If the Bible is hard for you to understand, you are not alone. But don’t be confused; there are many who might try to convince you of all kinds of philosophies and beliefs that are NOT validated in Scripture. And there are many others who will twist Scripture to their own likings. Be not deceived by them. When the plain sense of God’s Word makes sense, seek no other sense.
In a sermon, a few years ago, my pastor summarized all biblical theology in these two statements:
1. GOD IS. That fact is declared in the first four words of the Bible (Genesis 1:1) “In the beginning GOD.”
2. HE HAS REVEALED HIMSELF. And that is the rest of the Bible in its entirety. It is all about Him. It is His revelation of and about Himself to His creation. Everything we need to know for faith and practice, God has revealed in His written Word.
If we could get these two statements firmly embedded in our minds, everything else falls into place.
And frankly, I think it is enough. Most of us have a hard enough time understanding, believing, and obeying what He has revealed. We don’t need new or more revelation; we just need to believe what He has already revealed to us.
And He has given us all we need to know about Him. So, when it comes to hard truths that are beyond our human ability to understand, like the tri-unity of God, we don’t have the prerogative to decide, redefine, or create new explanations for it. According to God’s revelation, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit-- these three are co-equal and coexistent.
Churches and denominations divide over this doctrine because they try to explain it in terms that make sense in our own human dimension and with our finite understanding. It is possible that many (or all) of them can be WRONG, but one thing is certain; THEY CAN'T ALL BE RIGHT.
And any attempts to deny God’s triune nature or to explain it with foolish analogies (like water or eggs or…) are ludicrous; in fact, analogies are probably heretical, idolatrous, or blasphemous.
God’s ways are not our ways; His thoughts are higher than our thoughts; He is the creator, and we are the creatures; He is eternal, and we are finite; He is spirit, and we are flesh, and He exists in dimensions that we cannot conceive. And He has not seen fit to reveal to us how that can be, nor has He ordained that we should understand it. He has just declared it and our responsibility is to believe it. Apparently, that's all we need to know, or He would have revealed more.
It may seem over-simplified to just state that the One True, Eternal, Living God coexists in three distinct persons. But it is true; The Father is God. The Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, is God. And the Holy Spirit, (the Spirit of the Father and the Son) is God. And yet these three are co-equal in glory, and power. But that is about as reverently and scripturally accurate as we can get when describing the Trinity.
Remember - God is and He has revealed Himself. As for me, I will just accept, as truth, what He has declared. To disbelieve His Word is to deny Him.
The greatest and most accurate hymn about the Trinity is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY. It clearly declares that our God is ONE God who manifests Himself in Three Persons. The hymn was written in 1783 by Reginald Heber, a young man who had translated a Latin classic into English verse by the time he was seven. He entered Oxford at the age of 17 and won two awards for his poetry during his time there. After his graduation, he became rector of his father's church where he remained for 16 years. He was appointed Bishop of Calcutta in 1823. He died of a stroke three years later.
