A hard concept in Christianity is one God in three Persons. Many times I feel like I understand it, but to explain it is often difficult. We will see if I succeed. I am sure I will get a comment of someone telling me I did not. I received a comment in my previous blog that I was wrong saying Jesus is God. But, the more I looked the more evidence I see in the scriptures of His deity. More on this in future posts. Even though it was a negative comment, it was good because it inspired me to dig deeper and gave me ideas to write more posts! So, here we go!
The Bible describes our great an awesome God in many ways. It describes God being the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. A hard concept for us to fully understand in our human minds. We can discuss in more detail each of the attributes of God, each person of God, being three, yet one.
Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all* the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Do you ever wonder why in Genesis 1 it says, “Let Us…in Our?” In the very beginning the Bible declares the plurality of God. It is not three gods; it is one God in three Persons, working together as One.
Elohim: The usual word for God is Elohim. This noun is plural. Although in several places the term for God is a singular, such as El or Eloah. In spite of the plural term for God, the true Jewish faith was strongly monotheistic (one God). When Elohim is used regarding God, it is used with singular verbs, indicating that the God of Israel is a single being. The plural allows for a plurality (more than one person) of expression for God, as later revealed in the New Testament such as in 1 Corinthians 8:4-6
(from The Nelson Study Bible, New King James version, Copyright ©1997byThomasNelson,Inc.).
1 Corinthians 8:4-6
Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.
The Bible declares there is only one God. The first commandment is that we will have no other gods besides the God of Israel. God also declares over and over that there is no other god. There is only one true God who created the heavens and the earth and everything in it. We cannot become a god, we do not worship another god, there is only one Way to heaven. Within the verses below I also picture God the Son, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Savior. I bolded a few of the statements that point to Jesus Christ and added footnotes to correspond to New Testament verses. New Testament scripture gives some parallels of these showing the deity of Jesus, the Son of God, Who gave His life to die for our sins, that we may trust in Him and believe to receive eternal life. Praise God!
Isaiah 44:6-8
Thus says the Lord , the King of Israel,
And his Redeemer¹, the Lord of hosts:
‘I am the First and I am the Last²;
Besides Me there is no God.
And who can proclaim as I do?
Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me,
Since I appointed the ancient people.
And the things that are coming and shall come,
Let them show these to them.
Do not fear, nor be afraid;
Have I not told you from that time, and declared it?
You are My witnesses.
Is there a God besides Me?
Indeed there is no other Rock;
I know not one.'”
¹Ephesians 1:7-8
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence
²Revelation 22:12-16
“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”
God is the Creator of all, He was there in the beginning and is eternal.
(The middle part here probably is a statement by Jesus as well, but many translations do not have this in red)
He sees all and knows all. He loves us and wants us to come to Him. He is our salvation.
Isaiah 45:18-46:1
For thus says the Lord ,
Who created the heavens,
Who is God,
Who formed the earth and made it,
Who has established it,
Who did not create it in vain,
Who formed it to be inhabited:
“I am the Lord , and there is no other.
I have not spoken in secret,
In a dark place of the earth;
I did not say to the seed of Jacob,
‘Seek Me in vain’;
I, the Lord , speak righteousness,
I declare things that are right.
“Assemble yourselves and come;
Draw near together,
You who have escaped from the nations.
They have no knowledge,
Who carry the wood of their carved image,
And pray to a god that cannot save.
Tell and bring forth your case;
Yes, let them take counsel together.
Who has declared this from ancient time?
Who has told it from that time?
Have not I, the Lord ?
And there is no other God besides Me,
A just God and a Savior¹;
There is none besides Me.
“Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That to Me every knee shall bow,
Every tongue shall take an oath².
He shall say,
‘Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength.
To Him men shall come,
And all shall be ashamed
Who are incensed against Him.
In the Lord all the descendants of Israel
Shall be justified, and shall glory.'”
¹Titus 2:13-14
looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
¹2 Peter 1:1
Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ
²Philippians 2:5-11
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
When we confess our sins and ask Jesus into our hearts, He sends us the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us. He guides us, convicts us and prays for us. When Jesus first began His ministry, He goes to John the Baptist to be baptized. All three persons of the Trinity is depicted here. God the Father speaks of Jesus, His Son and send down the Holy Spirit to Him.
Matthew 3:13-17
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”
But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.
When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
John 1:29-34
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”
And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
God the Father declared who Jesus was. Jesus fulfilled the Law, fulfilled every prophesy about Him, and He came to this world to save the world. More on this in the next post. When His ministry on this earth was fulfilled, He sent the Spirit to be our Helper. The Spirit testifies of the Son. He guides us in our faith and our belief. We will speak more of this at a later time, too.
John 15:26-16:15
But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
“These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.
“And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.
“But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
Thank you God, for leading me to Jesus, my Lord and my Savior. I could not have done it on my own. Thank you, Father for sending Your One and only Son, Jesus Christ, who saved me from my sins. Amen.
My Daily Scriptures 