The doctrine of the Trinity can too often be categorized as a mystery, but yet pages of Holy Scripture reveals so much about the Trinity that can lead us to awestruck wonder and passionate worship often leaving us undone.
The next two posts will be on the second person of the Trinity- Jesus the Son of God. This post will focus on the sending of Jesus and His death for sin. The next post will focus on His resurrection and ascension.
In the Godhead, each member is fully God, eternally God and equally God. Jesus is not one third God and two thirds other. Each member of the Trinity is equal in essence and nature. Though the three persons are one in so many ways, they are also distinct in several ways. For instance, they are distinct in roles, functions and they differ in how they relate to one another.
When we look at the creation account:
- we see that God the Father spoke the world into being
- God the Son carried out these creative words (John 1:3, Col. 1:16, Heb. 1:2)
- and God the Holy Spirit was moving over the face of the waters manifesting God’s presence in His creation (Gen. 1:2).
In salvation history:
- God the Father planned redemption (Eph. 1:4)
- and sent God the Son who accomplished redemption for us (John 3:16, Gal. 4:4, John 6:38, Heb 10: 5-7).
- God the Father and God the Son sent God the Holy Spirit to apply redemption to us (John 14:26, 16:7).
What blows away how we think about the categories of authority and submission is that though the Father and the Son are both fully God, Jesus submitted Himself to the Father’s will and obeyed Him perfectly; not counting equality a thing to be grasped (Phil 2:6). Wow! What display of profound love for His Father!
At the appointed time in redemptive history, God sent His Son to redeem us, so that we might receive adoption as sons and daughters. Because we are now sons and daughters, God sent the Spirit of His Son to bear witness with our spirit to give us assurance that we are indeed members of God’s family, and if members then we are no longer slaves- we are now heirs through God (Gal. 4:4- 7). Amazing!
But this gift of membership to God’s family and becoming heirs through God came at a great cost. Because without the shedding of blood there is no forgives (Heb. 9:22), our redemption came at the cost of Christ’s precious blood.
Jesus the sinless One was horrifically beaten as He took on our sin on the cross. He suffered the wrath that was reserved for us. The Father turned His face away and for the very first time in the history of eternity, Jesus experienced separation from His Father’s love. In eternity past, Jesus experienced perfect harmony and fellowship with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now he was spurned- for us. As a father, one of the things that hurts me most is seeing one of my sons getting hurt and their blood shed on their clothes or on the ground, can you relate? Jesus ransomed us not with gold and silver but with His precious blood (1 Peter 1:18 – 19). Oh depths of the Father’s love for us!
When the Father imputed our sin to Jesus, Jesus became our substitute. But He didn’t just leave us sinless or morally neutral, He imputed Jesus’ righteousness to us (2 Cor 5:21). Now we who believe in Him are declared righteous! We have been justified, and we have been brought near.
Come now and worship Jesus Christ with me!
Love these posts on the Trinity… Our God is intricate and so amazing!
Thanks Alex! I love this series on the Trinity, I think we could spend a whole year teasing out some of the depths of this glorious doctrine!