Believing in the Triune God

By Rev. Tim Nicholls
 
 

Whenever I share the gospel with a non-Christian, there is one question that they inevitably ask: Is Jesus God? The question comes because we say that Jesus was the perfect man who died on the cross for our sins. Yet we also say that Jesus was the Son of God, and we must follow Him as our Lord. And so the question inevitably comes – Is Jesus God or man?

Should I follow Jesus or should I follow God? Or are there three gods – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit? These are all questions about the Trinity. If you were asked these questions, would you know how to answer them? What does it mean that God is Trinity – three persons, but one God? To answer this, let’s consider John 14.

1. The Son is the only way to the Father (John 14:1-7)

Jesus says, “Believe in God; believe also in me.” (John 14:1). If Jesus was not God, such a command would be blasphemous. God does not share His glory with others. Jesus continues, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2) Notice, Jesus not only calls God his Father, but claims that He can reserve a place for us in heaven. These also are claims to divinity.

In John 6, we read an account of the Jews seeking to kill Jesus, not only because He was breaking the Sabbath, but “all the more” because He called God His own Father, making himself equal with God (John 6:18). When Jesus calls Himself “I am”, He is using God’s divine name. I am the light of the world, I am the good shepherd, I am the resurrection and the life. Jesus claims to be the eternal Son – God in human flesh. He is divine – fully God and fully human.

Therefore, Christ is the only way to the Father. In John 14:6, Jesus famously declares, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”. Notice that Jesus doesn’t claim to be one way – one of many alternatives. He claims to be the way. Because Christ is fully God and fully human, only He is fully qualified to offer the perfect sacrifice for sin on the cross.

Thus, without faith in Christ, including a belief in His full divinity, people will be eternally lost. We must share the gospel with everyone that we can. Often at funerals, people speak in quite fuzzy terms. “He’s in a better place”. “Her suffering is over”. They say this even if they were not Christians. They will say, “They were so sincere”, “They were so religious” or “They did so many good things”. And that may be true. But none of our kindness or good works will qualify us for a spot in Heaven. The Son is the only way to Father.

2. The Son is the only way to know the Father (John 14:8-14)

If you’ve ever seen my children, you’ll know that they are the splitting image of me. Much to my wife’s frustration, a complete stranger can look at them and know that I am their father. It’s the same with Jesus and God. Jesus says to Philip, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father…” (John 14:8). Knowing Jesus means knowing the Father. Seeing Jesus means seeing the Father. The Son perfectly reveals the Father.

Therefore, if we want to know God, we must look at Jesus. Many people think about what God is like, so they construct gods in the image of man. But Christians believe that God came down to earth. We don’t need to search for Him. He has revealed Himself fully in Christ.

How can I know God exists if I can’t see him? Look at Jesus. Can I know God apart from Jesus? No, I cannot. Jesus says, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me… The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does the works (John 14:10). When a woman becomes pregnant, she is indwelt with a baby. Thus, the baby goes where the mother goes. The baby eats whatever the mother eats. Because the baby is in the mother.

But with God we see mutual indwelling. Jesus says, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14:10). So that as we look at Jesus the Father is perfectly revealed. Jesus says and does what the Father does. As Jesus performs his miracles, we see the Father’s glory. As Jesus carries out his Father’s will, we see the Father’s work. That is why Christians believe in three persons – Father, Son and Spirit – but only one God. For the three persons of the Trinity are intimately related, mutually indwelling one another and sharing the divine essence.

In this we also see person-centered nature of the Trinity as each person seeks to love and glorify the others. So the Son seeks to glorify the Father, and the Father is glorified in the Son, and the Spirit is glorified as he brings people to the Father through the Son. We can see how other-person centered The Trinity is. The Father loves the Son and seeks to glorify and exalt Him. The Son loves the Father and seeks to glorify Him and obey His will. As Jesus is glorified as our Saviour and King, the Father who sent Him is glorified as well.

