Trinity
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In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
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16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
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Trinity
The Holy Trinity
If you wish to start an argument with anyone of any other faith or sect then just say you believe in the Holy Trinity, God the Father Son and Holy Spirit; three persons but one God.
And yet it is virtually undisputed by all Christians worldwide however deep or nominal their faith.
An athlete will knell down and cross herself as she gets set. A football player scores and crosses himself and points heavenward in thanks to the Triune God. Tourists enter a Cathedral, pause in the knave and pray in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each one is acknowledging, in their own way, the doctrine of the Trinity.
Surprisingly, the word ‘Trinity’ isn’t in the bible. On the other hand, the bible clearly teaches in many places one triune God in three persons. Famously, Jesus’ last words to his followers in Matthew 28:19 were ‘go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ And in the creation narrative, we read
Genesis 1:26 God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image.’ In other words, before creation, God spoke of the Godhead as ‘us’ as persons plural yet one God.
‘So what!’ you may say, and my reply is that it is fundamental to our faith and indeed how we interact with our Lord God and in community. God is three persons before creation, in a loving holy communion and we, being made in that image, are called to ‘join the dance’ to quote CS Lewis. You and I are invited into a living relationship with God not self-centred but self-giving to glorify and enjoy Him forever, a Holy Communion of joy and praise.
Let me finish with a tick-toc story!
40 years ago, a three-faced clock was installed by Sedgemoor District Council in Highbridge, Somerset. People called it the ‘3-faced liar’ because the three faces never told the right time at the same time
In contrast in Sydney, Australia the GPO clock tower has told the same time on its three faced clock since 1878. For nearly 145 years people have been able to see the time from any direction - one clock with three faces. The Sydney clock had one mechanism, it was one clock (but three faces) the Somerset clock was scrapped in 2012, it had three mechanisms (it wasn’t truly one).
This three-faced clock is a picture of one God yet three faces:
God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
What do we see when we look into the three faces of God?
The Face of God the Father
The first face we see is God the Father. His face invokes reverence, awe, adoration.
We are taught in Lord’s Prayer to say Father in heaven. But we must be cautious and not become over-familiar and lose the sense of the Majesty and awesomeness of God.
So awesome the Jews wouldn’t allow God’s name to be spoken Yahweh. So great that they were not worthy to speak His holy name. They made another name Adonai (Lord) for speech.
When we look in the clock-face of God the Father two things happen
We get a sense of our sinfulness before God (look at Moses at the burning bush. Face down)
We get a sense of God’s majesty and power. God is absolute purity/goodness/perfection and we aren’t! That’s why we need to confess and repent. Modern Society lives today as if there is no God the Father and make up their own (if it feels right do it) morality. The ugliness of sin is being eroded. Oh, how we need to look into the face of our Heavenly Father in these days.
The Face of God the Son
What do we see when we look at the second face of the Trinity? God the Son - the human face of God - Jesus Christ.
‘He is the visible image of the invisible God.’ — Colossians 1:15.
Like the Father, He is all-powerful.
‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’ — Matthew 28:18
He is the one who walked on water, the one who spoke to the waves and they obeyed him, he healed, he turned water into wine, he fed 5000, he forgave sins, he accepted worship.
On the second Face of three-faced God - Jesus, we see God in the flesh, who in Matthew1:23 was called (God with us) Emmanuel. God we can know, who walked, talked and touched on this earth.
The one face of the Trinity who took human form. God the Son died for us and paid the price for our forgiveness. He understands our human weakness, like a union rep he is our advocate in heaven! By inviting Jesus into our lives we know God personally (no longer an ‘up there’ God but ‘in here’ God).
Last words are so important, do you remember William Wallace’s iconic ‘Freedom’ rally cry in the film Braveheart “they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!”
When we look in the face of God the Son, we hear him say ‘Go and make disciples of all nations… baptising and teaching.’
His great commission — rally cry to the disciples and to us.
‘Gather more followers, introduce more people to Jesus.’
Fact is, sometimes it’s easy ..things crop up in conversation or something big happens through prayer but sometimes it’s hard (a battle) and we have to get on with it, praying for our Non-Christian FRANC (Friends Relative Acquaintances Neighbours Colleagues), praying for our world, church, community, praying about the things you feel called to do/serve (individuals and as church).
Matthew 1 began with Emmanuel (God with us) Matthew 28:20 ends with God promising, ‘I am with you always.’ In Matthew 28:20 ‘great commission’ promises that God through his Holy Spirit will be with us always to the end of the age.’
And that’s the third Face….
Face of God the Spirit
On Pentecost Sunday we learn about the sending of the Holy Spirit. This is the third face or person of the Godhead, the one who is with us always, God the Holy Spirit. With us and working in us (see the fruit of the Spirit — Galatians 5:22) to help us, teach and guide us, to lead to do good and giving us gifts we need to serve the triune God. Three faces one God!
He says to us, come let us dance, he says you are to be a Holy Communion of believers sharing the Good news of Jesus with each other and with the world.
You and I are invited into a living relationship with God not self-centred but self-giving to glorify and enjoy Him forever, a Holy Communion of joy and praise.
