michigan-stadium_2The largest stadium in the United States is the football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The seating capacity is 107,601.

Given the configuration of the stadium looking through keyholes to count all the seats would be utterly impossible and therefore inconceivable that one would try. The only seats visible would be those within the conical scope of vision a keyhole provides.

The Bible contains numerous keyholes through which we can perceive different aspects of God. Only what the Bible reveals about Him is all that could be understood about Him. And, without controversy, He continues to remain the ultimate mystery.

If one reads the Bible to learn how to serve God rather than with an academic objective, He would communicate His reality to the reader to the degree that it would expunge all doubts of His being. That would be the work of the Holy Spirit, i. e., God’s abiding presence.

Given the language of the Bible, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are individual entities. The word, Trinity, is what ignites great controversies about God: three that are one. Note 1 John 5:7, “For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.” Note that “are” is present tense. Therefore, the three are one and the one are/is three simultaneously, which contradicts human logic. But, Jesus manifesting Himself as He promised to those that obey His teachings would produce faith that overrides logic.

Note that in the following reference in Genesis 1 verse 26 gives plurality to God: Us and Our. In verse and 27 He is singular: His and He. In verse 29, God is singular in the personal pronoun, I:

Genesis 1:26-27

  1. Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
  2. So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
  1. And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.

After Adam disobeyed and ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree, the singular “Lord God” again spoke in plurality: Genesis 3:22, “Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.”

It can conclusively be said that because of “Us”, “Our”, “one of Us”, and “Our likeness” that God’s plurality is unequivocally a mystery. It’s the one mystery that will never be understood by humanity.

Jesus speaks of plurality in the New Testament in John 14:23: “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” In this reference, Jesus speaks of the Father and Himself by virtue of the pronoun, “we”. Given that Jesus was the spokesperson and speaking of Himself and the Father, Jesus would use “we” to mean both of Them. (Click on the following image for an informative video depicting the Trinity of The One God.)

GOD: ELOHIM (One That Is Three: Three That Are One)

Note that God in Hebrew is Elohim: not Who He is but what He is. Thus, it’s “God” in the Gentiles’ vocabulary and in the Hebrews’ vocabublary it’s “Elohim”. Elohim/God identified Himself to Moses by the name, Jehovah. David and Isaiah referred to Elohim respectively by the name, Jehovah. Note the four references:

  • Exodus 6:3, “And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.” KJV
  • Psalms 83:18, “That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.” KJV
  • Isaiah 12:2, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.” KJV
  • Isaiah 26:4, “Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength . . .” KJV

The principal thing to understand is that the Almighty God of the Bible is a phenomenal and eternal MYSTERY: incomprehensible. Note what Apostle Paul of the New Testament book of 1 Timothy 3:16 says: “. . . without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” Note the six clauses ascribed to the One God:

  1. God was manifest in the flesh
  2. [God] was justified in the Spirit
  3. [God] was seen of angels
  4. [God] was preached unto the Gentiles
  5. [God] was believed on in the world
  6. [God] was received up into glory.

Whereas the last phrase says He was “received up into glory”, [the book of] Titus 2:13 speaks of the return of the same God. Note the verse in context:

  1. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
  2. Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
  3. Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
  4. Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

“The term, Triune God, was derived from the word, Trinity, which was ascribed to God from what Jesus said about water baptism in Matthew 28:18: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit/Ghost”. Note that the word, name, is used and not “names”, which gives singularity to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit/Ghost”: One.

Only once in the Old Testament is there any reference indicating the Trinity: Isaiah 48:12-16 where God prophesied through the Rabbi Isaiah:

  1. “Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last.
  2. Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has stretched out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand up together.
  3. “All of you, assemble yourselves, and hear! Who among them has declared these things? The Lord loves him; He shall do His pleasure on Babylon, and His arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
  4. I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him, I have brought him, and his way will prosper.
  5. “Come near to Me, hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, I was there. And now the Lord God and His Spirit have sent Me.”

The two principal verses are 12 and 16: “Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last . . . And now the Lord God and His Spirit have sent Me.” Note that the upper cases “Me, My, and He” in the two verses refer to God. In this context, One was sent by two: the Lord God and His Spirit have sent Me, which indicates the presence of three.

