But, it might not have been Gospel music. It might have been my career or a hobby or laziness. For some people it might even be that they are uncomfortable spending time with their kids or their siblings or their parents! It can happen!
Whatever it is, if it is causing us to be unable to teach our kids about Jesus or if we are unable to spend time with any of our family members talking about Jesus or praying with them we need to die to our comfort, to our pleasure, to our benefit.
That’s what God did! Wouldn’t it have been easier for Jesus to just remain in heaven with the Father and the Holy Spirit? Was the holy Trinity experiencing personal pleasure while Jesus was being beaten and spit upon and ridiculed and nailed to a cross? NO! But He did it anyway!
That’s the heavenly Father and we are called to lay down our lives, our wishes and our desires in that same way to the Glory of God!
Finally, if we want to be good Dads or good children of God we need to be like the Holy Spirit!
Pointing to Jesus! Guiding those who are seeking the truth to the Way the Truth and the Life!
The Holy Spirit is the silent one and like the Holy Spirit much of what we do for our children and for the kingdom of God will never be heard audibly except by our Father in heaven.
Prayer for our families. Prayer for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Prayer for the lost. Prayer for our church. Prayer for ourselves.
The One God we know as the Triune God is completeness. As we study the incomprehensible One we will see more and more of what is lacking in us and more and more of what He desires for us.
Transformed into His own image.
Invitation.
