Have you ever asked a child to explain the Trinity? If they seem to have a problem, then ask them to explain God to you. You might get some of the same interesting answers if you ask many of our adult Christians today. Why is it so difficult for some Christians to explain their personal relationship with their heavenly Father? Is that the way God would want it to be, or have we humans in all of our great wisdom made God so complex that even the small children must struggle to understand their heavenly Father? Could it be that we have borrowed our faith form our church rituals, rather than a personal relationship with the Father? It is for sure that if we do not truly know our heavenly Father personally, then He will not know us on that last day.
Matthew 7:22-23
(22) Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? (23) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
So how do you see the Father? The Trinity basically tells us that there is only one God, but He has three faces; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Jewish view of God is that there is only one face, one Father, and they call Him Jehovah or Yahweh. Since the Jews and Christians have the same God, why is there a different view? I asked myself, does the Trinity truly reflect my own understanding of God, does the Jewish definition of a single God Head better fit my relationship with the Father, or is just loving the Father with all my heart enough? These are questions Christians and non-Christians have debated since our Lord Jesus first walked among us in the flesh.
It was easy for me as a child, because I could understand a Father’s love for His Son, and who else could better carry the Father’s message to us, than His very own Son? So for me, it was my love for the Father that first brought me to the feet of Christ, and a precise definition was not required. As our love for Christ grows however, it becomes more important that we can explain our relationship with the Father to others, and this is usually the time we start getting into great debates with fellow Christians as to how we should see God.
The words which follow come from my own personal faith as it relates to the Trinity, and each of us must decide for ourselves how we relate to the Father. We cannot borrow someone else’s faith, because our faith is the eyes through which we see the Father. If we don’t really know what we believe, perhaps we wear a borrowed mask of Christian faith, and Christ is not the true Lord of our hearts. Even though the Father told us many times that we humans cannot even conceive the reality of the Father, we blindly go right on trying to put Him in our little box of knowledge.
In order to describe our relationship with the Father, our first problem is to understand the shortfalls in our human language, or the written word. I could hear the most eloquent words in the world, but if the heart can’t accept them, then they are just noise soon lost in the wind. The written scriptures have little power over the heart of the non-believer, as the meanings of words are changed to justify their own actions. As we have seen recently with our own President Clinton, words can be changed to mean almost anything, and justice is no longer found in the words of our human laws. It is only in the heart that the truth is always exposed, but only the Father and we hear the words of our hearts. It is only when we try to translate the words of the heart into human sounds that we start running into problems. My words can say I love you, but they are not enough, it is the heart that must love.
Isaiah 29:13
Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
When we begin to dig deeper into the scriptures, or words of the Bible, we run into a multitude of issues like the interpretation of the Trinity. Our atheist brothers and sisters favorite game is to play with the various differences, or usages of a written word, just like our legal system prides itself in doing today. It was in trying to deal with this problem that I was struck with the beauty of the name that the Father gave to Himself, “I AM”. He sure knew the evil nature of mankind, and left little to misunderstand.
(Exodus 3:14
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.)
When I was a child, I was disappointed that God used such simple words to describe Himself. It seemed He should have a marvelous name that describes His great power, love, and intelligence. But for today critics, “I AM”, is very hard to mess with, yet it says everything we need to know about the almighty loving Father who created the universe, and all therein. Now that I am a man, that simple name is the anchor for my faith, and now I understand the Father’s great wisdom so there would be no need for inadequate human words.
But as we know, the Father’s description is still not enough for sinful men, so we continue to try to place God in an earthly definition. It is like trying to place the ocean into a single drop of water. I share my thought on this subject only in the hopes that I can place a little light in the darkness that Satan uses to distract and destroy the body of Christ. We are so quick to look at our differences, and overlook our common love for Christ. We are not separated in the heart, as our critics boast so loudly when looking at our many Christian denominations. They cannot see the common love for Christ in our hearts, which bind us into one body. We may use different languages and words to describe our love for the Father, but words are not important, it is our common love which justifies us before the Father.
