The God of the Bible: Three and One

The Pursuit of Knowing God

This morning we begin our new sermon series. It is titled the ultimate pursuit of Knowing God. What is he and who is he? It is titled the ultimate pursuit because this is true in life. There are many great pursuits in life that are worthwhile for humanity like exploring outer space or exploring the deepest parts of the ocean.

Or finding a cure for cancer to name a few. But nothing compares to the pursuit of knowing God. All of us are here, and there's only one reason that we are here. God created us, and he planned that we would be here.

Our existence is entirely dependent on his. Have you ever thought about that? If God ceased to exist, so would we. But of course that can't happen. But we must remember how dependent on God we are. God is the greatest being in the universe.

No being could be greater. We can know some things about him, but we cannot know everything. Knowing God is like a bottomless pit. You never get to the bottom because God is unsearchable. One of my motivations in this sermon series is that we would know God as he is described in the Bible.

The Bible has revealed much, and we are going to look at that over the next 12 weeks. June, July, and August. As we learn more about God together, my prayer is that we would not just have data about God.

But that we would actually know him better. Have a deeper relationship with him, and that we would love him more. My goal over this sermon series is that we would reflect his character. This morning, our topic is the Trinity, and you may have noticed with the songs that we sang, they were all Trinitarian.

The Bible teaches that God is three and one. I'm going to do my best to show you this in Scripture. We worship three persons who are also God. Now, as you know, we got new Bibles recently, and typically I would have you turn to a page of the Bible.

Because typically we go through books of the Bible. We just went through Philippians, and in the fall, we're going to go through Genesis. But I'm actually going to be jumping all over the place over the next 12 weeks.

So my encouragement to you with the outline that you have in your bulletin is to write down as many Scripture passages as you can that I list. And then at a later time, my encouragement to you is to look at these again.

And that'll help you understand it better. It's like driving a nail in. I'm driving the nail in half by telling you this, and then when you go back later and look at it, the nail's being driven in fully.

Okay, so that's my encouragement to you over this sermon series. Our big idea this morning is God is one being and three equally divine persons. God is one being and three equally divine persons. And we're going to look at three evidences from Scripture.

The Trinity Revealed Throughout the Old and New Testaments

The first is the entire Bible describes three persons who are also God. You will hear people say that the word Trinity is not in the Bible. And this is true. The word Trinity is a Latin word that was coined by an early church leader by the name of Tertullian in the late 2nd century, early 3rd century.

A .D. So probably about 200 years after Christ was on the earth. The word Trinity literally means tri-unity. Tri-unity. So the word Trinity is used to describe the nature of God. And that is that he is one and also three.

Before we jump in to look at the biblical evidence that says this. Let me say that the Trinity is a great mystery. A great mystery. We have a hard time wrapping our finite minds around it. And while I say it is a mystery It's important to stress that it's not irrational.

It's not a contradiction of terms to say that God is one and also three. People will say, how can something be one and three? If we were to say that God is one being and three beings. That would be a contradiction.

But we're not saying that. We're saying that God is one being and three persons. You notice the difference there? Not one being and three beings, one being and three persons. So it's incredible to think that.

That this is not a contradiction of terms. Each person has all the attributes of God that make God, God. Not one has less, not one has more. They have equally the attributes of God. So the Trinity is not irrational.

But the Trinity is a mystery. We shouldn't expect to know everything about God. Remember, he's unsearchable. It is a mystery. Now Genesis 1, 1 and 2 says. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

The earth was without form and void. And darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Each person of the Trinity is involved in the creation.

The Father speaks and things come into existence. We learn from the New Testament. Is that the Son is the one who actually creates things. And the Spirit is mentioned in verse 2 of Genesis 1. So each person of the Trinity is involved in creation.

So we see the plurality. And when I say plurality, I mean many. We see the plurality of God right away. Right at the beginning of the Bible. We see it also in the first chapter of Genesis. In Genesis 1, 26 Genesis 1, 26 says.

Then God said, let us make man in our image. After our likeness. Have you ever caught that when you read Genesis 1?

Let us.

He didn't say let me. He said, let us make man in our own image. And some people have said, well, is he talking to the angels? Well, he can't be talking to the angels. Because we're not made after the image of angels.

We're made after the image of God. And they say, let us make them after our image. So it's amazing to see this. The Bible's full of treasures. And this is certainly one of them. The doctrine of the Trinity.

We see God as a plurality again after man's sins. In the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3, 22. Then the Lord God said, behold, the man has become like one of us Knowing good and evil. Okay, you see it again.

One of us.

