1. Trinity
There is one God God eternally exists and reveals Himself to us as three distinct persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

2. Trinity
Last week: 1) There is one true God who eternally exists and always keeps His promises. His name is Yahweh. 2) From the beginning, Yahweh has described Himself as being three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

3. We will never understand our purpose or role in life if we don’t understand the Trinity.

4. John 1:1-18 Jesus’ Reality: Eternal Intimacy with the Father
1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… 14 The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 17 for although the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ No one has ever seen God. The One and Only Son— the One who is at the Father’s side— He has revealed Him.”

5. John 1:1-18 Jesus’ Role: Revealing the Father
1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… 14 The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 17 for although the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ No one has ever seen God. The One and Only Son— the One who is at the Father’s side— He has revealed Him.”

6. How do we put the Trinity on display?
1 John 4:7-15
Our Reality:
New Intimacy with the Trinity 7 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God…12 No one has seen God at any time; 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. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”
1 John 4:7-15
Our Role:
Revealing the Trinity 7 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God…12 No one has seen God at any time; 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. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”
-The church has been given profound intimacy with the Trinity.
-In the absence of Jesus, we now have the role of explaining the Trinity by the way we live.
How do we put the Trinity on display?

7. Reality: -The three people of the Trinity have lived in perfect relationship; perfect love and unity for all eternity. -We are made in the image of the Trinity Result: -We are intensely relational by design.
Our role on earth is to put the Trinity on display by the way we live.
Displaying the image of the Trinity is accomplished primarily in our relationships with one another. -

8. Colossians 3: “put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him…”
12“as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”
Point: We reflect our Triune God as we live in loving unity with one another.

9. We will never understand ourselves or our purpose without understanding the Trinity in whose image we were created.
Our Pattern is Trinitarian: -We are made in the image of the Trinity
-The three people of the Trinity have lived in perfect relationship; perfect love and unity for all eternity.
Our Purpose is Trinitarian : -We were made to display the Trinity by our loving unity with one another.
Our Plight is Trinitarian : -We are intensely relational by design. -We crave community: to know and be known, to love and be loved…
John 17:11 “Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.”

10. The Deal of a Lifetime We get to enjoy Christian love and unity.
The world sees our glorious Triune Creator.

11. Why the Trinity is Important to You:
-You cannot understand the Gospel or your own salvation without understanding the Trinity. -It is impossible to be forgiven of our sins unless God is a Trinity. -It is impossible to worship God for His acts, in history and in your personal life, without a clear understanding of the Trinity. -It is impossible for the relational God described in the Bible to exist unless He a Trinity. -We will never understand ourselves or our purpose without understanding the Trinity in whose image we were created.

12. Trinity
1) There is one true God who eternally exists and always keeps His promises. His name is Yahweh. 2) From the beginning, Yahweh has described Himself as being three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This Week: 1) What does it mean that God is a person? 2) How can one God be three distinct persons? 3) The Father is Yahweh God.

13. Why the Trinity is Important to You:
-You cannot understand the Gospel or your own salvation without understanding the Trinity. -It is impossible to be forgiven of our sins unless God is a Trinity. -It is impossible to worship God for His acts, in history and in your personal life, without a clear understanding of the Trinity. -It is impossible for the relational God described in the Bible to exist unless He a Trinity. -We will never understand ourselves or our purpose without understanding the Trinity in whose image we were created.

14. Trinity
There is one God God eternally exists and reveals Himself to us as three distinct persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

15. Trinity
There is one God God eternally exists and reveals Himself to us as three distinct persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

16. Trinity
There is one God God eternally exists and reveals Himself to us as three distinct persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

17. Personhood -Not humaness
“three distinct persons”
Personhood -Not humaness
-Not a physical body
God thinks, feels, communicates, loves, acts, has relationships…
The Son became a human (Colossians 2:7-8) -Before His birth, the Son existed for eternity past as a person. -At His conception, the Son became a human.

