Delighting in the Trinity

            One of the earliest heroes of the Christian faith is a man who was labeled by his enemies “the black dwarf.” He was a short, dark-skinned Egyptian bishop named Athanasius—and he had a lot of adversaries for his insistence upon Biblical truth. Born in 296 AD, Athanasius was ordained to be the bishop in Alexandria, Egypt, at the same time that one of the biggest storms was about to ravage the early church.

            His most ardent opponent was a leader in the early church named Arius who began teaching the heresy that Jesus Christ was not divine. Arias insisted that Jesus Christ was not fully a member of the Trinity and He was actually a created being, just higher than the angels, but not co-equal or co-eternal with the Father. Arius’ twisted views on Christ and the Trinity began to gain traction, so much so that the fragile church was divided on the issue.

            To Athanasius the aberrant doctrine that Arius preached was not merely theological hair-splitting. If Christ was not an original member of the Trinity, then He was not fully divine, and if Christ was not fully divine then His death on the cross was not able to provide salvation. Everything about the Gospel was at stake and Athanasius said, “Those who maintain there was a time when the Son was not, rob God of His Word like plunderers.”  

            The controversy over the nature of the Trinity became so hotly debated that one historian from that time remarked, “In every city, and in every church, bishop was contending against bishop, and the people were contending against one another, like swarms of gnats fighting in the air.”

            Word of the argument eventually made it to the ear of the newly-converted emperor Constantine. Fearing that this debate could fracture his kingdom into a holy war, in 325 AD Constantine convened 318 bishops at Nicaea to hash-out this theological problem once and for all. Arius stated his position and then Athanasius argued his. After several days of debate, a verdict was reached—Arius was heretic and was ordered by Constantine to be exiled.

Athanasius was vindicated, and the church recognized what the Bible already declared that Jesus was not only the eternal Second Person of the Trinity, but He was fully divine. This council resulted in the Nicene Creed which stated, “We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father . . . And in the Holy Ghost.”      

Athanasius had won the battle at Nicaea, but the war was just beginning. Within a few months of the council’s decision, Arius’ supporters convinced Constantine to free Arius from exile and the emperor ordered Athanasius to restore him back to the church in Alexandria. When Athanasius refused, his enemies charged him with all kinds of accusations—from treason to sorcery and murder. Amazingly, the smear campaign worked to change public opinion about the fiery preacher and Constantine, not taking kindly to open defiance, ordered Athanasius into exile. He was forced out of his own congregation into hiding.

In the end, Athanasius was exiled 5 times by 4 different Roman emperors and he spent a total of 17 years in excommunication. Yet, he never gave in to those who opposed the doctrine of the Trinity and the deity of Christ.  In fact, someone once said to him, “Athanasius don’t you know that the emperors are against you, and the bishops are against you and the people are against you. The world is against you!” He replied, “Then I am against the whole world!” And thus a phrase was coined in the early church that became very popular among believers, “Athanasius against the world!”[i]

Friends, we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to men like Athanasius who laid everything on the line for the purity of Christian doctrine—especially the Trinity. For he literally lived out the command given in Jude 3, “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”

As the record of church history bears out, the doctrine of the trinity is not a peripheral issue. 

Michael Reeves writes, “The Trinity is the governing center of all Christian belief, the truth that shapes and beautifies all others. The Trinity is the cockpit of all Christian thinking.”[ii] Wayne Grudem adds, “Christianity stands or falls with the doctrine of the Trinity. In the doctrine of the Trinity throbs the heartbeat of Christianity: every theological error results from or upon deeper reflection may be traced to, a wrong view of this doctrine.”[iii]

It is this all-important doctrine that has perhaps produced more counterfeit faiths than any other. The reason is because man has corrupted the mystery of the Trinity by trying to bring God down to his level, or he has rejected it all together claiming it to be a contradiction. I like what one old preacher said about that, “If you try to fully explain the Trinity you’ll lose your mind, but if you try to explain it away you’ll lose your soul!”

