In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Amen. (It's Trinity Sunday)
Happy Sunday! Yes ... a bonus post for you. I couldn’t pass up the last chance I’ll have for months to highlight a special day in the church calendar. It’s not as sexy a day as Pentecost (last week), so I won’t bother with a poll this time. If your church didn’t acknowledge Pentecost, no way will they know it’s Trinity Sunday.
What is Trinity Sunday all about?
This Sunday marks the end of the annual cycle marking the life of Christ. It began with Advent and Christmas when the Father sent the Son, and peaked at the Ascension when the Son returned to the Father. Following the timeframe set in Scripture, ten days later we celebrated the arrival of the Spirit. So now we stop to mark the triune nature of our God.
Admittedly, three Persons in one God is a metaphysical mystery. So we do not try to explain how it works, only to worship him and affirm that Scripture attests to his three-fold nature many times.
The Trinity defined: God is eternally one essence with three persons. The Father is not the Son who is not the Holy Spirit who is not the Father. But the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Spirit is God—eternally.
The three Persons are distinct yet unified and equal. C.S. Lewis describes the Trinity as “a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life, almost a kind of drama. Almost, if you will not think me irreverent, a kind of dance.” (Mere Christianity) He is love overflowing in relationship.
Knowing our God is Trinity and eternal ought give us the foundation on which we stand to face the realities of our world. No other ruler will live forever, no empire has stood or will stand victorious over the kingdom of God. I encourage you to read Esau McCaulley’s essay “Yes, Protest. But Worship First” to see the connection between our theology of God and our perspective on current events.
He is Father.
Psalm 89:26 “He will call to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the rock of my salvation.’”
Malachi 2:10 “Don’t all of us have one Father? Didn’t one God create us?”
John 20:17 “… go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
He is Son.
Luke 1:35 “The angel replied to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.’”
Matthew 16:16 “Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’”
He is Spirit.
Genesis 1:2 “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.”
Psalm 51:11 “Do not banish me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.”
John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth.”
Romans 15:13 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
References to all three Persons of the Trinity
Luke 1:35 “The angel replied to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.’”
Matthew 3:16–17 “When Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.’”
Matthew 28:19 “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”
Ephesians 1:17 “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.”
Romans 15:30 “Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in prayers to God on my behalf.”
1 Peter 1:2 “… according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient and to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ.”
Resources to help you understand or explain the Trinity.
Ok, so they’ll be imperfect. All I can say is, please do not succumb to the temptation to use an analogy. No shamrocks, eggs, apples, modes of water, etc. They don’t work. Instead, let some experts help.
Short and Sweet
Grab a copy of Dr. Nika Spaulding’s “Theology in 10” booklet on The Trinity (image above). Ten pages, with illustrations, quotes, Scripture, and theological explanation of who the Trinity is and how we can know him. Super accessible for almost all ages.
Books
Delighting in the Trinity, by Michael Reeves. Five stars!
Trinity without Hierarchy, by Michael Bird and Scott Harrower. More academic.
The God Who Gives, by Kelly Kapic. Devotional.
The Biblical Trinity, by Brandon Smith. Compact.
Songs
All Creatures of Our God and King
Prayer
God our Father, who by sending into the world the Word of truth and the Spirit of sanctification made known to the human race your wondrous mystery, grant us, we pray, that in professing the true faith, we may acknowledge the Trinity of eternal glory
and adore your Unity, powerful in majesty. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.