Getting To Know God --- There is ONE God in Three Separate and Distinct Persons

Getting To Know God

THE CREATOR CLOCK

 

Pastor Rory Clark

Barah Ministries

www.barahministires.com

 

Hi there!

 

My name is Rory Clark and I am the Pastor of Barah Ministries…a worldwide Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ

 

I have a question for you…

 

What Do You Know About God?

 

These ten-minute lessons will introduce you to God and will make you aware of a some of His attributes.  We’ll use an encoding device we call The Creator Clock to help you remember your CREATOR and a few of the many things that are unique and special about Him.  Tick Tock…what time is it on the Creator Clock?

 

It’s Three O’clock…

 

TODAY’S LESSON

There is ONE God in Three Separate and Distinct Persons

 

As far back in the bible as its first book, the book called Genesis, the idea of a Triune Godhead is announced.  Genesis, Chapter 1, Verse 26…

 

Genesis 1:26

Then God the Father said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

 

I have many friends who are familiar with Hebrew, who reject the idea of a Triune Godhead, yet they cannot deny that in this verse “let Us” is plural in Hebrew.  They have no explanation for it. 

The word that expresses the idea of a Triune Godhead is the word “Trinity,” which originates from the Latin noun “trinitas,” and it means, “the three are one.” 

 

The Trinity expresses the idea that God is one in Being yet is simultaneously three separate and distinct Persons who exist in co-equal essence and co-eternal communion and co-infinite operation as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  Matthew, Chapter 3, Verses 16 and 17 say…

 

Matthew 3:16

After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and John the Baptist saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Jesus…

 

Matthew 3:17

…and behold, a voice out of the heavens (from God the Father) said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

 

Co-equal, co-eternal, and co-infinite are pretty important ideas.  The idea of the Trinity often is distorted by God’s enemy, Satan.  When Satan lies about God, what you will always notice is that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are not the same…one or both separate and distinct members of the Godhead will be weaker than the others.  Yet the “Co-” in co-equal, co-eternal, and co-infinite means “same” … so in biblical Christianity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are the same…in attributes…in existence…and in ability.

 

The fact that the Godhead is “Triune” is not so much an issue for me.  I can readily admit that I don’t understand everything God is trying to do.  Yet in over three decades of biblical study, I know for sure that everything God does is intentional.  In other words, God decided to be one God in three separate and distinct persons intentionally.

 

So I have asked God, “What is your intention?  What did you want to accomplish by being one God in three separate and distinct persons?”  If you think about a court case, to accuse someone successfully of a crime, you need two or three witnesses.

First Timothy, Chapter 5, Verse 19 confirms this…

 

1TI 5:19

Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses.

 

With three separate and distinct persons in the Godhead, a Godhead that is able to be everywhere at the same time (which is called omnipresence), there are three eyewitnesses to everything that every creature who comes to the earth will ever do.  So with a Triune Godhead, there’s no way for any creature to ever get away with anything…no way for a creature to say, “It’s your word against mine.”  Three eyewitnesses see everything we do.  There’s no way off the hook.  When meet God face-to-face, we can ask His real intention…but for now, that seems as plausible an explanation as any.

 

The bible never uses the term Trinity…but the teaching of a Trinity is clearly illustrated.  There’s God the Father…Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 8…

 

Romans 5:8

But God the Father demonstrates His own unconditional love for all mankind, in that while we were yet sinners (when we were enemies of God), Christ died for us.

 

God the Father sacrificed His Son to tear down the barrier between God and man created by sin.  There’s the Lord, God the Son…John, Chapter 3, Verse 17…

 

John 3:17

For God the Father did not send (the Lord) God the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

 

There’s God the Holy Spirit…John, Chapter 16, Verse 13…

 

John 16:13

But when He, God the Holy 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.

 

There’s the physical manifestation of the Godhead…the Lord Jesus Christ…100% God and 100% man in one person forever.  John, Chapter 1, Verse 14…

 

John 1:14

And the Word (ho logos…The Lord) became flesh (true humanity…Jesus Christ), and tabernacled among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the uniquely born One from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 

The Lord Jesus Christ is the unique Being of the universe…He is 100% God because He is the Lord, God the Son…He is 100% true humanity because He is Jesus Christ.  The Lord Jesus Christ is every bit God and every bit man, but is different from both God and man.  He is the unique being of the universe.  He is different from God in that He is man.  He is different from man in that He is God.    I see Him as the physical manifestation of the Godhead.

 

I am comforted and encouraged that God has chosen to be one God in three separate and distinct persons.  I have a God the Father who has planned everything in the universe for my benefit, like any great father would.  I have a God the Son who voluntarily laid down His life as a substitute for me so that my sins would be paid for and so that He would receive the wrath of God the Father toward sin instead of me.  I have a God the Holy Spirit who, as fast as I can handle it, is revealing all the truths of the bible to me.  I have the Lord Jesus Christ as someone to place my faith in, so that I can be saved and live a resurrection life for all eternity.  Matthew, Chapter 28, Verses 18 to 20…

 

Matthew 28:18

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

 

Matthew 28:19

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit…”

 

Matthew 28:20

“…teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

 

We have a God that promises to always be with us.  Rather than trying to understand the idea of the Trinity in human terms…rather than trying to intellectualize the idea of the Trinity, reducing it to ideas we, as humans, can easily grasp…I think it is best to take God’s word for it that He has chosen to be this way, and to enjoy all the benefits.  Second Corinthians, Chapter 13, Verse 14…

 

Second Corinthians 13:14

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the unconditional love of God the Father, and the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit, be with you all.

 

Tick Tock…what time is it on the Creator Clock?

 

It’s Three O’clock…there is ONE God in three separate and distinct persons!

 

If you like these short lessons, visit our website at www.barahministries.com.    That’s www.B-A-R-A-H-ministries.com  We have two different one hour lessons per week to edify your spiritual life. 

 

If you like these lessons, share them with your friends. 

 

If you like these lessons, feel free to help us financially so that we can keep providing these lessons free of charge to people all over the world.  Thanks very much to those of you who have helped us.

 

When you give, do it because you have been given to…not because you HAVE TO give…but because you WANT TO give. 

 

Keep on getting to know God.

 

I’m Pastor Rory Clark.

 

Pastor Rory Clark

Barah Ministries

www.barahministires.com