Note Revelation 2:8: “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ‘these things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life . . .” Given that the “First and the Last” refers to Jesus Who died and was resurrected He is also the First and the Last in the Old Testament. Thus, Jesus is undoubtedly the One that identified Himself as the First and the Last in vs. 12 in Isaiah and identified Himself with the pronouns, I and Me, in vs. 16. He was therefore the One sent by the Lord God and His Spirit. The reference in Isaiah is the only language in the Old Testament that depicts three: the Trinity.

It is a general consensus in Christendom that there was a period of 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament in which there was no word from God, i. e., the period of silence. It is, therefore, a fact that the first time the silence was broken is when the angel of the Lord appeared Joseph in a dream announcing the birth of Jesus. The second time is when the angel told Mary that she would conceive by the power of the Highest and bear a Son. Note in the two references that the angel spoke of the Holy Spirit, which places the Holy Spirit prior to the birth of Jesus. The first reference is the first time that the existence of the Holy Spirit was revealed. If it is to be debated as to who the angel appeared first, the fact is that either message proves the existence of the Holy Spirit before the birth of Jesus. (More will be said about the Holy Spirit/Ghost later in the text.):

  • Matthew 1:20, “But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”
  • Luke 1:35, “And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”
The complexity of the very being of God

My studies lead to the works of Dr. Ravi Zacharias. His dialogue about the Trinity is most worthy of consideration:

Within the context of Dr. Zacharias’ explanation the plurality of God is understood in this statement: “Within the complexity of the very being of God, there is an “I” – “You” relationship.” The statement is evident in the the aforementioned references in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, in the story of the creation.

Dr. Zacharias also stressed that only in the Christian faith does love precede life and in all other religions life precedes love. The Father loved Jesus before the foundation of the world, which was to love Him before there was life in the world. To confirm that, note what Jesus said in His prayer to the Father in John 17:24: “. . . You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”

Jesus proved that He and His Father are one when praying to His Father in the Gospel according to John 17:22:

  1. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:

Thus, two times Jesus confirmed His existence before the creation of the world in the Gospel according to John and one time the existence of the Holy Ghost/Spirit in the Old Testament in the following references. Thus, the three coexisted in the Old Testament:

  • John 17:5, And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
  • John 17:24, “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
  • Mark 12:36, For David himself said by the Holy Spirit [in Psalms 110:1]: ‘The Lord [Jehovah] said to my Lord [the Messiah], “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”‘

(Ref: Mark 12:36 has reference to Psalms 110:1 – “The Lord [Jehovah: the Father] said to my Lord [the Messiah: Jesus], “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” Psalms 110:1 is reiterated in Hebrews 10:12-13:

  1. But this Man [Jesus], after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,
  2. from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.)

The author of the book of Hebrews [presumably Apostle Paul] spoke of Jesus sitting on the right hand of the throne of God in Hebrews 12:2:

  1. . . . looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus distinguishes His throne from His Father’s throne in the Book Of Revelation:

  • Revelation 3:21, To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

The aforementioned references prove the existence of one God that eternally exists as three Persons, i. e., the Trinity, which is a word not in the Bible. Given those references that seem paradoxical the only conclusion is that the one God of the Holy Bible is infinitely beyond human comprehension. All we have is a scant perception of Him from what He revealed to those whom He inspired to write the 66 texts that ultimately comprised the Bible. It goes back to the aforementioned illustration about “keyholes” and the reference in which Apostle Paul said: “without controversy, great is the Mystery of godliness . . .”

Jesus’ subservience to His Father

Note what Jesus said to His disciples regarding Him going to His Father in John 14:28: “You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.” By Jesus saying that His Father was greater the Him, He established a hierarchy in which He is subservient to His Father. Jesus said that the night before His crucifixion.

It is also important to note that Apostle Paul was taught exclusively by revelation from Jesus Christ and not by the Apostles that Jesus picked initially given what Paul said in Galatians 1:11-12, which was written in 55AD:

  1. “But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.
  2. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Paul’s statement affirms that he was taught explicitly by revelation from Jesus Christ. Consequently, we must believe that what he preached he learned directly from Jesus Christ.