You see a plurality there. After the Tower of Babel. In Genesis 11, 7 We see that there is more than one person. Of course, the Tower of Babel is where they tried to build this tower up to heaven. And God confuses the languages.

It says, come, let us go down there and confuse their language. So that they may not understand one another's speech. Okay, it says, let us go down. Three persons of the Trinity. I'm getting ahead of myself here a little bit.

The Bible, it doesn't mention how many persons. It just mentions that there are many so far. Now in Isaiah 6, 8 God is deciding who is going to be sent on his behalf. He asks questions to other persons.

He says in Isaiah 6, 8. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send? And who will go for us? We see it again. There are other persons here who are also God. Every passage of scripture that I just read Mentions that there are several persons in the Trinity.

But they do not indicate how many. Okay, so several, yes. How many, I haven't revealed that yet to you. Even though I just told you pretty much. The book of Isaiah starts to get more specific. Isaiah 48, 16 Actually mentions each person of the Trinity.

Isaiah 48, 16 It says, draw near to me, hear this. From the beginning, I have not spoken in secret. From the time it came to be, I have been there. And now the Lord God has sent me and his spirit. Okay, so the Lord is sending the Lord and his spirit.

Okay, so we see three persons that are mentioned here. Isaiah 61, 1 mentions each person also. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me. Because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. Okay, the spirit of the Lord is upon me.

This is the Messiah. The suffering servant of the Old Testament. He's saying, so this is Jesus. Jesus is saying, the spirit of the Lord is upon me. Because the Lord, okay, the Father Has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.

In Isaiah 63, 10, the Holy Spirit is mentioned. And the Holy Spirit is also mentioned in Psalm 51, 11. In Psalm 45, 6 and 7, God is talking to God. This is what it says. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you With the oil of gladness beyond your companions. And we know from Hebrews, in the Old Testament Hebrews chapter 1, verse 8 That God the Father is talking to God the Son.

In Hosea 1, 7, God the Father is talking. And he says he is going to save Judah by the Lord. He says, but I will have mercy on the house of Judah. And I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or sword.

Or by war or horses or by horsemen. Okay, so the Lord says I'm going to save them By sending the Lord. He's not sending himself. He's sending someone else who is also the Lord. Okay, so stick with me here as I go through this.

In Malachi 3, 1, the Lord is sending another person Who is also Lord. Behold, I send my messenger. And he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek Will suddenly come to his temple. And the messenger of the covenant In whom you delight.

Behold, he is coming Says the Lord of hosts. So the Lord is sending the messenger here Who is also the Lord. And you will also see As you've read the Old Testament in the past The angel of the Lord. Have you ever seen that when you read the Old Testament?

In some places when the angel of the Lord is mentioned It's what we call. This is a fancy word here so don't be intimidated by it. It's called a theophany. And what that means is that God Takes on human form.

And this happened. This happened throughout the Old Testament. When the angel of the Lord came It was actually God as the messenger. He himself became the messenger. So instead of sending another angel He himself came.

And it was called the angel of the Lord. So we see clearly from the Old Testament That the one true God Has a plurality to him. The Old Testament states that there are many. And it even hints that there are three of them.

Now the New Testament Thankfully sheds more light on this awesome reality.

About God.

At Jesus' baptism We see the three persons of the Trinity clearly described. Matthew 3, 16, and 17. And when Jesus was baptized Immediately he went up from the water. And behold the heavens were opened to him.

And he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove And coming to rest on him. And behold a voice from heaven said This is my beloved Son With whom I am well pleased. Okay so Jesus is here. The Spirit descends on him.

And then there's a voice from heaven. Could you imagine a voice coming from heaven? That actually happened. And that was the Father. The voice that came from heaven. And after Jesus' resurrection Before he ascended to heaven He tells his disciples to baptize people.

And he tells them to baptize In the names of three different persons. He says you must baptize them In the name of the Father And the Son And the Holy Spirit. And in August when we go to Sconewood That's exactly what I'm going to do.

I'm going to say you are baptized In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And the Apostle Paul Who we are quite familiar with After going through Philippians He also describes the Trinity.

And this is not an exhaustive list from Paul. But here are a few examples. 1 Corinthians 12, 4 through 6. Now there are a variety of gifts. But the same Spirit, okay, one. And there are varieties of service.

But the same Lord, two. And there are varieties of activities. But it is the same God, okay, three Who empowers them all in everyone. 2 Corinthians 13, 14. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ And the love of God And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

Be with you all, okay. So three of them are mentioned there. Ephesians 4, 4 through 6. This is the passage I read this morning. There is one body and one spirit Just as you were called to the one hope That belongs to your call.