When we try to defend the Trinity view of the Father, it becomes a little difficult since the word “trinity“ cannot be found in the Bible, and it first came into use in the church during Emperor Constantine’s rule around 325 AD. Now there are other verses which support the Trinity concept, but I believe the most compelling is called the Great Commission;
Matthew 28:16-20
(16) Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. (17) And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. (18) And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (19) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (20) Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
If the Trinity view seems somewhat confusing, we should not get too upset with ourselves, because there were still doubters among Jesus’ own disciples as we can see in verse 17 above, “but some doubted.” Now why would they have doubted? First we need to realize that we are now reading these scriptures through the eyes of a Trinitarian, or one who has been taught the Trinity from our birth. In other words, we may not be able to understand their concerns, and perhaps we read things into the words which are not there. We need to remember that they were Jews, and believed in all that Mosses and Christ had taught them during their walk here on earth. Also remember that their faith, as well as ours own, was built on there being only one Father, as is documented in Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. We must also remember that Jesus told us He did not come to change the law, but to fulfill the law.
Matthew 5:17
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Now this is where our individual faith comes in, and each of us must decide for ourselves. Is there just one Father as the Bible tells us over and over again, or is there one Father with three faces, as the Great Commission of Matthew 28:16-20 seems to be teaching us? In the face of such complexity, I personally go back and take the simplest meaning of words, and I lean heavily on the Holy Spirit to guild me through as I do for any situation that might stands between me and my Father.
I know I am a child of the Father, and as such have little knowledge. I also know my Father loves me, and He speaks to me in words which I can understand, so I can also explain them to my child. As I consider the question of the Trinity, I remember what God called Himself, “I AM THAT I AM”. First, He did not say “we are who we are”, He made a point of saying “I (singular) AM THAT I AM”. If God is only one, then who is Jesus as He relates to God. I immediately think of my favorite verses in the Bible where Jesus tells us plainly who He is, and why He is here. In fact, it was these same verses which explained the Father’s love for me so I could understand it before I was five years old. It was these same verses which brought me to the feet of Christ, and gave me a love for Him that will never end. If a child can understand, then why ask for more?
John 3:16-21
(16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (17) For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (18) He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (19) And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (20) For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. (21) But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
You see, Jesus is the perfect “light” which the Father has sent to us as a token of His love for us. Jesus is the only “light” which leads us out of the darkness. If we reject the light which was sent to us by the Father, then we reject the Father as well. But what makes Jesus different from Abraham, Mosses, and other prophets? Note the words “only begotten Son” in verses 16 and 18. Why didn’t God just say, “My only Son”? You see, all of the rest of us where made from the dust of the earth, and God gave us the breath life;
Genesis 2:7
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
But Jesus is different, and He is a reflection of God Himself. Many often questioned the Virgin Birth, saying with a smile in their hearts that any rational person would know that it is impossible for this to have happened within the human animal. But only now in the last couple of years have we taught ourselves how to clone another human from a single cell, and what seemed impossible yesterday has suddenly become a fact today. A female could reproduce herself, or any other human from only a single cell of herself or the other person. If the woman should clone herself, then who is the father of the child? To answer that question, we would still have to take the same long journey back to Adam. So with our present scientific understanding, we can now comprehend God placing a “cell or DNA” of Himself into the body of Mary, and He alone is the Father of Jesus. Mary’s flesh feed and nourished the material body of Christ as would the mother of any clone, but the original “cell” belonged to the Father. I would suggest that the clone is not the original, but a true and separate reflection of the original. He is the perfect likeness of His Father, as the Father is telling us that Jesus is His only begotten Son, the only one in the entire universe and beyond.
Now if Jesus were standing before us at this very minute, I believe He would repeat the following to us;
John 14:1-6
(1) Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. (2) In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (4) And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. (5) Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? (6) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Jesus is the Father’s greatest gift to mankind, and if we are so callus as to reject the Father’s most precious gift, then we will not be allowed to enter into His Son’s house on that last day. Now listen closely as Jesus speaks of His own reflection of the Father, and the reason that He is the ‘only begotten Son” of the Father.
John 14:7-11
(7) If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. (8) Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. (9) Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? (10) Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. (11)Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.