Note the hierarchy as described by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:3 and 15:24-28 around 57AD:

1 Corinthians 11:3:

  1. But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

1 Corinthians 15:24-28:

  1. Then comes the end, when He [Jesus] delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.
  2. For He [Jesus] must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
  3. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
  4. For “He [the Father] has put all things under His [Jesus’] feet.”
  5. Now when all things are made subject to Him [Jesus], then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him [the Father] who put all things under Him [Jesus], that God may be all in all.

Note especially what Paul said in reference to Jesus in verse 27, “all things are put under Him.” What is under Him DOES NOT include the Father because the Father is Jesus’ Head. What Paul said in verses 25-27 coincide with what Jesus said in Mark 12:36 and what David prophesied in Psalms 110:1 above about Jesus’ enemies being made His footstool. Verse 28 also teaches the subserviency of Jesus to His Father as Jesus said in.John 14:28 above, “. . . My Father is greater than I”.

What Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:28 refers to a time more than 2,000 years beyond the Day Of Ascension, i. e., the end of time: after the anti-Christ is destroyed, after the Millennial reign of Jesus on earth, and after the dEVIL is cast in the lake of fire and brimstone (Revelation 20:10, “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”) and after death is destroyed (Revelation 20:14, “Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.”)

Paul, in the previous reference, was not speaking of Jesus the [incarnated] man as He was in John 14:28. But rather, Paul is referring to Jesus more than 2,000 years later, i. e., ascended back into heaven and seated on the right hand of God according to Mark 16:19, “So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.”

Note again that in 1 Corinthians 15:24 Paul was speaking of the end, when Jesus delivers the kingdom to God the Father. Thereby, according to what Paul says Jesus delivers the kingdom to God the Father at a time that is yet to come: the end. Paul’s reference denotes a clear distinction between the Father and the Son at the end of all things.

A martyr named Steven in the New Testament looked up into heaven while he was being stoned and saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God as recorded in Acts 7:55-56:

  1. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,
  2. and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

Paul said by revelation that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. Steven actually saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. These and other references confirm that Jesus’ present position is at the right hand of God as the aforementioned prophecy of Psalms 110:1 said that He would be.

Jesus equal to God

Consider now what Apostle Paul said about Jesus in Philippians 2:5-7

  1. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
  2. who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
  3. but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

Remember that Apostle Paul was taught exclusively by revelation directly from Jesus Christ; not by the original apostles. In 1 Corinthians 15, he explains Jesus’ subserviency to His Father. But, in Philippians 2, Paul teaches Jesus being equal to His Father.

Conclusively, 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 and Philippians 2:5-8 seem paradoxical. They make the oneness of God totally incomprehensible. But, note what the Apostle John said about Jesus at His return in 1 John 3:3, “.  . . but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” Thus, the mystery of what we will be like and the mystery of what God is like will not be revealed until He returns and we see Him as He is.

Remember that it was Jehovah that sent Moses to Egypt to bring the Hebrews out as recorded in the Book Of Exodus. Moses asked Him, who shall I say sent me? Note God’s answer:

  • Exodus 3:14, And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.'”

If God had proceeded to explain to Moses Who He was/is, Moses would still be standing there millenniums later, i. e., until now. The Hebrews would still be enslaved in Egypt, the books of the Bible would not have been written, and God would not have yet been incarnated in the body of Jesus Christ. Moses’ brain would have been incapable of comprehending God’s explanation of Himself.

Our endeavoring to use the Holy Bible to define God is an absolute impossibility. Consequently, no matter how authoritative one may sound, endeavoring to explain God is speculative at best; not absolute. Therefore, any “revelation” about God that one may claim to have MUST be weighed by what the cited references say about God and also by other references not cited.

The Holy Spirit/Ghost: the Third Person of the Trinity

The adjective phrase, the third Person Of The Trinity, in reference to the Holy Ghost/Spirit originates with what Jesus said about water baptism in Matthew 28:18, “. . . baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” The plurality of God is called “the Godhead”: Acts 17:29, Romans 1:20, and Colossians 2:9.

