The gift of the Son is the Father’s perfect expression of His love for us, the Gift of the Holy Spirit is the Son’s perfect expression of His love for us, and the gift of the Church is the Holy Spirit’s perfect expression of His love us. Before we can begin to understand the unfolding miracle of God’s plan for salvation for you and for me, we need to grasp the essential nature of God In Three Persons. Although there are no Hebraic, Aramaic, or Greek words used in Scripture that can be translated as �?I>trinity,�?or �?I>triune,�?we find over-whelming evidence for the fact that God is three persons as we study the Bible in its entirety. “What is in the Old Testament concealed, is in the New Testament revealed.�?The triune nature of the God Head is one of the greatest mysteries that is specifically unveiled in the New Testament. For this reason it is easier to first search Matthew through Revelation for descriptions of the Trinity, then turn to the Old Testament for earlier evidences of what we know to be true.
We need look no further than the Christmas story for a first encounter with our triune God. Luke 1:35 tells us, The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God (NIV). Here we have God the Father (the Most High), the Holy Spirit, and the Son as the baby Jesus. A few chapters later, Luke 3:21&22 records the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist: When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased (NIV)." This simultaneous presence of all three persons of the Trinity disavows the modalist position that God is one person who appears as needed in one of three modes (for instance, I serve the three roles of father, son, and brother within my family).
In the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19, Jesus Himself commands us, 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 (NIV). And in John 14:16&17, He tells His disciples, ...I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--the Spirit of truth (NIV). Having been crucified, Acts 2:32&33 records the fulfillment of Christ’s promise: God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit�?/B>(NIV). Throughout his writings it is obvious that Paul also subscribes to the doctrine of the Trinity. Two of the most overt examples are provided in First Corinthians 12:4-6 [There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men (NIV)] and in Second Corinthians 13:14 [May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (NIV)].
First Peter 1:1&2 not only clearly delineates the persons of the Trinity, but we are also provided insight as to the individual roles They serve: Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect, strangers in the world �?who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance (NIV). Chosen according to the foreknowledge suggests that part of the work of the Father is that of planning and making decisions concerning our existence. It is the gift of the Holy Spirit into our beings that makes sanctification possible. Finally, it is the atoning work of the Son upon the cross at Calvary that cleanses us of all unrighteousness so that we are able to be justified before the Father.
Throughout the Old Testament we are provided evidence of the Almighty God’s honor, glory, majesty, grace and mercy; as well as repeatedly witnessing the presence and the person of the Holy Spirit as the power of God. Christ is also present in His various pre-incarnate manifestations as the Angel of God, or the Angel of Yahweh, who is met with worship and honor due only to God, as well as His exhibiting divine power and judgment (e.g.; Ge 22:11-17). In Isaiah 10:33-11:2 we are told, 33 Behold, the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will lop off the boughs with a terrible crash; Those also who are tall in stature will be cut down And those who are lofty will be abased. 34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe, And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One. 11:1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD (NAS). We are told that the Mighty One (God the Father) will cut down the powerful of the Earth and that a descendent of Jesse (God the Son—Jesus) would be born, upon whom would rest the Spirit of the Lord (God the Holy Spirit).
Isaiah 63:8-10 states, For He said, "Surely, they are My people, Sons who will not deal falsely." So He became their Savior. In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them (NAS). Here we have God as Father who speaks of His �?I>Sons,�?while God the Son is manifested as the angel of His presence who is the Savior and Redeemer of His people. In verse 10, we are told that their rebellion grieved God the Holy Spirit. Throughout the Bible we are blessed by God revealing His Persons as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Much like the story of the blind man in Mark 8:22-25, the Lord touched the eyes of the blind with the truth of the Old Testament, but the people of God could only see the mysteries like trees walking around. With the Lord’s second touch in the gift of the New Testament, we are able to see more clearly the divine nature and promises of “God in Three Persons…Blessed Trinity.�?Amen.
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