This is a limitation on God that doesnt acknowledge that God isalwaysthe Father,alwaysthe Son, andalwaysthe Holy Spirit. The Trinity is the perfect loving community of three Persons. If you're looking for the best Christian jobs and careers, check out Cru's ministry job openings for full- and part-time missionaries and professionals. A triangle must have three different corners in order to be one triangle. To understand more fully what God is like is a way of honoring God. I'm an author, speaker, husband, father and ice cream lover. Read Books About The Trinity. I wont go into all of the verses here (simply type bible verses about the Trinity into Google and youll find plenty). Check out my tips for teaching your kids about bedtime prayer. But its not a mystery that can or should! understand the doctrine of the Trinity. Thus, they relate to each other personally the Father regards Himself as I, while He regards the Son and Holy Spirit as You. Likewise the Son regards Himself as I, but the Father and the Holy Spirit as You.. For example, it says of Christ that "in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9). 2:34; Heb. 1:2), Jesus as God (Titus 2:13), and the Holy Spirit as God (Acts 5:3-4). The early church absolutely believed and taught the belief in a God who was three-in-one. If we were to translate it . The Holy Spirit is God. The Bible is full of Scripture speaking of there being only one God (seeDeuteronomy 6:4for starters), as well as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all being God. Its a mystery the Bible teaches. For example they: 5. Ignore the urge to tie everything up with a nice little bow. Through accepting the undeserved gift of salvation (Eph. Therefore, it is often difficult to have a concrete definition of Person as we use it in regards to the Trinity. 8:6a). After all, theyre good questions. Nothing is more astonishing, more challenging, and more potentially life-transforming than knowing God.". 8:1417). The answer hinges on the differences in their unique roles. And this illustration helps us understand the Trinity: This illustration shows how the doctrine of the Trinity does not divide God into three parts. Instead, it reveals that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit possess the same divine essence. 119; Prov. In other words, you have contradicted yourself if you affirm and deny the same statement. God is infinite. Even then, he was not alone, because he had his Logos within him. And God seeks people to worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Errr, not quite. The best way to teach the Trinity to ANYONE who is confused is with an object lesson. He wrote, What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.. 12:711), The Father is not the Son (Matt. 139:711; Jer. If you are a Christian, why not memorize some of this blogs verses? . That isGod is three Persons in onethe Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Answers to questions on donations, financial policies, Crus annual report and more. It is fundamental to our worldview. Paul unequivocally taught Jesus is God (Col. 2:9). Ask the teenager this question: Where does this fall short? Rather, everything that one Person is involved in, the other two are also involved in, one way or another. Find freedom from your sins today. But Scripture provides ample evidence of the existence of the Trinity. That way were providing a simple, common language and framework for everything else were going to say (or any analogies we use). ), "If God was small enough for my brain to fully understand, He wouldnt be big enough to save me!, The authors of the Bible understood this. And the triangle can help us distinguish one essence from the three Persons. Nonetheless, while recognizing the distinct roles that each Person has, we should never think of their roles as so separate that the other Persons are not involved. You can't explain the Trinity to anyone who reasons because: 1) The Bible does not support it. 4:30), and a will (1 Cor. The Trinity doctrine developed over hundreds of years and was influenced by the teachings of pagan Greek philosophers. We cannot entirelycomprehendan infinite God and these mysteries (Rom. However, the biblical doctrine of the Trinity does not rest on one verse of Scripture, but is found throughout the Old and New Testaments. 1:2;). It is the unity of the Father, Son, and Spirit as three persons in one Godhead. In John 1:1 it is affirmed that Jesus is God and, at the same time, that He was with God- thereby indicating that Jesus is a distinct Person from God the Father (cf. Gods attributes are not parts of his singular divine essence. It is one of the two ordinances of the Christian Church. The doctrine of the Trinity states that God exists as one God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. 18:20; Matt. The Holy Spirit descended upon Him to equip Him for His ministry. Before moving on tounderstandingthe idea of one Being existing in three Persons, I will point out that theBiblical idea of the Trinity goes all the way back to the first verse in the first chapter in the first book of the Bible. To further our understanding of the distinction of persons within the one God it is best to move on to the next trinitarian principle. That leaves us with the modern definition of the word mystery. Binmin Podcast 8: God & Origins | What Questions Should I Ask About My Faith, Binmin Podcast Ep. 12:11), When the Holy Spirit speaks, he refers to himself in first person (Acts 13:2). Tertullian, Cyprian, Augustine, and Jerome mention it. After Christ rose from the grave, he appeared to the disciples and gave them a job to do: preach the Word to everyone. Most people, including many Christians, struggle trying to apprehend the Trinity. I hate getting spam. We begin with a brief discussion of the doctrine in historical context, explaining more fully the nature of the problem it raises. 