“Trinity – the Whole”

Scripture: 1 John 5:1-12

Some time ago, during Bible study at Gibson Corners, a brief discussion developed on some questions regarding the Trinity. I felt that this might be a good topic for a sermon series, so beginning today, we will be considering some of the aspects of our Triune God – how and why the Three are also One, how they are different and unique, and how they work differently, even while they are inseparably linked.

Today, we begin with consideration of God as a whole – his Oneness, his will, and his purpose. But the first thing we need to realize is that God is not bound by either the physics of Creation, or of human characteristics and understandings. Even though humanity was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26), humans are not equal to God – we were created lower than both God and the angels (Hebrews 2:5-8). This, then, makes it difficult for us to comprehend who and how God is (Isaiah 55:8-9).

So with that in mind, we will attempt to understand our Triune God just a little better.

Read 1 John 5:1-5

This section begins with the concept of faith in Jesus Christ, which becomes the basis for a relationship with God. This raises our first question – “Is God’s love for each of us really dependent on our faith? Are we loved, even if we don’t believe in Jesus?”
The simple answer is “We are loved regardless.” John 3:16 is the definitive answer, in that we read “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” The entire world is loved, and the proof is Jesus Emmanuel. Salvation is another story, though, as that is dependent on faith in Christ.

But the second question centers on the love that we are to offer to God in return. “Why does God love us so much, and why does he want us to love him?”
Again, the simple answer is “Because God is love.” (1 John 4:16) But there are times that the God of the Old Testament doesn’t seem very loving, does he? We have all heard the saying “tough love”, and that is probably the best description of the Godly kind of love. Tough love is never a pleasant kind of love, but it is very possibly the most perfect kind of love. The world’s kind of love is always based in making us feel better at the time, but God’s love is based in giving us the very best for eternity. And he uses that love to teach us, and change us, and lead us, and show us just what an infinite kind of love is all about, so that we can love each other in the same way.

Which brings us to our third question – “Isn’t loving God enough? Do we really have to love our neighbor, too?” God shows us his unconditional love, so we have an example to use in loving both him and others. When we are told that we have to love each other into the kingdom, it isn’t with the world’s kind of love – that which excuses sin and promises glory without a change of heart. Verse 3 of our text tells us that our love of God is evidenced by our obedience to his commandments. If there is no tough love for our neighbor, then there is no love whatsoever. And without love for our neighbor, there can be no love for God.

And this leads us to understand that Godly love is the basis for faith. Hillsong’s “Love So High” speaks of the depth of God’s love – that it is so deep, so wide, so long and so high, that it is beyond our comprehension, and yet we are called to love as God first loved, and even though we can never fully understand that approach to each other, we must still try.

Read 1 John 5:6-8

The significance of the references to “water and blood” are rather controversial in the commentaries, so I will offer my own interpretation, just to muddy the waters a little more.

The word tells us that Jesus came by water and the blood, and not by water only. The Trinity knew that humanity didn’t have a chance to gain eternal life on their own, so God decided to intervene and make the perfect and unfailing way for us. This goes back to the Godly kind of love, in that the Lord wanted no one to perish, but to live in eternity with him. But people had trouble dealing with his commandments, and no one – NO ONE – could ever, or would ever, keep them all.
So some means of forgiveness would have to be created for these creatures who could never gain forgiveness on their own. One person of the Trinity would come to Earth, in the form of the Created, to prepare that very way. He would be born in a human way (“water”), would live restricted as humanity is, and after teaching and revealing all that we needed to know (not all that is, of course!), he would become the sacrifice for sin (“blood”). He must be human in form, for sin was a human trait, but would be sinless perfection himself, so that he might become a suitable sacrifice for the sin of humanity.

God’s wisdom has determined that acceptance of both the “water” and the “blood” – the human birth and the divine sacrifice – were critical components to the salvation of the world. And each is a testimony to God’s grace and love. But John writes that there is one more vital aspect to God’s testimony, or witness – and that is God’s own Spirit.

God establishes his continuing presence in the midst of the created order. The Second Person of the Trinity came to become the way of salvation, and the Third Person came to constantly remind us of Jesus’ teaching, to encourage us in faith and faith expression, to help us through troubling times, to enable us to do those things that Jesus did and even more, and, at times, to be the “tough love” that every one of us needs from time to time.

By the Lord’s testimony, he becomes our omnipresent God – the one who is with us wherever we go, who is involved in whatever we do, who provides encouragement and guidance in our faith walk, and who, by faith in Christ, enables us to do incredibly things in the name of Almighty God. And by our faith, we, too, can join the effort to testify to the power and majesty and grace and mercy – and love - of God, that others may see their way clear to be welcomed as a child of the Almighty.

Read 1 John 5:9-12

The Lord God Almighty’s word is true and dependable, and when we refuse to accept it as the truth, it is because of our lack of love of God, and the Spirit will be unable to work in our lives. In John 14:15-17, Jesus tells his followers that when he is gone, he will send the Spirit to work in their lives, but this Spirit can only become part of their lives through faith and trust in him.

God is present in the lives of all humanity. By the very nature of our God, he will never be an absentee Lord, a remote Lord, a questionable Lord, an earthly kind of Lord, a Lord who we need to second guess all the time. We may not be comfortable with his commandments, or his call on our lives, or the way he works, or the tough love that he exhibits from time to time. But when we trust that God is completely and truthfully and perfectly who he tells us he is, that is when we begin to develop a relationship that can only bring about the greatest change in our life, and the greatest blessings that we will ever receive.

When Jesus told Nicodemus that he had to be born again (John 3:1-21), the words meant that he had to be changed into not only the image of God, but into a child of God, and that it will bring about an entirely new approach to this life. God’s way is not our way and quite honestly, never can be. It is beyond our comprehension, beyond our appreciation, beyond our ability, beyond our capability. But the Lord God Almighty - Father, Son and Holy Spirit – has prepared a way that we can understand, we can receive, we can follow, and we can proclaim and testify to.

In an article by Brandon Smith, he presents some thoughts that Augustine had regarding the Trinity. He described the 3 Persons in the following way:
The First Person, the Father, is the one who sends Jesus to the people of Earth; he set salvation in motion. This aspect of God Initiated our salvation.
The Second Person, the Son, accepted the task of being our redemption by setting glory, authority and power aside, taking on the limitations of his creation, and then voluntarily surrendering to the hatred of Earth. This Person, Jesus, is the intermediator between us and the Trinity, and has become our Mediator.
The Third Person, the Holy Spirit, is the One who continues to remind us of what is right and what is evil, and acts to maintain our connection with God’s Goodness. He keeps us together; he is the Unifier.

And each and every aspect of the Trinity is working specifically for our good, and each is united and focused on the Whole of God. There is no separation; there is no individual thought; there is no hierarchy. There is only one purpose, one vision, one mind of God. And it is working for the good of all humanity.

One perfect and loving God, and yet working in three unique ways within our lives. Praise the Lord.