Chapter 3: The Holy Trinity and Creation

IN THIS CHAPTER, you will discover:

·   The divine personhood of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
·   The mystery of the triune God.
·   God's work in the creation of the universe.
·   The seven days of creation.

AS A RESULT, you will be able to:

·   Describe how one God can still be three divine persons.
·   Understand the interrelationship of the Trinity and the role of the Godhead in your life.
·   Define the uniqueness of Biblical creation from nothing to our present world.
·   Defend the Genesis account of seven creation days against evolutionism.

Key Scripture: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one" (Deut. 6:4).

Key Words: Monotheism, Polytheism

"God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity" are the words of the revered hymn, "Holy, Holy, Holy." We affirm this truth, yet do we understand it? Certainly the doctrine of the Trinity is the central mystery of Christianity. Three-in-one is a mathematical impossibility. Truly with this great theme we move beyond reason into the realm of faith.

Christianity is a monotheistic religion; that is, we believe in one God. We share our radical monotheism with the Jews and Muslims. The Shema ("Hear" in Hebrew), our Key Scripture, declares this foundational truth. The nations surrounding Israel worshiped many gods. Such polytheism constantly lured the Israelites into idolatry. Jesus reaffirmed the oneness of God by quoting the Shema in Mark 12:29. The apostles and early church fathers carefully preserved this fundamental witness. Christianity is often accused of being tri-theistic, that we worship three gods. This is a flawed understanding of the Trinity. The oneness of God has personal and corporate significance. Our worship of one God brings unity to Christian faith and practice.

God is one, yet He has revealed Himself in three persons. The Old Testament only hints at the three. When God speaks of man's creation, He uses plural pronouns: "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness" (Gen. 1:26). God's name Elohim is a plural noun, which suggests a plurality of persons in the Godhead. Numerous other Old Testament passages suggest plurality, while never explicitly saying three persons.

The New Testament clearly presents three persons the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. At Jesus' baptism the Father spoke from heaven, and the Spirit in the form of a dove descended upon Jesus the Son. The identity of each is shown. Many scriptures identify the personhood of Father and Son; those regarding the Holy Spirit are fewer. Several, New Testament passages, however, depict the personhood of the Holy Spirit. One such example is Acts 13:2: "The Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.'" "Me" and "I" are both personal pronouns pointing to personhood. The Spirit's personhood is a truth of Christian experience also. The manifestation of spiritual gifts, whereby the Spirit speaks to the church, and His continuing intercession within our hearts confirm the reality of the Holy Spirit's personhood.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not only persons, but they are also God. The Father as God is a primary assertion of Scripture. An Old Testament example is Malachi 2:10: "Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us?" In the New Testament Jesus frequently spoke of His Father in heaven. He taught His disciples to regard Him as Father also. "Father" suggests an intimate reality of relationship. The Father is begetter, provider, sustainer, indeed the source of all life. He is the Father of Jesus Christ as well as "our father in heaven" (Matt. 6:9).

Scripture also declares that the Son is God. Psalm 2:7 is quoted seven times by the gospel writers because of its reference to the Son's divinity. The prophecy found in Isaiah 9:6 declares that the Son to be born will be called "Mighty God." In the New Testament Jesus is called the Son of God forty times. John in his gospel links Word=God=Son (1:1,14). The disciples, raised as orthodox Jews, were slow to recognize Jesus' divinity. When Jesus asserted His equality with God on one occasion, the Pharisees began to stone Him for blasphemy (John 8:58-59). Only through revelation did Jesus' followers recognize this truth. After the resurrection, Thomas expressed this fully, acclaiming Jesus "my Lord and my God" (John 20:28). Jesus, the God-man and Savior of the world, lives in the hearts of those who believe. Thus we know from experience that Jesus is also our "Lord and God."