3:25; Dan. There will always be some level of mystery to this, but when you talk about the being/nature/essence as God and the persons/expressions as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit I think we get at least a little bit closer to beginning to comprehend something we can never fully comprehend. Just hang on a little longer. After understanding the difference between essence and personhood, most objections evaporate! That definition is a mouthful. Are these just three different ways of looking at God, or simply ways of referring to three different roles that God plays? Second, notice that each Person must be deity because they are all placed on the same level. As long as a shape has those three angles that add up to 180 degrees, it doesnt matter what the angles degrees are. How do we know whats age-appropriate for them to understand? Wayne Grudem explains: But if each person is fully God and has all of Gods being, then we also should not think that the personal distinctions are any kind of additional attributes added on to the being of God . God is spirit (John 4:24). Does the Trinity mean that God is divided into three parts? Essence and person are not the same thing. He sanctifies us (1 Pet. At this stage, your head may be swimming with all this new information about God! However, let me highlight some of the most significant passages that confirm monotheism: Are you interested in learning more about the Godhead? Would you like to give your time to work with Cru? (Ohand I'll send you my free guideThe Simplest Way to Study ANY Bible Passageas a "Thank you" for jumping on board!). These definitions express three crucial truths: (1) The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons, (2) each Person is fully God, (3) there is only one God. 1. The late theologian Herman Bavinck has stated something very helpful at this point: The persons are modes of existence within the being; accordingly, the Persons differ among themselves as the one mode of existence differs from the other, and using a common illustration as the open palm differs from a closed fist.[4], Because each of these forms of existence are relational (and thus are Persons), they are each a distinct center of consciousness, with each center of consciousness regarding Himself as I and the others as You. Nonetheless, these three Persons all consist of the same stuff (that is, the same what, or essence). Below is the easiest way that I have ever heard it explained: God the Father is the sun. Is referred to in the second person (you; Ps. Rather than let that frustrate you, let it encourage you. God the Father spoke from heaven and spoke of His Son, Jesus. 45:5-6, New Testament: Mark 12:29; John 5:44; Eph. Modern theologians have created a distinction between the "economic Trinity" and the "immanent Trinity.". Matthew 12:28. Deut. 2:10), knows (1 Cor. The answer is simple. Each of the persons is distinct from the other in relation (Economic Trinity), yet each is identical in essence (Ontological Trinity). The Trinity is more than just a vital doctrine. While not a typical conversation starter, this question is one of the most important we can ask in life. Go ahead and start with one of the object lessons above. The Bible teaches the Trinity beginning with the days of creation. How is God three? Unfortunately, there are many illustrations which are not simply imperfect, but in error. Stated differently, God is one in essence and three in person. If belief in the Trinity is so essential to Christianity, it would have been explicitly stated in the Bible and wouldn't have taken over 300 years to officially define it. .. Sproul cites as an example Dickens famous line, It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Obviously this is a contradiction if Dickens means that it was the best of times in the same way that it was the worst of times. Of course we are speaking by analogy here, for we cannot understand this in a physical way about God. Rather, the being of each Person is equal to the whole being of God.[1] The divine essence is not something that is divided between the three persons, but is fully in all three persons without being divided into parts., Thus, the Son is not one-third of the being of God, He is all of the being of God. Just like anything else, some kids have to work hard for what comes easily to, Read More 15 Powerful Self Esteem Activities for Kids to Do at Home and in SchoolContinue. Even wonderful parents have kids who struggle with self esteem, despite excellent parenting and a supportive home environment. Sun The sun is a physical object, but also gives off light and heat. If it were the other way around and we understood God completely, how would he be the sovereign God? They had to wait another 50 year for the 381 update. When Jesus answered the question, What is the greatest commandment? he prefaced the answer by quoting the. OksoWhat about this idea of one being who exists in three persons?. LESSON 1: THE TRINITY AIM: To teach the children in simple terms the truth of the Godhead. From the 1950s to the 2000s, people wanted to see if they could make computers exhibit intelligence indistinguishable from humans. There we read that " God said, 'Let us make man in our image' . Carrying this concept over to the Trinity, it is not a contradiction for God to be both three and one because He is not three and one in the same way. We just covered Gods one divine essence. Then I'll share an activity using the Celtic Trinity Knot to explain the Trinity to children along with the love that exists between each of its Persons and us. View our top Cru resources in more than 20 languages. But it is possible to go deeper. Learn how you can know God personally. 6:45; 32:39; 1 Kings 8:60; 2 Kings 5:15; Isa. This verse accurately states the doctrine of the Trinity that God is One God in three Persons. . Helping students know Jesus, grow in their faith and go to the world to tell others. They are personal forms of existence other than a difference in being. As I said earlier, it means the same thing as being. In the baptism of Jesus, we see the Father speaking from heaven and the Spirit descending from heaven in the form of a dove as Jesus comes out of the water (Mark 1:10-11). And during his earthly ministry, Christ subjected himself to the Fathers will. Lets move on to Scriptural evidence for the Trinity. 