18. 7 Reasons why Jesus had to Become a Human
1. For Representative Obedience 2. To Be a Substitute Sacrifice 3. … 4. … 5. … 6. … 7. … full article on class website

19. Personhood -Not humaness
“three distinct persons”
Personhood -Not humaness
-Not a physical body
God thinks, feels, communicates, loves, wills, acts, has relationships…

20. Trinity
There is one God God eternally exists and reveals Himself to us as three distinct persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

21. The Trinitarianism is NOT…
POLYTHEISM: There is more than one god Who? Hinduism, Mormonism
ARIANISM: Just the father is god. Jesus is not really God. Who? Islam, Jehovah’s Witnesses
MODALISM: God is not three distinct people. He only acts like different people at different times Hat god, Actor god
Who? Confused “Christians”, The Shack Father says “in Jesus I am truly human”

22. One God in three distinct persons should not be confusing or seem illogical.
We are saying: “One God is three persons.”
This is not a contradiction like “A is not A”
One God is not One God
Three persons are not three persons
This is not a mathematic impossibility like “A= A+A+A”
One God is three Gods =
One person is three persons
One God is three persons.
A = B+B+B =

23. Special Revelation: God’s Word
The Problem: People are confusing God with humans.
It is true: One human is made up of one person.
one human = one person =
Problem?
God is not a human.
God is one of a kind. God is in His own category.
General Revelation
We needed…?
Special Revelation: God’s Word
God defines Himself as: One God in Three Persons =

24. A Molecule A God H2O Point:
The basic concept of one God in three persons is not illogical and should not be confusing.
God is just different than humans.
Definition: “A molecule is an electrically neutral group of two or more atoms held together”
Definition: “A God is a group of three persons externally existing in distinction and equality”
H2O
Father + Son + Holy Spirit = God
Hydrogen + Hydrogen + Oxygen = Water Molecule
Hydrogen + Hydrogen + Oxygen = Water Molecule

25. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three distinct persons
Mark 1:19-11 (Baptism of Jesus) “Immediately coming up out of the water, Jesus saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; 11 and a voice came out of the heavens: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”
John 14:16-17 Jesus said “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth”
Dialogue
Interaction
Relationship

26. You cannot appreciate the Gospel or your own salvation without understanding the Trinity and their distinct roles.
The Son receives us into Heaven when we leave this body at death.
The Son, His death and resurrection, were the object of our faith.
The Son commissioned His followers to tell the world the good news.
The Son intercedes on our behalf continually.
The Father gives us all new resurrection bodies.
The Father sent the Holy Spirit to live inside of us.
The Father keeps our salvation secure until Heaven.
The Father gave up His Son sending Him to earth.
The Son humbled Himself taking on the form of a man.
The Father chose us to be saved.
The Father accepted the Son’s payment for our sins.
The Son followed the Law perfectly so He could be a perfect sacrifice for sin.
The Son died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.
We enjoy eternal fellowship with the Trinity because of their joint effort for our salvation!
The Holy Spirit inspired the writers of the Gospels and the NT to accurately record everything for us.
The Holy Spirit made us spiritually alive from the dead causing us to be born again.
The Holy Spirit gave Jesus’ followers power to spread the good news.
The Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead proving that our debt had been paid in full.
The Holy Spirit convicted us of our personal sin.
The Holy Spirit guarantees our place in Heaven.
The Holy Spirit changes us to be more like Jesus.

27. Trinity
There is one God God eternally exists and reveals Himself to us as three distinct persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

28. 1) The Father is Yahweh God
2) The Holy Spirit is Yahweh God
3) The Son Jesus is Yahweh God
The Bible teaches that:

29. The Father is Yahweh God
-Prominent and Accepted -Meaningful only within the context of the Trinity “father worship, removed from the Trinity, is no more legitimate than the worship of angels.”
“Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” -John 14:6
“through Christ we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.” Ephesians 2:18

30. First, God the Father is eternally the father in His relationship to Jesus the Son.
Jesus uses “My Father”26 times in John
Relationship Out-dates Humans John 17:4-5
Jesus said, “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”
Always “My Father” Except John 20:16-17 After the resurrection:
17 Jesus said to Mary, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’ ”
Full Circle back to John 1:12 “as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name”

31. Second, God the Father becomes ..father to us by adoption through Jesus.
The Father planned our adoption in eternity past.
Ephesians 1:3-5
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ… He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself”

32. Second, God the Father becomes ..father to us by adoption through Jesus.
The Father planned our adoption in eternity past.
The Father executed our adoption in history.
Galatians 4:4-5
“when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.”

