1x1x1=1

Have you ever tried to explain something to a preschooler? With four kids, I have tons of stories of them trying to understand something that is way beyond their little minds. Some of the time they are hysterical, other times their questions have a ring of simple truth, but sometimes they can't hope to understand. Right now they are going through one of these times. My oldest son is 8 years old and right now he and my wife are in Bethesda, MD going through the beginning stages of a bone marrow transplant. They left June 1 and are hoping to be back around the first part of October if everything goes well. My other three children are 4, 4, and 3. They look at their dad and say, "I miss momma..." or "I miss my brother...".Because of the distance and because of the risk to their brother, they won't get to see them for at least three months and that's only if he is doing well enough for them to visit. As a father I understand all of this. I can see that this is necessary and that good will come out of it, but they can't. I've tried my best to explain to them that their mom and brother will be back, but that it will be a long time. The hardest time for them, and for me, is when I have to leave them some place. Whether it's daycare, babysitter, or grandparents, they don't want me to leave. My four year old son is the strong type. He gives me a hug and then walk resigned into the daycare. He'll stand at each window and wave to me as I walk to the van. He doesn't cry, but he doesn't smile either, he simply  accepts that I will be back. His four year old sister gives me a hug and is gone though I can tell by her eyes that she doesn't like this any better than her brothers; she seems to adapt the fastest to all this. My little one is not as big as his siblings. "But I miss you dad", is all he'll say as he clings to my neck , or leg, or hides behind me. So we hug and talk and give lots of kisses. I try to remind all of them that I will be back, it's just for a little while. I remind them of the things they do understand to help them accept the things they can't. Yes, I'm tearing up as I write this, but emotion is not why I began with this. There are some things about God that we cannot understand, we just have to accept them. One of those things is the idea of the Trinity.

The doctrine of the Trinity is hard to put into words, so I'm going to rely on people much smarter than I am. Here's an article that gives a basic definition of the Trinity and an intro into the "problems" that arise.

TRINITY - The coexistence of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in the unity of the Godhead (divine nature or essence). The doctrine of the trinity means that within the being and activity of the one God there are three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Although the word trinity does not appear in the Bible, the "trinitarian formula" is mentioned in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19) and in the benediction of the apostle Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 13:14).

(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright © 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

Here's the trinitarian formula expressed mathematically, 1x1x1=1. Simply put, while there is only one God He is three distinct parts. There are many ways of sorting this out in the mind. I'm not going to get into them, because it simply guess work. Anyone who tells you anything different is either blessed by God with a vastly superior understanding, or is an idiot. What we can do is look at each part of the Trinity and see what its function is. The rest is simply faith...can you simply trust what you can't understand?

Let's start with the two verses from the article. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus has finished his work on Earth and is about to go back to Heaven. He is giving His final instructions to the disciples along with what most Christians call the Great Commission.

"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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

The idea of baptism is to publicly state that you have dedicated your life to follow God. It is an outward symbol of inward transformation. Jesus says here that when you baptize a new disciple you must do it in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. When a person becomes a Christian they do not dedicate their life to Christ, or to the Father, or even to the Holy Spirit. They are dedicating to follow God who is a combination of all three. Each part plays a different role for the believer, none can be left out.

Let's start with the Father. If someone is a Father then they must have a child. We've looked at these verses before, but this time notice the truth that God created us found in Acts 17:24-28,

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' "

The apostle Paul is preaching to a crowd of Greeks that everyone is an offspring of God. Whether you believe in Him or not, you were created by Him when and where He wanted you to be created. Why did He create us? "So that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him." We were created to have a relationship with God of our own choosing. He is our Father; we are His children.

There are many other verses in the Old and New Testaments that relay this idea.

Deuteronomy 32:6
Is this the way you repay the LORD,
O foolish and unwise people?
Is he not your Father, your Creator,
who made you and formed you?

Psalm 68:5
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.

Hebrews 12:9
Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!
 
James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Psalm 103:13-14
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

 

This last verse is a good one to lead into the Son. John 3:16 sums up why the Son came to Earth.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Jesus states Himself what He has come to do. As Psalm 103 says above, God the Father is compassionate so He sent His Son to become a man and take the penalty for our sins. This does not mean that Jesus was created when Mary became pregnant, nor that at one point the Son was created by God. Jesus says specifically that He was with the Father all along as found in John 17:5
 
"And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began."

 The entire first part of John chapter one explains how the Son (the Word) was with God in the beginning. Not that he was a god, but that he was God. The two are not separated. The Father and the Son share the same attributes and abilities and therefore share the praise and honor. Look at John 5:21-23.

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

Jesus was God becoming human to do something we couldn't. Phillipians2:6-11 states very simply who Jesus was, what He became, what He did, and what He deserves."

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death —
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
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.

 

Finally we come to the Holy Spirit. It is easy to push the Holy Spirit to a back burner and say that He is simply a part of God here on earth, or that He is what we call Jesus when he lives in our heart. But the Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit as a distinct and separate entity. Here are a few verses that speak to who the Holy Spirit is and what He does.

Part of the Creation process - Job 33:4
The Spirit of God has made me;
the breath of the Almighty gives me life. 

Source of knowledge, skill, and ability - Exodus 31:3
And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts...

Part of Jesus becoming human - Luke 1:35
The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

Counselor who teaches the truths of God - John 14:26
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
 
Gives power to do God's work - 1 Corinthians 2:4
My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power,
 
 There are countless other references to the Holy Spirit. Most important for us is what we find in John 14:16-20.

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

Christ promised that He would not leave us alone. The Holy Spirit is that promise. Above that, He is our Counselor. He will teach us the truths of God and direct us in where we should go. He remains in us forever, giving us power when we need it.

There is so much more to be said about the Trinity and the parts of the whole. There are so many things that I glazed over or skipped simply because it would taake too much time. The reason I brought all this up is so you could come to grips once again with the fact that there are things we cannot even begin to understand. As we wade through more of the Bible, we will come across these ideas again. God has answered many of our questions. The key to understanding this one is still beyond us. Look at what God has revealed through His Word. He has explained Himself far more than any of us would to our own children. What will you do with this mystery? Will you use it as proof that believing in God is ridiculous? Or are you willing to accept God regardless?


All Scripture taken from the New International Version