One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all. So three of them are mentioned. The Apostle Peter Was also clear on the Trinity. 1 Peter 1, 2 According to the foreknowledge of God the Father In the sanctification of the Spirit For obedience to Jesus Christ And for sprinkling with his blood.

Okay, so three persons. And they're mentioned here. The New Testament describes their relationship. We know from the Old Testament That there are three of them Because it hints at that. But the New Testament describes their relationship The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And so as revelation came. Of course, the New Testament was written After the Old Testament. We learn more. We learn more about God. And when the Bible talks about Each person separately We find that each Eternally existing person Is fully God.

The Father is obvious. Okay, we see that throughout the Old Testament He is the most in mind in the Old Testament. He is the one who parted the Red Sea And did many more miracles That you have read. As you read the Old Testament.

But there's been a debate Over the Son and the Spirit. And I'm only going to give One scripture passage that proves The Son and the Spirit are fully God. One of the most obvious passages Is John 1 .1.

In the beginning was the Word. And by the way, the Word is Jesus. In the beginning was Jesus. And Jesus was with God. And Jesus was God. And then John 1 .3 You might say, well Is Jesus a lowercase God?

Or is he an uppercase God? Jehovah Witnesses think That he's a lowercase God. But that's not what John 1 .1 says. John 1 .1 says that he is fully God. Because verse 3 says. Apart from him Was not anything made That was made.

What that means is that He is not among the made things. He is not created. He has always existed. He is fully God. Jehovah Witnesses actually believe That he is the first created being. That's not what John 1 .1 says.

It says that he has eternally existed. He was with God in the beginning. And with God the Father He created everything. Now that's the Son. And there, by the way, that's just one verse. There's many other verses I could go to.

But the Spirit here Is also fully God. 1 Corinthians 2 .10 and 11. This is what it says. 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. And so what you can Understand from this Is that the Holy Spirit Knows everything.

That God the Father knows. He's all-knowing. And if he's all-knowing He's fully God. Because only God can be all-knowing. So that's one example. So these three Are the being of God. In the Old Testament we saw That there are several in the Godhead.

In the New Testament names are given to them To describe their relationship The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And we will see that Each of these persons is different from the other In our next point.

The Distinct Persons of the Trinity

This is the first evidence From Scripture that God is one being And three equally divine persons. The entire Bible Describes three persons That are also God. The second evidence from Scripture That God is one being And three equally divine persons Is that each person is distinct From the other.

Each person is different from the other. When we seek To understand the Trinity We must affirm that each person Is, in fact, distinct. In an effort to simplify The Trinity, errors Have been made, as you might expect One major False teaching in church History that sought to simplify the Trinity Is what is called.

Modalism.

Modalism denied that each Person of the Trinity was distinct From the other. What it said was The Father is the Son The Son is the Spirit The Spirit is the Father. And they just show themselves in different ways.

Let me give you an illustration That might be helpful. I am your pastor. I am also a husband To Brianna, a father to Aletheia. I am a coach At St. Croix Falls High School. There's lots of different titles that I have But I'm one person.

That's what modalism is saying That God is really Just one person that shows himself in different ways. But that's not what the Bible says. The Bible says that he's actually different. And so what they would say is that when God died on the When God died on the cross as Jesus It was really just the same person Who just showed himself in a different way.

Does that make sense?

Okay.

But this is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that they are each different from the other. And yet the same being. Notice that Scripture says That they are distinct from one another. I just read to you a little bit ago.

Or quoted to you John 1, 1, and 2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was.

With God.

Okay, he's with him. Which means that he can't be him. That's one piece of evidence John 17 24.

Says.

Jesus is praying here to the Father. And that should give us a clue, right? He says Whom you have given me May be with me where I am To see my glory That you have given me because you love me Before the foundation of the world.

Okay, we see the Son Praying to the Father. You don't pray to yourself, you pray to someone else. 1 John 2, 1. The Apostle John writes here. My little children, I am writing These things to you so that you may not sin.

But if anyone does sin We have an advocate With the Father. Jesus Christ, the Righteous. He is with the Father, he's distinct From the Father. Jesus is with the Father And he intercedes for us. The Holy Spirit also Intercedes for us.

Romans 8, 27 says that He who searches hearts This is the Father. The Father who searches hearts Knows what is the mind of the Spirit. Because the Spirit intercedes To the Father For the saints. Okay, so the Spirit is interceding For the saints to the Father.