33. Why the Trinity is Important to You?
Who do you think of when you ponder the gift of our salvation?
Jesus. The Father did not die for our sins.
The Father loved and chose you to be saved before He even created the world.
The Father orchestrated the events of history so that He could redeem and adopt you.
The Father chose to expose His Son to unimaginable suffering to save you.
“It is impossible to worship God for His acts, in history and in your personal life, without a clear understanding of the Trinity.”

34. In our WORSHIP we get to praise the Father for His loving and sacrificial plan to adopt us.

35. The Father deserves and desires to be praised for His grace in your redemption.
In our WORSHIP
In our WITNESS we get to tell the world that God the Father has reached out to us personally by giving His Son to die.
-we were wanted by the Father
-we were pursued by the Father
-we are adopted children of our Father

36. 1) The Father is Yahweh God
2) The Holy Spirit is Yahweh God
3) The Son Jesus is Yahweh God

37. The Holy Spirit is Yahweh God
The Holy Spirit is all over the OT
24 times “Spirit of Yahweh”
Judges 6:34
“So the Spirit of Yahweh came
upon Gideon…”
The Holy Spirit is all over the NT
Acts 5:3-9
Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?...You have not lied to men but to God.”

38. The Holy Spirit is a Person
The Holy Spirit is a He not an It.
He is a person not a force.
John 14:25 Jesus said “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things”
John 16: Jesus Said “if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment…13 “when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.”
Notice again, the Holy Spirit is distinct from the Father and the Son.

39. The Holy Spirit is Yahweh God
1) The Holy Spirit is Yahweh God 2) The Holy Spirit is a Person not a force 3) The Holy Spirit is distinct from the Father and the Son

40. The Holy Spirit is our most intimate member of the Trinity.
John 14:16-17
16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you”

41. The Holy Spirit helps us from the beginning to end of our spiritual life.
He convicts us of sin (John 16:8)
He opened our spiritual eyes (John 3:5)
He made us spiritually alive (Titus 3:5)
He inspired the Bible (2 Peter 1:21)
He helps us to understand the Bible (1 Cor 2:12)
He sanctifies us (Rom 15:16)
He helps us to pray meaningfully (Rom 8:26)
He reminds us of our eternal inheritance (Eph 1:14)

42. 1) The Father is Yahweh God
2) The Holy Spirit is Yahweh God
3) The Son Jesus is Yahweh God

43. Trinity
There is one God God eternally exists and reveals Himself to us as three distinct persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

44. Class Outline: Trinity Session 2
1) Personhood -Not humaness
-Not a physical body
Saying the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are persons means that they each think, feel, communicate, love, act, have relationships…
2) The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three distinct persons
You cannot understand the Gospel or your own salvation without understanding the Trinity and their distinct roles
3) The Father is Yahweh God
A) God the Father is eternally the father in His relationship to Jesus.
B) God the Father becomes father to us by adoption through Jesus.
4) The Holy Spirit is Yahweh God
A) The Holy Spirit is called the “Spirit of Yahweh” 24 times.
B) The Holy Spirit is a person not a force.
C) The Holy Spirit is distinct from the Father and the Son.
D) The Holy Spirit is our most intimate member of the Trinity because He lives in us and helps us constantly.

45. 1) The Father is Yahweh God
Next week 4/14
Water Baptism by Jeff Townsend
Following week 4/21
2) The Holy Spirit is Yahweh God
3) The Son Jesus is Yahweh God