The Bible says less about the Holy Spirit as God. In Genesis 1:2 the Spirit of God is active in creating the world. Other Old Testament references to the Spirit are more general. The New Testament portrays the Holy Spirit in His divine role as Comforter, Counselor, and Guide. His holiness relates to the foundational attribute of God, which we studied earlier. When Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit in Acts 5, Peter declared: "You have not lied to men but to God" (v. 4). God and the Holy Spirit are one and the same. In Acts 2, after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the early church knew that God was in their midst. Evangelism, healing, and miracles resulted from the Holy Spirit's divine ministry through the apostles. Like the early Christians, we also can experience the dynamic reality of the Holy Spirit, attesting that He is God!

Personal Application: How in your Christian life have you experienced Father, Son, and Holy Spirit individually as God?

Group Application: Discuss how God is both one and three. How would you describe the Trinity to a Jew or a Muslim?

Key Scripture: "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" (Matt. 28:19).

Key Words: Homoousios, Substance, Essence, Perichoresis, Subsistence, Modalism

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each persons and each God, yet God is one. This was established in our last lesson. How do we understand this mystery? Our minds can only know in part, so this truth must finally be known through experiential faith. The Scriptures provide our primary guidance. And the early church Fathers also help us. They wrestled with numerous Trinitarian heresies and formulated creeds that express the church's understanding of this complex issue. The Nicene Creed was written to counter the Arian heresy. (For a further discussion of Arianism, see Chapter 7, Lesson 1.)

From our perspective today we marvel that emperors and bishops rose and fell from power throughout the fourth century over the precise wording of this creed. Does it really matter that the Trinity is homoousios? Valiant men and women such as Athanasius ensured our present orthodoxy of faith. This bishop of Alexandria through five exiles and seventeen years of persecution almost single-handedly withstood the attacks of the Arians. If such individuals were ready to give their lives over a single word, it challenges us to pay attention to this issue.

The word "Trinity" is not a biblical term. It was coined by the Latin father Tertullian in the early third century. He sought to express in words what he observed in Scripture and knew from Christian experience. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are of one substance. The reality that constitutes God belongs completely to each member. Tertullian used the word substance to describe the divine nature. Essence is another word that describes the same reality. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are consubstantial - of one substance. Homoousios is the Greek word from the Nicene Creed that states this same truth.

Perichoresis describes the interpenetration of the three. Each person contains the whole of the Godhead and is undivided. The Trinity is interpenetrated by love, the essential nature of God. God's divine love is expressed through the self-giving of one person to the other. The Son desires to bring glory to the Father (John 14:13), and the Holy Spirit brings glory to the Son (John 16:14). Since the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one in essence, whatever is said of God applies to each. They are one in works, in attributes, and in power. Whether we worship Father, Son, or Spirit, we worship God. We can never be incorrect in our prayer or praise. Each is fully and totally God.

Yet the three are distinct persons. If they were identical, why do they have different names? These titles reflect their particular activity within the Godhead. By "person" we do not mean a separate individual with a separate identity. The three persons of the Trinity are not separate, but related. They are three subsistences within the one divine substance or essence. Each subsistence is total essence and yet retains its own distinctiveness. This is important to affirm because a common error regards Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as modes or personalities of one God. Such modalism suggests that God manifested Himself first as Father, then as Son, and finally as Holy Spirit. We must reject this as an incorrect view of the Trinity. The three are distinct persons, not different personalities of the one God.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have properties unique to each. The property of God the Father is generation. Several times in his Gospel, John refers to Jesus as the "only begotten Son." Since the Son is not created (He has no beginning in time), He is eternally generated by the Father. The Son's property is filiation. His personal subsistence (not His essence) comes from the Father, thus making Him subordinate. This subordination, however, is not in being, but in relationship. The property of the Holy Spirit is procession. John 15:26 describes "the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father" (RSV). Throughout eternity this procession occurs. The Holy Spirit's existence does not depend on the Father's will; rather, it is part of His nature.

Such language may seem too complex to understand. But it is a necessary exercise in theology. Ask God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to enlighten you regarding this difficult yet vital subject.

We end this study by examining the three external acts of the Trinity. The act of the Father is creation. Even as He generates the Son, He generates all creation. The act of the Son is incarnation. The eternal Son became man; God put on flesh. The act of the Holy Spirit is His coming. At Pentecost He came upon the 120 gathered in the Upper Room. Today He still comes to those who ask. These acts, seen in Scripture; testify to the uniqueness of each person of the Trinity.