While the Trinity is an unfathomable mystery, it is not a contradiction. While the Trinity may be beyond reason, it is not against reason. No finite being can ever comprehend an infinite God, any more than an astronomer can know every star in the universe. But we can gaze upon the Trinity with wonder. We can delight in a God we cannot put into a box. We can worship the triune God and we can understand as much as God has revealed to us about Himself.        

1.      What Does the Trinity mean?

When it comes to the doctrine of the Trinity, most Christians are poor in their understanding, poorer in their articulation, and poorest of all in seeing any way in which the doctrine matters in real life. One theologian joked, “The trinity is a matter of three persons, two processions, one divine nature, and no understanding.” All of the mystical jargon seems like theological code best reserved for monks, certainly not for moms and mechanics.

The doctrine of the trinity can be summarized in a few brief statements. 1) There is only one God 2) who exists in the persons—the Father, Son and Holy Spirit 3) which are all co-equal and co-eternal in divinity 4) and are each distinct in personhood and function. The unity and diversity in the community of the Trinity is often represented in the diagram called “the shield of the Trinity.” This shows that all three members are equally God, yet distinct persons.

In an attempt to dumb-down the Trinity into more manageable terms well-meaning Christian thinkers have offered a plethora of analogies to explain the doctrine. While these may seem helpful at first, when you scrutinize them logically they distort and degrade the triune God.

·         Modalism: This interpretation says that there is one God that acts in three different modes. Sometimes people like to explain the Trinity as if it were a man who assumes three different roles—he’s a son to his parents, a husband to his wife and a father to his children. But this analogy falls short because the doctrine of the Trinity says that God is three separate persons, not just three expressions of one person.

·         Partialism: This view explains that the Godhead is composed of three parts—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—and combined they make up the Trinity. You may hear people uses analogies like an egg, which is made of a shell, a yolk and the white—yet it’s all one egg. Or ole’ Joe Christian may say the Trinity is like a shamrock it has three distinct leaves that make up one shamrock. Now the problem with this is that each member is fully God and not just a part of God and God cannot be broken down into components.    

  

·         Subordinationism: There are many cults and Christian-off shoots, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, that claim this view. The idea here is that God the Father created the Son and from the Son proceeds the Holy Spirit. Subordinationists offer the analogy that the Father is like the Sun in our solar system, which creates light, which then emanates heat. This very much akin to the heresy that Arius taught during the fourth century. The problem is that there is no Creator/creation relationship in the Trinity. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are co-equal and co-eternal.

If you are looking for an earthly analogy to completely encapsulate the Trinity—you won’t find one. There’s a simple reason they don’t work: The Trinity isn’t like anything in creation. There is nothing in nature that we can use to deduce the concept of the Trinity. All analogies are from the natural world, but God is supernatural. Moreover, the Trinity is something we could not have figured out unless God chose to reveal to humanity through His Word.

2.      Where do we find the Trinity in the Bible?

If you are looking for the word Trinity in the Bible, don’t waste your time because it’s not there. However, even though the word isn’t there the concept is. By the way, there are lots of terms that aren’t in the Bible, that we believe—for instance the word, “Bible” isn’t in the Bible, neither is the word “Rapture” or “monotheism” or “incarnation” yet all these are evidently taught. We know that the truths of Scripture are true whether or not we discover them.    

·         Creation (Gen.:1:1-2, 26; John 1:1-3, Col. 1:16)

From the very beginning we find hints of the triune God in Genesis. In Genesis 1:1-2 we read, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Then in Gen. 1:26 at the creation of man the text declares, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Who do you think the “us” refers to?

We have the Father and the Spirit listed as agents of creation in the OT, and when we come to the NT we find Jesus listed as well. In Colossians 1:16 Paul writes, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” Each person in the Godhead played a role—the Father willed it, the Son spoke it into being and the Spirit breathed it to life.  

·         Incarnation (Gal. 4:4; John 1:14; Phil 2:5-8; Luke 1:35; Matt. 3:16-17)

The Bible informs us that the entrance of the Second Person of the Trinity into humanity was a triune affair. The Father sent the Son according to Gal. 4:4. The Son submitted to the will of the Father and took on human form (John 1:14, Phil 2:5-8). The Spirit who hovered over the face of the waters at creation, now overshadows Mary and brings about a miraculous conception in the womb of the virgin (Luke 1:35). At the baptism of Jesus we have all three members of the Trinity—the Son is being blessed by the audible voice of the Father and anointed for ministry by the Holy Spirit in the form of the dove (Matt. 3:16-17).