Given that authors generally have particular vocabularies let’s continue with the writings of one, John, and note what he quoted Jesus as saying about the Holy Spirit: John 14:16, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever . . .“ Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit. In the following verse 17, Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of truth” and said that “He dwells with you and will be in you”.

Within the diversity and complexity that Zacharias ascribed to God in the video, the Holy Spirit is God’s presence that indwells everyone that commits to practicing the teachings of Jesus Christ. In a broader sense, the Holy Spirit becomes to us what Jesus (while He was on earth) was to the Apostles: life’s navigator, teacher, and intercessor.

The Holy Ghost/Spirit in Old and New Testaments

It has already been established in Mark 12:36 what Jesus quoted David saying by the Holy Ghost:

  • For David himself said by the Holy Spirit [in Psalms 110:1]: ‘The Lord [Jehovah] said to my Lord [the Messiah], “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”‘

The New Testament book of Hebrews associates the Holy Ghost to being God that lead the Hebrews out of Egypt and through the wilderness for 40 years and ultimately says that “They shall not enter into My rest”, i. e. the land of Canaan. Note the reference:

Hebrews 3:7-11

  1. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice,
  2. Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness,
  3. Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years.
  4. Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’
  5. So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.'”

Note the language in Psalms 95:7-11 wherein God said “They shall not enter My rest”.

  1. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice:
  2. “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness,
  3. When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work.
  4. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’
  5. So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.'”

The two references confirm the presence of the Holy Ghost/Spirit in the wilderness subsequent to the Hebrew’s exodus from Egypt.

Note that the Holy Ghost/Spirit reiterated in the book of Hebrews what He said in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah. Notice the similarity of the language. In Jeremiah, The Holy Ghost/Spirit was identified as the Lord:

Hebrews 10:15-18

  1. But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,
  2. “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,”
  3. then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 18 Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

Jeremiah 31:33-34

  1. “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah —
  2. not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.
  3. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
  4. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Apostle Peter also placed the Holy Ghost in the Old Testament. Note the 2 Peter 1:21:

  1. for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Given what Peter said, everywhere in the Old Testament whatever follows the phrase, “Thus says the Lord/LORD” the prophets were moved by the Holy Ghost to say it.

The references from Mark 12:36, Hebrews 3:7-11, Hebrews 10:15-18, Jeremiah 31:33-34, and 2 Peter 1:21 beyond all doubt place the Holy Ghost in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the Holy Ghost/Spirit is known as God. The references further confirm what Apostle Paul said about the controversy over the Mystery of God. He is beyond human comprehension.

Conclusion

Given all the references cited herein the Bible sheds a faint light on the mystery of how God is both singular and plural. As Dr. Zacharias phrased it, “it’s not a matter of mathematics it’s a matter of existence . . . They relate in love and in language.”

The plurality existence relating in language is evident in God saying “Us”, “Our image”, and “Our likeness” in the aforementioned references from Genesis. The love aspect is evident in Jesus saying that God loved Him before the foundation of the world. Dr. Zacharias also said, “In the Christian faith only does love precede life. In every other faith [religion], life precedes love”. He adds a very logical point in that for there to be love there must be an object to love. Given what Jesus said in John 17:24 above, He was that Object.

The bottom line is what Paul asserted above in 1 Timothy 3:16, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

God is infinitely beyond human comprehension. But, the manifestations of His presence in our lives causes us to KNOW that He is God. As the Apostle Paul also said in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “. . . we walk by faith, not by sight.” Faith in God is what precipitates His manifestations.

Lastly, on the note of God’s love, review the text, “The Fellowship-Relationship: Evidence of Born Again”, and see what the Bible says of how the Almighty God brings about a spiritual regeneration in the lives of those that truly want to experience His Omnipotent love, which WILL NOT allow bad experiences and wrong decisions of one’s past to control the present or dictate her/his future. It’s called FORGIVENESS. It’s the ultimate experience from the Biblical phrase, “The Law of the Spirit”. Therein, if the Bible is true, it has the capability to validate itself.

Ref: About A Pastor