Personal Application: Spend time in prayer, asking God to illuminate the matters discussed in this lesson. What answers did He give you concerning the Trinity?

Group Application: Review the Key Words in this lesson. Let each member share an insight into their meaning.

Key Scripture: "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible" (Heb. 11:3).

Key Words: Creatio ex nihilo, Dualism, Pantheism, Theism

All the wonders of the natural world - the mountains and rivers, the plants and animals - are the result of God's creation. Our very existence stems from God's breath at creation. The doctrine of creation has its basis in special revelation. God Himself has disclosed the truth regarding the origin of life in Scripture. Its truth lies in the realm of faith, like any aspect of special revelation. Our Key Scripture highlights this fact. Without an awareness of revelation and an experience of faith, the Bible's account of creation becomes simply a center of controversy. For the Christian, science is not the key to understanding creation. It surely has its place. But to understand Genesis 1 and 2, faith, not a laboratory, is the initial prerequisite. The Scriptures document the events of creation and provide an objective foundation for our belief.

"For the beauty of the earth, for the wonder of the skies" reads a popular hymn. Our response to such beauty is to bless and praise God. The Psalms are filled with glorious praise for our creation. Our initial approach should be emotional and not intellectual. We marvel at the animal world - the colorful plumage of a parrot, the lonesome howl of a wolf, the lightning speed of the antelope. The heavens are a particular wonder to behold -- a majestic sunset, the northern lights, the Big Dipper. Such vastness makes one feel incredibly small. Creation inspires a deep humility toward its Maker. God's question to Job is still relevant today: "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand" (38:4). God will teach us the mystery of creation, if we will humbly allow Him.

Williams defines creation as "the bringing of the universe into existence by God...…calling into being that which did not exist before" (p. 98). Creation thus has absolute origination. No preexisting materials were used. The Latin phrase for this is creatio ex nihilo, "creation out of nothing." Contrast God's creation with how we create. We "create" a chair by shaping lumber from a tree, then assembling it with screws and glue. Our creation is made from preexistent materials. The Hebrew word for "create" is bara. The Genesis creation account uses this verb six times. It signifies creation out of nothing and is used only in relation to divine activity.

Other creation views differ significantly from the Christian one. Dualism believes that the world always existed with God. In some of its forms God has an adversary who eternally struggles with Him. Pantheism identifies God and His creation as one. He is equated with the forces and laws of the universe. The first words of Scripture "In the beginning God created...…" contradict such inferior notions of creation. There was a time when this world did not exist. Theism (the belief in God) asserts that God is the source of creation. This rules out creation as simply an accident or the result of a natural chain reaction. Our world did not spontaneously generate out of some cosmic sludge. Our previous study mentioned the role of the Trinity in creation. The divine plural Elohim used in Genesis 1 and 2 suggests the activity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in this event

The Father is primarily the Creator. His external act is to be the fountainhead of creation. The Father did not create the universe to let it now run on automatic pilot. He maintains a continuing relationship with His creation. Jesus commented on His concern: "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them" (Matt. 6:26). Jesus' illustration assures us that we need not worry, because our Father cares for all His creation.

Jesus is the instrument of creation. John's Gospel begins by declaring that all things were made through the Word (1:1, 3). Other New Testament scriptures attest to this creative activity by the Son. It is misleading to say that the Son made the world. Rather, He is the medium through whom the Father worked in creation. Since through Jesus the world was made, how amazing that He also was its Redeemer! It is important to realize redemption is not only for humanity, but for creation also. Paul wrote: "The creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God" (Rom. 8:21). What a glorious day when all creation will experience the benefits, of Christ's salvation!

The Holy Spirit is the energizer of creation. In Genesis 1:2 the Spirit is seen hovering over the primeval waters, as a hen over her nest. The Spirit brought order and symmetry to the cosmic chaos. God breathed the breath of His Spirit into the dust to create man. The Holy Spirit is the divine life giver, who sustains our very breath. In conclusion, we note that creation is from the Father, through the Son, and by the Holy Spirit. The Trinity in creation made our world "very good."