Which is showing that these two are distinct From each other. Hebrews 7, 25 says that He is able to save to the other most. Those who draw near to God through him Since he always lives to make Intercession for them.

And that's referring to Jesus. He makes intercession To the Father for us. And when I say intercession, what I mean is That they're praying to the Father For you. Do you realize that? The Son and the Spirit are praying For you, to the Father.

They're different from one another. And that should really encourage us. John 14, 26 Describes the persons of the Trinity Doing different activities. Jesus is talking here, he says He is the helper of the Holy Spirit.

Whom the Father will send in my name. He will teach you all things And bring to your remembrance all That I have said to you. So Jesus describes them doing different activities When it comes to redeeming the world from sin.

This is an example of how each person.

Does.

A similar work When it comes to redeeming the world from sin Each person has a different role. The Father plans redemption. The Son accomplishes it Through his death on the cross And his resurrection.

And the Spirit applies it. Because when you believe in Jesus The Holy Spirit comes into you And changes you. Do you see that? The Father plans it, the Son accomplishes it. The Spirit applies it. And I want to mention here That the Holy Spirit is a person.

Some have mistakenly said That the Holy Spirit is a force. There are some movements That believe the Holy Spirit is not a person. And I mentioned Jehovah Witnesses Are one example of that. But the Bible states clearly That the Spirit is a person.

The Spirit is listed as having A mind, feelings. He is a comforter, a counselor. He is referred to with the pronoun he The Spirit was lied to. You don't lie to a force, you lie to a person. He is also listed with The two other persons of the Trinity.

In several places, and most famously Matthew 28 and 19 Baptized them in the name of the Father, the Son And the Holy Spirit. By the way, what is a person? Have you ever thought about that? In our culture, when we say When we're talking about a person, we think human And humans.

Are persons, that's correct.

But God.

Is also a person. Angels are also a person. And a person is a rational Being, so a being that is able To reason. And that is self-aware. So you are aware of yourself. And you're able to reason. I've had A couple of dogs in my life.

We've spent a lot of time together. But we've never had a deep conversation. Because, I mean, you've had pets. Animals are not persons. They want. They're creatures of instinct, the Bible says. They want things.

But they don't ponder The meaning of life like we do, okay? You've had I know a lot of you have animals. And you've had that experience, I've had that experience. Animals are not persons, but humans are.

And the Holy Spirit Is, along with the Father and the Son. So, God is one being And three equally divine persons. And this is the second evidence we have seen from Scripture. That this is true. That the Father The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit Are distinct from one another.

The Oneness of God and Christian Monotheism

The third evidence we have seen from Scripture.

That.

That God is one being. And three equally divine persons. Is that the Bible is crystal clear that God is one. So, so far I've talked about the plurality. That there's three persons In the Trinity. Now I'm going to explain to you that God is one.

How could that be? Well, I'm going to do my best to explain that to you. Over the previous two points I've labored to show you that they are three. But we will see that God is one. What I've already stated Is that each person is the same Being.

The being of God. Each person is not a separate being But the same being. So the three distinct persons are united In this one being. That's why the word Trinity literally means Tri-unity. Within the Godhead, each person has his own existence.

And each person Has the full being.

Of God.

As the old hymn says. And we sang today God in three persons. Blessed Trinity. The fact that God is one being Means that we must affirm That God is one. He's not three He is one. Christianity is a monotheistic religion.

Monotheistic means That you believe in one God. It's not a Polytheistic religion which means that you believe In multiple gods. When the early Christians were living in the First century, two thousand years ago They were surrounded by a bunch of Roman citizens who believed In multiple gods.

And they were different from them by the fact that They only believed in one God. The Bible says Over and over again that there is Only one God. Deuteronomy 6, 4, and 5. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God.

The Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God With all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. The Israelites were Called to love this one God. The first commandment of the ten commandments Says that you shall have no other gods.

Before me They were to be devoted solely to This one God. First Kings 860. He says that the Lord is God. And there is no other. And the Old Testament Pokes fun at other idols. Because The Bible, the writers of Scripture Know that they're false.

That these are just inventions of man. I know a lot of you guys are good at With your hands. They just made things With wood And with gold and with bronze. And they said this is our God and we're going to worship him.

And what God.

Says is.

You shall have no other gods before me Because these are all false gods And I am the only God. Isaiah 45, 5 through 6 This is what the Lord says He says I am the Lord and there is no other Besides me there is no God I equip you.

Though you do not know me. That people may know.

From the rising of the sun and from the west. That there is none besides me. Isaiah 45, 21. Declare and present your case. Let them take counsel together. Who told this. Long ago was it not I the Lord.

