The Benediction Of The Trinity Series

Reading: 2 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 14.

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all”.

• The date: Monday July 16th 1945.

• The time: 5.30 in the morning.

• The place: 35 miles (56 km) away from the sleepy village of Carizozo, New Mexico.

• What happened: A blinding flash, a deafening roar & the first atomic bomb was detonated.

ill:

• 21 days later on August 6th ;

• President Harry Truman announced to the American people,

• That an atomic bomb had been dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

• The city was almost completely destroyed.

• Seventy thousand people died instantly,

• In the following weeks, thousands more would also perish.

• Oddly enough the code name for the atomic bomb project was:

• ‘Trinity’.

• The first bomb was tested in the desert of New Mexico;

• And the third bomb dropped on August 9th in Nagasaki, Japan.

• I guess they chose the name ‘Trinity’, simply because it means three;

• But we can only guess!

• Now our benediction this morning; is more than a trinity – in fact it is a trinity of trinities.

• Let’s look at the first one:

(1). A Trinity of persons.

Note:

• The word ‘Trinity’ is not a Bible word;

• i.e. in that it is a word not found in the Bible text;

• It is a word that is derived from the Latin "Trinitas",

• Meaning "the number three, a triad”.

Ill:

• If ever you speak to a Jehovah Witness;

• They are keen to point out that this word ‘Trinity’ is not found in the Bible.

But Jehovah Witness’ (like Christians) often use terms that are not found in the Bible’;

• e.g. ‘Millennium’ – a great description for a thousand year i.e. reign of Christ.

• e.g. ‘Theocracy’ – a great description for God’s rule.

• e.g. ‘Monotheism’ – a great description of belief in only one God.

• These words may not be in the biblical text;

• But their doctrine certainly is!

• Our Christian vocabulary is full of good terms and language;

• That might not be in the Biblical text, but they clearly explain biblical principles.

Now when talking about the ‘Trinity’, Perhaps a better term is ‘Godhead’ or ‘Deity’:

• We are saying that there is one eternal God, with one essence;

• Existing in three persons who are equal yet distinct.

• Both the Old Testament & the New Testament teach this truth;

• It is not a new truth invented by the Church, it is found from cover to cover in the Bible.

Ill:

• Genesis chapter 1 verse 1:

• “In the beginning God (plural) created the heavens (dual) and the earth (single)”.

• The word translated God is not in the singular but in the plural.

• ‘Elohim’ - which means three or more.

• Ill: Jewish interpretation says that God was using the royal ‘we’;

• Ill: Margret Thatcher years ago meeting the press and saying; “we are a grandmother”.

• Ill: The Jehovah Witnesses say that God was talking to the angels;

• But they conveniently forget that we are not made in the image of angels!

• Now for the Christian that mystery (of Gen 1:1) is explain throughout the rest of the Bible

• The one singular triune God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit made the world.

Ill:

• The Old Testament equivalent of John 3 verse 16 is:

• Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 4 (Sh’ma): “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord”

• The word translated as ‘one’ is a plural word and is teaching a composite unity.

• Ill: Genesis chapter 2 verse 24:

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”

• This verses is teaching a plural oneness;

• The two are one and yet the one is two!

Now:

• Both the Old Testament & the New Testament teach this truth;

• It is not a new truth invented by the Church, it is found from cover to cover in the Bible.

• But the early Church certainly believed in the ‘Godhead’ or Deity’.

• That can be clearly seen in various documents.

Ill:

• If you check out the witness of the early Church.

• Their beliefs are recorded in what we call ‘The Creeds’.

• A creed is simply a statement of belief;

• Creeds (e.g. Apostles creed) are regularly said in many Churches all around the world.

• Creeds came into being and were needed because the books of the New Testament;

• Were not yet collected together & available in one book form.