A few things to review from week one about the Trinity….
In the Trinity, God reveals Himself as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The doctrine of the Trinity is foundational to the Christian faith.
It’s important for us to understand what God is like, how He relates to us personally, and how we should relate to Him daily.
The doctrine of the Trinity is important because it is concerned with who God is, what He is like, how He works, and how He is to be approached.
After the series, my goal is to help you understand the following:
- The oneness of God.
- The deity of three.
- Three-in-oneness.
In the Trinity, God reveals Himself as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The Trinity is the perfect example of love, and the Trinity points to the relationship we are meant to have with God and with each other.
A very important belief in Christianity is that there is only one God.
Deut. 6:4 – Shema Prayer, this is the OT statement of faith.
4“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
We pray by the power of the Holy Spirit to God the Father, and we finish each prayer in the name of Jesus.
We also can see in John 14:6 that we come to the Father through Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The first person of the Trinity is God the Father.
We see God as the Father of Israel recorded throughout the Scriptures.
- 32:4-9; Ps. 2; Is. 63:16-17.
One of the most powerful statements in the Bible is “God is love.”
1st John 4:8
8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
When we say God is love – this shows that real love is part of the fabric of Creation.
From the beginning the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have been in community.
- “one in oneness”
The teachings of God’s oneness is not restricted to the Old Testament.
James 2:19 – commands belief in one God. – Paul hits on the uniqueness of God.
19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
1st Cor. 8:4-6 – Paul here writes his discussion on eating meat that was normally offered to idols.
4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and oneLord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
1st Timothy 2:5-6 – Paul continues to talk about the oneness of God.
5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
1st John 4:7-21
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifestamong us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses thatJesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are, we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.