And there is no other God besides me. A righteous God and a Savior. There is none Besides me. You think this is controversial in our day to day?

Bernie Sanders.

This week, I don't know if you heard this on the news. He, there was a guy In that Trump President Trump appointed That believed that Jesus Is the only way to heaven. And Bernie Sanders said I'm not going to vote for this guy Because we can't have guys like this In our government.

Isn't that frightening?

There's only one God. And if you don't believe in this one God You are on your way to hell. That's the clear teaching of the Bible and it's the truth. And it's controversial in our day. And people in our government Who are Who are leaders in this country Don't recognize it.

And thankfully there are many who do recognize this. But there are so many that do not. And it's very controversial. Romans 3 .30. This is the Apostle Paul. He says, is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles also?

Yes.

Of Gentiles also Since God is one.

James.

We're looking at James in Sunday school. James even Says that Satan and demons Know that God is one and they are right to believe. So James 2 .19 Says you believe that God is one.

You do well.

Even the demons believe and shudder. Satan knows That there's one God And he knows his future. He knows he's going to be defeated by this one God. And Satan Is a great deceiver And one of his big tasks That he's done over the last several thousand years Is he helps form these false Religions to try to confuse people To try to lead them astray.

Because he's okay if you believe in God As long as it's the wrong God He's okay with that And he knows full well That there's only one God But he deceives people into thinking that there's multiple gods.

We live in a world.

Where there are many false gods Humans long for God because we were created for him. If people Aren't worshiping the right God They will find a God to worship. Because this is the longing of the human heart.

If you look at Most of world history Atheism is so small It's not even worth mentioning Because everybody's believed in.

A deity.

Whether it's a true God or a false God Every society in the history of the world Has this in common. But sadly many are worshiping a God That does not hear them Because he It is not real. And this is where we come in.

We need to point people to the triune God. We need to tell people That through the second person of the Trinity Jesus Christ, you can be reconciled.

To God.

He came to the earth 2 ,000 years ago To pay the penalty for the sins. And he was raised from the dead. All these other false gods that you believe in, they're all dead. Our God is alive. And this is the news that we bring people.

To bring to people God is one, and through Jesus Christ You can have a relationship with him. We must worship the one true God.

Ourselves.

And call others to believe in him as well. So what we saw this morning Is that God is one being. And three equally divine persons. We looked at three evidences From scripture. The Bible describes three persons who are also God.

Each person is distinct From the other. And the Bible is crystal clear That God is one. You may be sitting there now saying I have a really hard time Understanding the Trinity. And what I'll say to you is Well, welcome to the club.

I'm there with you. It is hard to understand. It's a mystery. But just because something's a mystery Doesn't mean it's not true. It is true. And actually I think it lends the case That it is more true.

Because if we can wrap God Into who we can understand Then we're just creating him after our image. And that's what false religions do. They make a God that they can Control, that they can understand.

And the God that we worship Is way bigger Than we can ever imagine. Way more awesome Than we can ever imagine. And we need To just be okay with mystery And say, okay, I don't understand everything. But I know that the Bible is true.

I know that everything that it says About him is true and we need to hold on to that And affirm it and believe it And love it, too. And rejoice over it. So we should do our best to understand The Trinity because we can understand Some things about it.

We know that there's one being and there's three persons. But it is a mystery. It is important For us to know the God. That we approach in Bible reading and prayer. God is unlike anyone Or anything else we have ever encountered.

So we should not be surprised That we have The hard time wrapping our minds around this. And so my goal here is that We would stretch our minds together over the next Twelve weeks and the goal of this Is that we would love him more.

Again, as I said In the beginning, the goal is not data. Our goal is to love him more. To become like him. So, Eureka, I look forward to leading you On this journey of the ultimate Pursuit of knowing God.

But as we Study God in the sermon series, it must lead Us to worship the Triune God. Next week, we are going to Look at God's eternality. And what that means is that He never had a beginning. And he's never going to have an end.

And so we're going to look at that next week. I look forward to it. Let's pray Father in heaven, as we approach you. We need to realize how awesome You are, how great You are.

And it ought to humble us.

And it ought to lead us to worship you. And I pray, Lord That you would do a great work in this church Where we would have a Correct understanding of who you are That we would love you rightly And not wrongly.

Lord, there's too many Christians that don't Understand how great you are How big you are.

And.

You are a God Who is the greatest being there is. You alone are worthy of worship. And so, Lord, may we understand who you are Better through this sermon series And may we love you rightly And in the process, Lord, make us like you.