Thus, if we truly know the Trinitarian God, we too will love like God does. God is love. If we know God, we will not live for self or for stuff. We will live to serve, because that is what the Triune God is like. John writes, “anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:10). Thus, if we truly know God, we will show it by being other-person centered. What will this mean for you as a spouse, parent, worker, neighbour or congregation member?

3. The Father and the Son send the Spirit to dwell in us (John 14:15-26)

So far we’ve focused mainly on the Son. He is divine, He reveals the Father, He glorifies the Father and He’s the only way to the Father. But in John 14:15-26, we see that the Holy Spirit is also a divine person. Sometimes, we talk about the Spirit as an “it”, an impersonal power. To quote Star Wars, “May the force be with you”. But the Spirit is not a force, he is a person. He is the third person of the Trinity. That’s why in these verses he’s referred to as “he” not “it”.

We read, the world “neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17). You cannot know an “it”. You cannot have a relationship with a spoon, a clock, or a car. But we can know the Scripture because He is a person. He teaches the disciples (John 14:26), he give gifts (1 Corinthians 12), he can be grieved and lied to. These are all things only a person can do.

God is with us all the time

As Christians, we’re not orphans abandoned by the Father or the Son. By the Spirit, both the Father and the Son have come to dwell in us. The Spirit lives within us, changing our hearts, giving us faith and transforming our lives. In the Old Testament, God dwelt in the temple. He was so glorious that no one could approach His presence. But if we are Christian, then God the Father and God the Son dwell in us. They’ve taken up residence in our heart by the Holy Spirit.

That means we cannot be any closer to God than we are today. We might feel far from God when we sin or when we’re suffering. But in reality, we are not. Jesus says, “I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (John 14:20). Such is the intimacy we have with God. Through the Holy Spirit we are united with the Son and with the Father. We too experience that mutual indwelling.

Today, we can experience a close intimate relationship with God. As Christians, we can call God, “Father”. We can know that Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. We can know that the Holy Spirit dwells in our heart, changing us from within so that we truly love others. The God of the Bible is personal and we can know Him personally. We can know the Father, through Son, by the Spirit.

The fact that God is Triune – three persons in eternal relationship – reminds us that relationships are what life is about. Life is not about stuff. Life is not success. It’s about a loving relationship. This theology is immensely practical. If we truly know the Triune God, we will prize relationships – with God and with one another. We will always seek to live in other-person centred love.

We are different but equal

Although the three persons of the Trinity are equally divine, they have different roles. The Father is the creator and origin: he chooses, plans and wills. The Son is the fulfiller: he obeys the Father and does His will. The Spirit dwells in us, pointing us to the Father and the Son. And as people made in God’s image, we see that same diversity in our human relationships. We’re all equally human and equally valuable to God, but also different.

We see that expressed in marriage – the husband is to lead and to lay down his life for his wife. The wife is to honour and submit to the husband. They’re both equally married and equally valuable, but given different roles.

We see it expressed in church as well. We are all one body in Christ, but diverse in our races, languages, ages and giftings. We’re equally valuable and important, but given different roles to play. As we embrace our differences to love and serve one another, we will reflect the image of the God we serve.

As those who believe in the Triune God, we look forward to spending eternity in the Father’s house. There we will know Him and love Him forever. But Christ is the only way to Father and it’s only by the Spirit’s work that we will ever come to recognise Christ as our Lord, and God as our Father, and so be saved.

This sermon was preached on 7 June 2020 in conjunction with Trinity Sunday at St Mary’s Anglican Cathedral in Kuala Lumpur. It has been adapted for written publication and the original can be listened to here.

About the Author

Originally from Australia, Tim came to know Christ as a child, before maturing in his faith during his university years. Tim now lives in Malaysia and serves as the Ministry Director of Equip Gospel Ministries and Pastor at St Mary’s Anglican Cathedral in Kuala Lumpur. Tim is married to Siew Mun and they have three children. Tim loves Malaysian food, the hot tropical weather, and is learning to speak Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin! But most of all he loves Jesus, and is passionate about seeing people from all nations and stages of life come to know Christ as their Lord and Saviour and joyfully live for His glory.

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