9:14; Heb. It has been said, Try to explain the trinity and lose your mind, try to explain away the trinity and lose your soul. The origin of the doctrine of the Trinity is the Bible . God is infinitely greater than we are; therefore, we should not expect to be able to fully understand Him. How to Explain the Trinity to an Unbeliever The Village Church - Flower Mound 118K subscribers 36K views 5 years ago The Trinity is confusing even to most Christians, so we want to pull the. Your Identity in Christ: How God Sees You. Our kids are currently 2, 4, and 7, and its equally loved by all of them, so the Yoto age range is really wide! That's the one we think of as the Father. What is a functional order or subordination? It means that a Trinity member submits himself to one or both of the other members. Why not consider these truths and place your faith in Jesus (1 John 5:1)? In the early 2000s, people began using a new approach called "deep . Perhaps for the first time, you have read that the Trinity is a mystery and not acontradiction. Satan existed with the angels at the beginning of creation as one of the cherubim. Their prime usefulness it to show the mystery is not contradictory. As Hebrews 9:14 declares. After all, as I have said many times (to myself as much as others! 5:10), Requested prayer in his name (John 14:1314) and to be honored as God (John 5:23), Begetting the human nature of Christ at the incarnation (Luke 1:35), Inspiring Scripture (2 Tim. But Jesus did not become less than the Father during his incarnation. EitherThe person were explaining it to will think that God simply changes from one to the other at different times and under different circumstances (water). Hes the one who walked the Earth blamelessly, performing miracles, and extending mercy and love. If God is three Persons, does this mean that each Person is one-third of God? But how does it show us why there is only one God instead of three? 317 subscribers in the BiblicalUnitarian community. I am also fully Keith Ferrin. The prologue of the Gospel of John has the strongest argument for the Trinity. This should make it clear why it is so important to understand that all three Persons are the same essence. That means that, as Christians, we believe in only one God. Fortunately, the most popular analogy of the Trinity is the triangle. As theologian and apologist Norman Geisler has explained it, while essence is what you are, person is who you are. The Bible reveals that God isone, in essence, eternally revealed inthree Persons. Jesus is like the flesh, because He became flesh so we could know Him better. Thats what faith is being content with our own confusion while still knowing that God is bigger than we can comprehend. The Trinity is God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. He said, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one (Mark 12:29). Trinity, in Christian doctrine, the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead. "But if I [Jesus] cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.". The concept of the Trinity is often referred to during worship, which helps Christians to understand it. We need you. So, the Trinity is incomprehensible. For example: The Nicene Creed is recited during every service of Holy Communion . The Holy Spirit is God, but He is not the Son or the Father. In other words, Christianity is unique among all other worldviews. The Holy Trinity - Explained. Third, notice that although the three divine Persons are distinct, we are baptized into their name (singular), not names (plural). What is the Trinity? 42. Both the New Testament and Old Testament testify that there is only one God: Unfortunately, we cannot go through each of these passages in detail. Why do so many people struggle with the doctrine of the Trinity? ONLY the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are God. Therefore, we must always endeavor to deepen our worship of God in truth as well as in our hearts. Faith is recognizing that we dont have all the answers and deciding that its okay to keep believing and growing. Simply stated, God is one in essence and three in person. Have a great discussion about it! Why not plan on studying verses in each section to prove to yourself that the Bible does claim that God is a Trinity? 3:19; Eph. There are three Persons with one divine essence! No, the wordTrinitydoes not appear in the Bible. After all, if the trinitarian nature of God is not in the Bible, why bother talking about it at all? Grace is the promise that you stand forgiven before God if you know Jesus. Fill this out to make sure you don't miss a thing! He is an extension of the sun and brings the sun directly to the world. The all powerful one who lives up in Heaven and either judges us mercilessly or loves us endlessly, depending on who you ask. So many things clamor to define you. Within Gods one, undivided being is an unfolding into three personal distinctions. Did your kids give each form of God different personality traits? The next time you (or I) are asked to explain the Trinity, you could start with a 1-sentence definition and then unpack that definition. Other statements may at first seem contradictory but are really not. "It has been said that there have been four centuries when the church's understanding of the person of Christ has been most under attack. We then turn to the most important strategies that have been developed by Christians to resolve this problem. Simply put: without three angles, theres no triangle! Geisler, N. L., and R. E MacKenzie, R. E. Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: agreements and differences. 3:1417). Matt Perman is the director of career navigation at The Kings College NYC, a blogger, and an author. Show them that there are three parts: seeds, flesh, and skin. I think it is because they lack at least two pieces of information: The main confusion is that many people dont get this distinction. 