We are starting school back here at the Kanakuk Institute and its bittersweet that we will graduate in April. It is flying by WAY to fast! I guess that is just how life is! I have come to know and love the other 70ish students and the staff. They are all so encouraging and do a great job teaching and challenging us in our faith. This week we have been studying who God is… His attributes, his deity and how he is God the father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit.
Studying this has left me in awe and wonder of the God we proclaim and it has made me realize that it is okay not to know all the answers or know how to perfectly explain the things of God. Scripture ITSELF says we cannot fully understand or explain the things of God.
i. Romans 11:33- “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”
ii. Psalm 145:3- “Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.”
iii. Ecclesiastes 3:11- “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
Although we cannot FULLY understand God and His nature in three persons of the Trinity, we can and should spend our lives in pursuit of KNOWING Him more. Trying to understand God and how he works has left me hungry to read and search out the scriptures and see what God reveals about Himself!
We cannot adequately compare things God to things on this earth because he is completely unique! God is unexplainable and infinite. However, we can ASK for the spirit to give us wisdom as we read the scriptures that testify about Him so that we can begin on this journey to knowing Him more intimately. God will reveal himself to us by the spirit that is in us and we must seek for wisdom and understanding as if we are searching for hidden treasure! I know I would be looking very hard if I knew there was treasure hidden somewhere, in the same way we should be seeking wisdom and calling out to God for understanding!
i. 1 Corinthians 2:10 “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.”
ii. Proverbs 2:1-5 “My son, if you receive my word and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding, yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”
What are some of God’s attributes? Lets try, in our finite mind to describe God. It’s really not possible, but we can attempt to understand Him through reading the scriptures, which are inspired by God himself!
God is above all things and in all things and by Him all things were made.
We can know from scripture and from knowing Him personally, that God is a loving, gracious, merciful, patient, good, compassionate, faithful, humble, and forgiving. He is Spirit and is eternal, infinite, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, immutable, simple, and self-existent. We know God is light, He is holy, righteous, true, just, majestic, jealous, perfect and beautiful.
We can know from scripture and from knowing Him personally, that God is a loving, gracious, merciful, patient, good, compassionate, faithful, humble, and forgiving. He is Spirit and is eternal, infinite, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, immutable, simple, and self-existent. We know God is light, He is holy, righteous, true, just, majestic, jealous, perfect and beautiful.
We know He exists in TRINITY and this is very hard to describe, but I will do my best!
The Trinity is the term we use for describing the Godhead. He is three distinct beings in ONE. There is ONE true God. Yet, he exists in three distinct persons of the Godhead- (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. *Thus the term: “Tri” meaning three, and “Unity” meaning one, Tri+Unity = Trinity. It is a way of acknowledging what the Bible reveals to us about God, that God is yet three “Persons” who have the same essence of deity.
Here’s a quick statement of my beliefs of the trinity and where it is found in the Bible!
I believe there is one true God,[i] an eternal[ii], all-knowing Spirit,[iii] perfect in all His attributes,[iv]one in essence, existing in three distinct Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,[v]equally worthy of our obedience and praise.[vi]
[i] One true God- Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Isaiah 45:5-7 “I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.”
1 Corinthians 8:4&6 “Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.”
Mark 12:29 “Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”
[ii] God is infinite- Revelation 4:8d – “Even under his wings, Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.’”
[iii] God is spirit-John 4:24- “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
2 Corinthians 3:17-18- “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”
[iv]Infinitely perfect- Psalm 18:30- “This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.”
Deut. 32:4- “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.
[v] Three distinct persons in One- John 6: 27 “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
Acts 5:3-4 “But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”
Matthew 3:16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
[vi] Equally worthy of obedience and praise- John 14:23- Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Revelation 4:11- “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
Psalm 145:3- Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.
Ephesians 4:30 “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.”
Each passage points to the trinity. We can see it all throughout scripture! Even as I try to separate God into three distinct persons, it is very hard! It is simply because they overlap over and over again. God sometimes has different functions and roles, but they are constantly corresponding with each other. They are all united as ONE God and three distinct persons.
How important is it to view God correctly?
It is imperative that we seek out God in the scriptures to know and view His nature & attributes correctly. If we view Him wrongly, we might be creating a false god in our mind and end up unknowingly worshiping or praying to a false god. That is why it is so important to know and understand who the one true God is! We must know and study the true God of the bible so that we do not fall into the error of making up our own perception of God and end up worshiping anything other than the true God!
Join me in pursuing God and knowing Him fully!
· What are some ways that God has revealed Himself to you through His word?
· What are you doing NOW to know God more intimately?
· Have you ever really thought about the trinity before?
· What are some questions you have about our triune God?
· How has your view of God changed as you understand Him more?
· How would you describe who God is to someone else?
Thanks for stopping by! I know this can be heavy and confusing concepts. If you have any questions, please just ask! 🙂
D. PRO!
