The word Trinity is used to describe God. You won’t find that word in the Bible, but you will find the concept taught there. Christians believe in one God that is made up of three parts. We don’t believe in three separate gods. We believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost/Spirit.
Let’s look at some examples of one thing made up of three parts:
An apple. We have one apple that is made up of a core, flesh, and skin. We wouldn’t say we have three different apples, would we? We also wouldn’t ask someone, “Hey would you like a bite of my core, flesh, and skin?” Nope. That my friend would be ridiculous.
A braid. Think about braided hair. Braided hair starts as one thing, i.e. hair. It’s divided into three sections, all equal by the way, and the three sections are woven together to form one braid. That’s not a difficult concept to grasp, right?
An egg. This is just like the apple. We have one egg. The egg is made up of the yolk, the white, and the shell. Again all three elements make up the egg, but it’s still considered to be just one thing.
These are very simple examples to try to explain something that’s way more complicated, but you can get the gist of what I’m saying. We have one God. He is made up of three different parts, but it’s still just one God. Let’s look at some scripture:
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Genesis 11:5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6 And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
Both of these examples show God referring to Himself in the plural form. He’s already showing that He is made up of more than one part, even in the book of Genesis at the very beginning of creation. Let’s take a closer look at each part of God.
God the Father
When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are reconciled to God the Father. Jesus restores the relationship we had with God way back in the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve messed everything up. The Bible even says we cry “Abba, Father”. Abba is the Aramaic word for “Dad or Daddy”, which are intimate names for Father. Isn’t that a beautiful thought?
Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Jesus prayed to “the Father” many times in the New Testament:
John 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. 3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
God the Son
The Bible tells us, very clearly, that Jesus is the Son of God. In fact, Jesus is God’s only Son. The book of John says that Jesus was the “Word made flesh”.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
There’s so much information in the first few verses of the book of John. I encourage you to read the entire chapter. From here we can see that Jesus was with God from the very beginning. It says Jesus was with God and He was God. How do we know this is referring to Jesus? Verse 14 tells us the Word was made flesh. The Word (which was God) dwelt among us. Isn’t that awesome?
Ok, we know that Jesus prayed to God the Father. Did God the Father ever speak to Jesus? Yup!
Luke 3:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
Matthew 17:5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. 6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. 7 And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.
God the Holy Spirit/Ghost
The third person of the Trinity is the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. Spirit and Ghost are used interchangeably, but they both refer to the same thing. The Holy Spirit is our teacher, guide, comforter, helper. He dwells in us. He gives gifts to us, i.e. the Gifts of the Spirit.
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Romans 8:9 - But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Acts 4:31 - And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
The Trinity can be kind of difficult to understand completely. Not all Christians believe in the Trinity. Some believe that it is Jesus only. I’m not here to debate the subject. I happen to believe in the Trinity, and I wanted to share some of the scriptures that I’ve studied that support this doctrine.
Next week, Lord-willing, we’re gonna discuss the Second Coming of Jesus. Did you know that He’s coming again? He sure is, and I can't wait!
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