1:318; 1 Pet. While theconceptof the Trinity is evident in the New Testament (Matt. He is the only God that exists. My passion is helping you not just read and study the Bible, but truly enjoy it! One of the problems is that most of us myself included are tempted to move too quickly to analogies that only help explainaspectsof the Trinity. But Christianitys God is unique. Specifically, distinguishing between Gods one essence and his three Persons. If Jesus is God, why do the Gospels record instances where He prayed to God? And he should be referred to by personal pronouns and never as it. The Holy Spirits is a person because he: Scripture also proves that the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are God. Having seen that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct Persons, that they are each fully God, and that there is nonetheless only one God, we must conclude that all three Persons are the same God. The Trinity is like an egg. This would make each Person less than fully God and thus not God at all. using the shamrock or the three states of H 2 O to explain the . Therefore each of the Persons into whose name we are to be baptized must be deity. Lets start with the geometric figure of the triangle itself. Trying to fully understand God is like a 2-year-old trying to fully understand the complexities of relationships, marriage, and parenting! He is one in essence. A rumor is started, and it spreads like wildfire. A mystery that should cause us to marvel, and wonder, and worship! But Christianity's God is unique. After all, the Trinity is difficult to understand. The Apostle Paul also affirms the doctrine of the Trinity. How is God different? Each member of the Trinity is . So all three members of the Trinity have unique personhood. 13:14), the term Trinity does not appear. This post is full of Bible facts for kids that will spark the imagination, encourage lots of good questions, and even inspire some Bible reading. This law states that A cannot be both A (what it is) and non-A (what it is not) at the same time and in the same relationship. Just as ONE egg has THREE different parts - the shell, the white, the yoke - ONE God has THREE different . Fun fact: The 325 Nicene Creed does not state Trinity. Only older children will grasp the in one concept of H20. Here are three I found to be really helpful. Further, we clearly should not think of God as consisting of anything other than divinity. 104:30), sanctifies (Rom. December 19, 2018. 11:3336). In fact, kids who have been in church for many years will probably have already heard one of these illustrations. draws the believer into a new . 20:23; Deut. The Son is the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. In sum, the essence or nature of anything is what it is. Do Trinity Crafts/Printables. 2:511). 2:11), speaks (Mark 13:11), testifies (Acts 20:23), reveals (1 Cor. 4:4). But analogies cannot entirely explain the mystery of God. This is absolutely true. In fact, would Jesus have us baptize in the name of a mere creature? What is the essence of a triangle? "The Trinity is the foundational Christian belief that God is one Being who exists in three Persons." Unpacking the Definition The word Trinity means three-in-one. For instance, the Father is the first person of the Trinity. His function is superior to that of the Son and the Holy Spirit. The doctrine or concept of the Trinity is central to most Christian denominations and faith groups, although not all. No, the word Trinity does not appear in the Bible. These are all qualities of personhood. Disclaimer: I believe Trinity. Therefore, the Holy Spirit must be distinct from the Father and the Son. The Bible is clear that all three Persons are each one hundred percent God. Do you need to devote yourself to unselfish religious deeds? The doctrine of the Trinity is the belief that there is one God who has revealed Himself in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The oldest member of the unholy trinity. At Jesus baptism, when Christ came up out of the water, the Spirit descended in the appearance of a dove. Its not unusual for teenagers to give Jesus a bunch of loving characteristics and then put words like justice and vengeance on God the Fathers poster. See if they can think of anything better, and be ready to discuss where different ideas might not quite work. He was sustaining and manifesting Gods immediate presence in his creation. The word "trinity" is a term used to denote the Christian doctrine that God exists as a unity of three distinct, simultaneous persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Example 1: What is the nature or essence of a rock? Genesis tells us that God created the heavens and the earth by his word. To contemplate the Trinity is to lift up your heart and to "set your mind on the things above" (Col. 3:2). So a closer look at the fact that God is one in essence but three in person has helped to show why the Trinity is not a contradiction. Genesis 1:1says this: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.. The three most common go-to analogies for explaining the Trinity are water, an egg, and the sun. As Christians, we derive our concept of person from the relations in the Trinity. 1. What we have seen so far provides a good basic understanding of the Trinity. Object Lessons on the Trinity for a Child or New Believer, The Difference Between Teaching the Trinity to a Child vs. a Teenager, Books that Explain the Trinity to a Child, Navigating Girl Drama: 20 Ways Schools and Parents Can Help Calm the Storm, Is It Normal that My 4 Year Old Can Read? Likewise, after the Son returned to the Father (John 16:10), the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit into the world (John 14:26; Acts 2:33). This triune God (or Trinity) began to allude to this aspect of His nature right in Genesis 1:26-27. 15:3). There are two other major monotheistic world religions namely Judaism and Islam. If you go to YouTube and search on explain the Trinity youll findlotsof videos.