Personal Application: What aspects of creation inspire you to praise God? How does God's natural handiwork draw you closer to Him?

Group Application: Discuss the roles of the Father, Son, and Spirit in creation. They certainly overlap, yet how are they distinct?

Key Scripture: "The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being" (Gen. 2:7).

Key Words: Day, Imago dei, Gnosticism

How did God create the universe? Evolutionists theorize a random upward progression from lower to higher forms of life. Let us examine Genesis to discover the order of creation. To create something out of nothing God had to begin somewhere. His first action was to create the physical universe. Such scientific theories as the "Big Bang" postulate a moment in time when the universe burst forth into existence. In that respect, these agree with the biblical record. (Whatever means God used are secondary to the fact that He was responsible.) His second action was to create animal life. Here is upward progression to living creatures. Each species of animal, bird, or fish was created in toto. Suddenly, conscious life filled the universe with extraordinary diversity. What a landscape for God's final creative act - man. Only humanity was created in God's image. Thus, man and woman are unique in creation because of their relationship to God. God made them His stewards, to use all creation for their benefit. Humans may seem small compared with other aspects of creation. But in God's blueprint man is the capstone of creation.

These three successive creative acts did not occur simultaneously. God brought them forth through a process of creation. Let us look at these various stages. Genesis 1 chronicles these stages in terms of six days. There are two theories of the length of time of each creation day. The first is to regard them as literal 24-hour calendar days. Williams rejects this view because of the internal evidence of Scripture. His view is to regard the six days as creation days. They are unspecified time periods, either long or short, in which God accomplished His acts of creation. Given the variety of scriptural meanings for day and in light of scientific evidence, this view seems preferable. The exact time frame of creation is not important. Whether the earth is six thousand or six million years old, God completed His work of creation. On the seventh day God rested for He "had finished the work he had been doing" (Gen. 2:2).

This broad sequence is confirmed by current discoveries in biology and paleontology. Science and Scripture do not conflict here. One difficulty in the creation account is the appearance of the sun, moon, and stars on the fourth day. Natural light, as we know it, originates in the heavens. Apparently a cosmic light from the Son produced this original light. The book of Revelation states that the sun's light will be unnecessary in the new heaven and new earth (22:5). God Himself will supply the light; the end will be as the beginning.

The theory of evolution undermines the fixity built into creation. In Genesis 1 the phrase, "according to their kinds," is repeatedly used. Each species can only reproduce within its own kind. Within this fixity of species there is amazing diversity, however. Natural selection through the survival of the fittest is a heresy of creation. No "missing link" exists to verify the claims of evolution. While people may have biological similarities with lower-Iife forms, spiritually and mentally humans are unique. Of all creation humanity, alone, is imago dei, the image of God. The upward and forward movement theorized by evolutionists does not exist. In the Bible progression can be found only in God's order and activity in creation.

The adjective God used to describe His creation was "good," indeed "very good." This speaks of its quality. At each stage of His creative acts, the result was positive. God's world is a good world that pleases its Creator. There is nothing in the world evil of itself. Greek gnosticism viewed matter as evil, the world as darkness, and the body as corrupt. Such a view is contrary to Scripture. Obviously sin brought negative effects into the world. But the overall biblical picture presents the goodness of creation. Because of God's good provision, we as His people say, "Thank you!"

Why did God create the universe? Was He lonely and wanted fellowship? Scripture states the reality and the method of creation, but is silent about the reason. The Godhead within itself was complete and therefore did not need fellowship with man. Apparently, God willed the universe into existence as an expression of His glory. Creation then manifests the glory of God. Our response is to glorify God for His rich purposes in creation. A scripture song, based on the King James Version of Revelation 4:11, beautifully summarizes this thought: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." Amen.

Personal Application: Consider what it means to be made in God's image. What characteristics do you have in common with God?

Group Application: Discuss the two views of what day means. Which interpretation seems best supported in Scripture?