Doctrinal
Studies
Celebrating
Christ—The Trinity
The Trinity speaks of the union of three persons in
the Godhead: Deity 1—the Father, Deity 2—the Son, and Deity 3—the Holy Spirit. We
are going to explore the doctrine of the Trinity with a particular emphasis
upon Deity 2. But before we do let’s notice a few examples of the occurrences
of the number three in the Bible.
1. Three
persons in one God—three members of
divine perfection.
2. In Isaiah 6
the Seraphim in praising God said, “holy, holy, holy.”
3. Christ was
crucified at the third hour.
4. Jonah spent
three days and nights in the belly of the great fish.
5. The
resurrection of our Lord was on the third day.
6. Three
people in the Bible were resuscitated: Jairus’ daughter, the widow’s son, and
Lazarus—a child, a young man, and an adult.
7. Christ has
three titles: Prophet, Priest and King. He has three descriptions: the Good
Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd, and the Great Shepherd.
8. Testing of
man falls into three categories: lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, and the
pride of life.
9. The testing
of Jesus in Matthew 4 was three-fold:
a. lust of the flesh: “change stones into
bread.”
b. lust of the eye: “view the kingdoms of the
earth.”
c. pride of life: “cast thyself down and the
angels shall bear thee up.”
10. Three great apostates: Cain, Balaam, and Korah.
11. God spoke from Heaven three times concerning
His pleasure in the Son’s obedience: Matt. 3:17; 17:5; and John 12:28.
12. Blood and
oil were applied in three places on the priest’s body during the consecration
ritual:
a. on the tip of the right ear (we hear God)
b. on the thumb of the right hand (then there
can be productivity)
c. on the toe of the right foot (walking
uprightly glorifies God)
The Doctrine of the Trinity
1. Scripture
on the Trinity: Gen. 1:26;
2. Jesus
Christ is the only visible member of the Trinity—John
3. Each member
of the Trinity has the same essence, but are separate and distinct persons.
4. Each member
of the Trinity performs a different task with respect to the plan of salvation:
Deity
1—God the Father planned salvation
Deity
2—Jesus Christ executed salvation
Deity
3—The Holy Spirit reveals salvation
5. Each phase
of God’s plan is executed by a different person of the Trinity:
Phase
1—positional sanctification—is executed by Jesus Christ
Phase
2—experiential sanctification—is executed by The Holy Spirit
Phase
3—ultimate sanctification—is executed by God the Father
6. The Eternal
Plan of God centers in the Person of Jesus Christ:
a. The Bible
sets forth Jesus Christ as the central theme of the message to man through the
ages:
·
Of the Prophets—Acts
·
Of the
Apostles—Acts
·
For the
Jews—Acts 17:1–3
·
Preached to the
Samaritans—Acts 8:5
·
For our day—Mark
God’s
anathema is upon those who proclaim any other message –Gal. 1:6–9; I Cor.
16:22. To leave out Jesus Christ—the
central figure—is like having astronomy without stars, botany without flowers,
or zoology without animals. Bushnell remarked that, “... it would be easier
to untwist all the beams of light in the sky and to separate and erase one of
the primary colors than to get the character of Jesus out of the world. You
cannot have Christianity without Christ.” You can have Confucianism without
Confucius, Buddhism without Buddha, Mohammedanism without Mohammed, Mormonism without Joseph
Smith, Christian Science without Mary Baker Eddy, and Millennial Dawnism
without Russell—but not Christianity without Christ!
b. The Bible
presents the Incarnation and the Virgin Birth—Matt.
c. The Bible
presents His natural growth and development—Luke
d. The Bible
presents the trichotomy of Jesus Christ’s humanity. He possessed a complete
human nature—body, soul, and spirit. He had a physical body—Matt. 26:12; He had
a rational soul—Matt. 26:38; He had a human spirit—Luke
e. The Bible
presents the two natures of Christ: Divine and Human—the Hypostatic Union—John
1:2–5; Phil. 2:5–11; Heb. 1:3.
f. The Bible
presents the true doctrine of Kenosis
(kenoj = empty; kenow = to divest one’s self of certain privileges) Jesus Christ voluntarily restricted Himself
from the independent expressions of the normal functions of Deity to comply
with the Father’s plan for Him in the flesh. During the incarnation Jesus
Christ exchanged His independent life
for a dependent life, His sovereignty for subordination, life as God
for life as a man. Christ’s body
experienced fatigue—John 4:6; need for sleep—Matt.
A member of the Trinity—Deity 2, Jesus Christ, the
Son of God—was willing to identify with man, go to the Cross and be judged for
us. Deity (gold) was clothed with humanity (silver) and judged (brass) for man
to provide: propitiation, reconciliation, and redemption. When we truly understand that we cannot help
celebrating Christ!