If we had stopped at verse 9, we would have to believe that Jesus is saying He is the Father, but as we read on He explains that the spirit of the Father is within Him, and He is one with the spirit of the Father, “I am in the Father, and the Father in me”. He did not say, I “am” the Father, He said I am “in” the Father, and they are two separate things joined in spirit and understanding. Jesus is the very likeness of the Father, and in seeing Him, we humans are able to understand what true love is, and what the Father is really like. Jesus cared not for Himself, but gave all He had for us, and the Father did the same thing in giving even more, His only begotten Son, so that we might be able to follow His light out of the darkness.
Now in the following verse we can see that Jesus is referring to a spiritual relationship, otherwise, we would have to say we are also god’s, and I know that is not true in my own case. However, I do know that the Father rules my heart, and I am one in my love for the Father and His loving Son, Jesus.
John 14:20
At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
When we accept Jesus for who He is, “the only begotten Son of the Father”, then the Father will send us the same Holy Spirit to abide within us, as was in Jesus himself.
John 14:12-16
(12) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (13) And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (14) If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. (15) If ye love me, keep my commandments. (16) And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
As we can see, the Father has given Jesus all power, and we now belong to Him. We will live with Jesus in the heavenly kingdom which He has prepared for us. It is more than enough for this simple Christian. There are many roads which take us to the Father, but they all must pass through “the only begotten gate” whose name is Jesus. Does Jesus have all power over the heavens and the earth? Yes He does! Is He as powerful as the Father? No He is not, as He tells us with His own words;
John 14:28
Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
As a member of the body of Christ, we are one in our love for the great “I AM” .
So should we worship Jesus? Yes we should, He is the way, the truth, the life, and the only way to the Father. Then what about the Holy Spirit? When we open our hearts to Christ, the Father fills our souls with the same loving Spirit as fills our Lord Jesus, and in that Spirit, we become one with Jesus, as Jesus is one with the Father. It is the Holy Spirit which breathes new life into our soul, and we are no longer the same person, but we are born again into the loving spirit of our one and only Father. The spirit flows from the Father to Jesus, to us, and back again. Even though we are individuals, we are all one in our love for the Father who created all things.
So, for me there is but one Father who sent us His most loving gift so that we might find our way out of the darkness and into His light. We have one Master, or Christ, whose name is Jesus, and He is the perfect reflection of the Fathers loving light, and I want to be like Him, I want to be Christ-like, I want to be called a Christian.
Matthew 23:9-10
(9) And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. (10) Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
So I see only one Father, one Master or Christ, and one love which binds the body of Christ into a single entity which glorifies the Father. It is because we love and accept the one Christ, that the Father sends us His Holy Spirit which fills our souls with the same loving light which Christ received from the Father. We are new creatures which have become filled with the light and love of the Father and the Son. The earth is no longer our home, but we stay here only to bring the light of the Father to others as Christ brought it to us. So I tell the little children that they have one heavenly Father who created all things, He send His Son Jesus, the Prince of Peace, to show the world just how much He loves us.
After having said all of that, I know there are those who believe in the Trinity who are true children of the Father, and His only begotten Son. I know there are others who believe as I do who are also true believers of the Father, and His only begotten Son. So where does that leave us? It is not the words we read that make us believe, it is the words we hear in our hearts. It tell us that we sinful humans can’t begin to understand the true nature and love for our heavenly Father, and I am also reminded that it was Christ who choose us before we chose Him.
John 10:27-29
(27) My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (28) And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (29) My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
So we are not to worry, as long as we belong to Christ, and His light shines brightly within our hearts.
The Reason for the Trinity
Father, why is there this thing called the Trinity, I do not see it in your words?
His voice came strong and clearly, it is so I will be heard. I stood before you openly, but mankind could not see, so I sent my Son before you having the same Spirit as me. Since all mankind are sinners and for this they must surely die, I gave them a way back to heaven where they could be at my side. This is why I sent Jesus, to show them the narrow way, take his hand and surely, in the grave you will not stay. This could be seen so easily by those in Jesus’ day, but I now send to you my Spirit, so you too might be saved. I gave you knowledge of good and evil so more I will not do, seek my truth through Jesus and my Spirit will walk in you.
The Trinity is a simply pathway, which I have sent to you, fore I am in the Trinity just as I am now am in you.
Amen.
Thank you Father for Your Holy Spirit, which now teaches me, it will guide me up to heaven, where I will stand before Thee.
Thank you Lord for loving this sinful soul anyway!
joe sizemore
May 15, 1999