·         Atonement and Resurrection (John 3:16; Mark 10:45; John 10:18; Rom. 1:4, 8:11)

When you look at the events of Calvary and Easter morning you see the Trinity operating together in cooperation. The Father offers up His only Son out of love (John 3:16). Christ lays down his life as a ransom for the sins of the world. Three days later on the first Easter, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit raises the body of Christ back from the dead (Rom. 1:4, 8:11).  

·         Salvation (Eph. 1:4-13)

Each member of the Trinity has a distinct role in accomplishing the salvation of the Church. Paul in Ephesians 1 gives a brief overview of the Father’s sovereign election of the saints from before creation (1:4-5), the Son’s purchase of the saints by paying the ransom fee with His life (1:7) and the sealing of the saints for eternity by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (1:13-14). The salvation of the church is thoroughly Trinitarian—the Father sought us from heaven, the Son bought us on the cross and the Spirit brought us into God’s family. 

·         Great Commission (Matt. 28:19)

Before Jesus exited the Earth he left the church with His marching orders. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”

3.      Why is the Trinity important?

There are numerous reasons why the Trinity should capture our attention, hearts and lead us to more heartfelt worship. Let me suggest three practical applications:

·         The Trinity is the only logical doctrine of God that explains our existence (John 17:24-26)

Let’s do a thought experiment for a moment. Let’s imagine that you are God. Now think would you in your divine wisdom and power ever want to create a universe, and if so why? Would it be because you feel lonely and need some friends? Is it because you like being pampered and want some servants? It’s a profound issue to ponder, if there is a God why is there anything else at all?

The religions of the world have tried to answer this question. One of the earliest attempts can be seen in the ancient Babylonian creation myth, the Enuma Elish. There the chief deity, Marduk, puts it bluntly: he will create humankind so that gods can have slaves. That way the gods can sit back and live off the labor of their human workforce. It’s an attractive deal if you’re a god. This model was adopted by many polytheistic religions of the ancient world in which the gods used humanity as pawns for their own entertainment and desires.

Aristotle, the Greek philosopher from the fourth century B.C. postulated an impersonal creator which he called the Unmoved Mover. Aristotle believed that the Unmoved Mover continually upheld the universe and that the universe had existed alongside God from eternity. The problem with Aristotle’s Unmoved Mover is that God did not freely choose to create, and therefore He is not greater than the Creation, but equal with or perhaps subservient to it.      

In each of these cases we have an example of a god who in some way is tied to or needs the creation to serve a purpose. These gods are incomplete and lack something to find ultimate fulfillment, thus they create to fill the gap. Listen to what Michael Reeves says about this:

            “Such are the problems with non-triune gods and creation. Single-person gods, having spent eternity alone, are inevitably self-centered beings, and so it becomes hard to see why they would ever cause anything else to exist. Wouldn’t the existence of a universe be an irritating distraction to a god whose greatest pleasure is looking in a mirror? Creating just looks like a deeply unnatural thing for such a god to do. And if such gods do create they always seem to do so out of an essential neediness or desire to use what they create merely for their own self-gratification.”[iv]  

Only in the Trinity do we find a Creator that’s fully satisfied without reference to his creation. What do you think God was doing before He created? Sulking in loneliness? Bored? Jesus answers this question for us when He peels back the veil of mystery in John 17:24-26:

            “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Because of the Trinity God did not need to create. According to Jesus, before the creation, the Father eternally loved the Son by the Spirit and there is complete fulfillment in the community of the Trinity. God needed nothing because there was infinite love, joy and beauty in Himself. The reason why God chose to create was because He wanted to share His love and allow His creatures to join in the love that the Father had for the Son from eternity. 

