Isn’t that the case with a lot of things? If you have the wrong starting point, more than likely, you will end up in the wrong place. Wrong places, turns, perspectives and ideas can take their toll. But the right things give life, understanding and meaning.
One of the most complicated beliefs in traditional Christianity to understand is the Doctrine of the Trinity. Its complication comes from our finite human minds to understand the intricacies of who God is. But denial of the Trinity has massive implications on faith and what God has done for us. This belief is essential to Christian faith, and I would regard it as the “top button” of Christianity. Get this right and your entire belief system is solidified in the way that reveals the beauty of God. Get it wrong and you begin to see faith standing on shaky ground at best.
As a pastor, I always get the questions, “who do I pray to?” or “is Jesus God?” all the time. While they may seem like simple questions, their answers are found in the root of the Doctrine of the Trinity.
So, before we dig in, I want to make 2 things very clear:
- The word “Trinity” does not appear in the Bible.
- The Bible clearly shows evidence of the Trinity in both the Old and New Testament.
According to scholar and theologian Wayne Grudem, the doctrine of the Trinity can be described as follows:
God eternally existing as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God. The word trinity means “tri-unity” or “three-in-oneness.”
Now when we think of the word “person” we think human beings. This is not what we are talking about here. But that “each member of the trinity thinks, acts, feels, speaks, and relates because they are persons and not impersonal forces.” That means the triune God has connection and relationship which makes it clear why relationships are so important to the human condition if we were made in the image of God. So, while the persons of the Trinity think, act, feel, speak, and relate, they also share divine attributes that make them all part of the Triune Godhead. One example of a divine attribute is that they have all existed eternally. None were created or made. They have always and will always exist.
That is A LOT to wrap our minds around. Trust me, I understand. I can say that it is still hard to fully grasp the wonder of who God is. But this is the beauty of the Christian faith. Especially as we dig into each person of the Trinity and what makes them equally and fully God.
God the Father
Probably the clearest aspect of the Trinity is that God the Father is God. It is all over the Old Testament as the Prophets audibly heard from God and were given direction. It is clear from Genesis 1:1 as God created the heavens and the earth. It is even made clear that Jesus calls God Father and prays to Him as such in verses like John 17:1.
Jesus as God
This is where it gets a little tricky for people as the first one seems obvious. Jesus as God is not as complicated as some may think. For example, John 1:1-3 says:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”
So, Jesus, being the Word, was with God and was God. He was active in the creation of all things being made in Genesis.
As stated in John 1:14:
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
So, Jesus is God in human flesh who decided to live among us. But why did Jesus choose to live among us? Philippians 2:5-11 says:
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on across. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
So, Jesus as God took on human flesh to save us! Why? Because it was necessary. No one could be the perfect sacrifice. Only God Himself is perfect and it took a person of the Trinity putting on human flesh to die for the sins of the world.
Amazing isn’t it? But this is just the beginning. We’re looking at New Testament writings which means they were written after Jesus was born. But if He was eternally God before that, is there evidence of Him in the Old Testament? Absolutely! In Genesis 18 God in flesh appears to Abraham under an Oak Tree. In Genesis 32, Jacob wrestles with a man in the middle of the night and once the man leaves, he realizes he was wrestling God in flesh.
Jesus is God and has always existed. No doubt about it. As you begin to look deeper into the divinity of Jesus you are more and more amazed by what God has done for us.
The Holy Spirit as God
This is where most people tend to get lost on the Trinity. On the surface, the Holy Spirit sounds like an impersonal force. But as we established earlier, the Holy Spirit is personal. First, Jesus directs us in Matthew 28:19 on how to baptize people.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”
This is Jesus making it clear that the Holy Spirit is God just as He and the Father are God. They are three in one and all people should be baptized in the name of all three.
The Apostle Paul even writes in 1 Corinthians 2:10-11:
“These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”
Paul wants us to know that the Spirit is God Himself and God reveals His plans and intentions through the Holy Spirit living inside of us.
There is so much more that could be said, but entire text books have been written about the subject. So, I will close by answering this question.
Who do we pray to?
We follow this pattern:
We pray to God the Father because that is how Jesus directs us to pray in Matthew 6:9.
In the name of Jesus because faith in Jesus has given us access to God that would not be possible without faith. In John 14:14-14, Jesus says that whatever we ask in His name we will receive.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit because Ephesians 6:18 says to pray in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit also intercedes for us according to Romans 8:27.
If I can leave you with one thing, it is this: remember the top button. With it, everything else lines up and gives a faith built on solid rock. I encourage you to dig into this doctrine even more as the more you learn, the more you fall in love with the beauty and wonder of God.