Isaiah 40:12-26, What do ya’ know: God is Triune (1)

God is Triune

Doctrinal statement: We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Some people argue against the doctrine of “The Trinity.”  The most frequent objection is that the word “trinity” is not in the Bible.  That is true.  The term the Bible uses in Romans 1:20 is “divine nature” (some translations use the term “Godhead”), the English translation of the Greek theiotes. We only mention this so you know that according to the Bible God has a divine nature just like we have a human nature.  One of the important things about God’s, as the Bible describes Him, is that He is “triune,” meaning “one God in three persons.” 

You may have heard that God is like a lightbulb (with light like the Father, a filament like the Spirit and a bulb like the Son) or an egg (with a yolk like the Father, the white like the Spirit, and a shell like the Son).  Those are lies.  In fact, we know of nothing in all of Creation that is like our triune God.  All we know is that the Bible tells us there is One and only One God (Deut. 6:4-7), and that the Father is God, the Son is God and the Spirit is God. 

Let me give you one Scripture to consider: John 1:1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  Everyone who studies this verse understands that the “Word” is referring to Jesus.  John 1:14 says, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  So, the Bible tells us that Jesus, in the beginning, “was God” and “was with God.”  Stop and think about that.  Do you understand that?  There is One God.  Jesus was God and was with God at the same time, “in the beginning.”  I don’t think you can understand that.  It isn’t like anything like anything we have ever seen in God’s creation. 

Some people say, “that’s crazy.”  That doesn’t make sense.  It can’t be true.  The problem is it fits what the Bible says.  Since the Bible is the final authority for doctrine, then we are obligated to believe everything it says, even if we can’t figure it out.  Nevertheless, some people have tried to help us out by changing what the Bible says.  A group called the Jehovah’s Witnesses have their own translation of the Bible (The New World Translation).  They translate John 1:1 like this: “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was a God.”  Not only is this a lie (it is not a correct translation); it doesn’t help solve the problem because now we have at least two gods: Jesus and the One He was with. 

Over the next few posts we will share a lot of Bible passages that show us that God is properly referred to as “The Trinity.”  Take comfort in the fact that God’s “incomprehensibility” (i.e. we can’t fully explain His nature) is to be expected.  Today’s reading makes that clear to us.  The rhetorical question, "To whom will you liken God” (Isa. 40:18,25) calls for a simple answer: no one and nothing!