·         The Trinity is the litmus test for the true worship of God

There are many religions in the world offering a plethora of deities to worship. But Christianity is unique from all others because it preaches that God is three-in-one. The spirit of the age is pluralism which says that all paths to the divine are equally valid—they all lead to the mountain top. You might even hear someone say, “The god of Christianity, Judaism and Islam” is basically the same god.” Nothing could be further from the truth because every religion in the world except for biblical Christianity denies the Trinity. The Trinity is a test for orthodoxy, anything else is an idol.

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis offers a great thought. He explains that God has truly reveled His nature to men through the Trinity. However, he argues, man has come away with all kinds of distorted deities. The reason for this Lewis explains is because we are like children looking through a telescope with a dirty lens. He writes, “If a man’s self is not kept clean and bright, his glimpse of God will be blurred—like the Moon seen through a dirty telescope. That is why horrible nations have horrible religion: they have been looking at God through a dirty lens.”

Lewis goes on to explain, “The Christian definition of a three-personal God is not something we have made up . . . If Christianity was something we were making up, of course we could make it easier. But it is not. We cannot compete, in simplicity, with people who are inventing religions. How could we? We are dealing with Fact. Of course anyone can be simple if he has no facts to bother about.”[v]     

·         The Trinity is the only way a loving God can be possible (1 John 4:8)

The Bible informs us that, “God is love.” This is a profound statement because love is only possible if God exists eternally as a community. If God were not three-persons then there could be no foundation for love. Since before the creation of the universe God has been in a love relationship with the Trinity—the Father eternally loves the Son, the Son reciprocates the love of the Father, and the Holy Spirit in turn adores the Son and the Father.

This is extremely important especially when you compare the God of the Bible to Allah of the Koran. Muslims contented that Allah has ninety-nine names and one of them is “The Loving.” But this is impossible because Muslims deny that God is triune. For example, the Koran explicitly states in Sura 4.171, “Say not “Trinity.” Desist; it will be better for you: for God is one God. Glory be to Him (far exalted is He) above having a son.”[vi]

In Islam Allah has no son and therefore has no concept of community, fellowship or love—since He has no one to share His love with. Love cannot exist in an audience of one, which is why Allah and any Unitarian belief system leads to a cold, distant, impersonal god. The Trinity answers the deepest needs of the human heart—because it offers us a God who wants to win our heart by love, not make us bow our knee in submission out of fear.

             In fact, the doctrine of the Trinity has actually won over many Muslims because it offers an invitation to accept God’s love. In the last book he wrote before passing away, Chuck Colson argues that the Trinity is one of the best evangelistic tools at our disposal. He writes about a Muslim friend of his who was converted to Christ when he stated studying the Trinity:

“Take the case of “Farid,” originally a nominal Muslim who came to the United States in 1993 to study. He fell under the spell of the MSA [Muslim Student Association] and soon joined their ranks, evangelizing. In debates with Christians, he contended that the Trinity was idolatry, or, as the Muslims call it, “shirk.” But in those same debates, he found his own positions weak when he was forced to argue that Jesus didn't die on the cross, only appeared to, as Muslims believe. Although he was warned against investigating the topic, Farid began to study.

Farid soon gave up his evangelizing on behalf of the MSA, continuing his search more deeply into Christian theology. He came to see that far from rejecting the Trinity, it “was the only logical explanation of what is reported in the New Testament, and [it] was logical and non-contradictory, just as a wave-particle duality principle in physics was the only plausible yet unbelievable and seemingly contradictory way to explain the world.”

Eventually, Farid’s search brought him to the point of exhaustion, where, in his imagination, he lay outside the gates of the City of God. At this point he cried out to God to rescue him, if God would. “I felt a strange feeling of God's love, as if he was telling me that I am his, and that he will love me and take care of me for the rest of my life and after.” This experience led to Farid committing himself to a new life as a Christian. God became Farid's eternal Father, “an infinite being who cares about me personally, and who wants me to be fully committed to him.”[vii]

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[i] Mark Galli, 131 Christians Everyone Should Know (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishers, 2000), 17-19.

[ii] Michael Reeves, Delighting in the Trinity (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 16.

[iii] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994), 248.

[iv] Reeves, 41.

[v] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (San Francisco: Harper One, 1952), 163-165.

[vi] Surah 4.171.

[vii] Chuck Colson, The Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), 104-105.