Who is God? Part 4: How God Manifests Himself


[NEW!  You can now access an audio version of this blog entry HERE.  Enjoy!]

Today we continue in a series entitled ‘Who is God?’  So far we have covered:
·      Part 1: The Importance and Meaning of Knowing God
·      Part 2: God’s Revelation
·      Part 3: The Attributes of God
o   Part 3a: Incommunicable
o   Part 3b: Communicable
o   Part 3c: Relational

Today we continue with a deeper dive into how God manifests Himself in the Trinity.  In Part 1 we explored the ways that God reveals Himself by means of general and special revelation.  If you haven’t already, I recommend you check that out before reading further!

The Bible describes God as one God in three persons, described historically as the Trinity.  The word “Trinity” is never used in the Bible, but it is clearly described throughout.  Matthew 3:16-17 is but one example:

"After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."”

The Trinity is not something that can be fully explained by anyone, but is a rich mystery of God’s nature.  It forms the basis for all human relationships, and tells us that God did not create us to fulfill a relational need He had within Himself, but to manifest His nature in our relationships!

We will not seek to unpack this mystery today, other than to highlight some key points of each member of the Trinity:
·      Father: The ruling head of the Trinity (1 Corinthians 11:3).
·      Son: Reveals the Father in human form and fully submitted to Him in word and deed (John 1:14-18, John 14:6-11).
·      Holy Spirit: Convicts unbelievers of sin (John 16:7-8), makes them alive in Christ (John 3:3-7), and dwells in them as believers (John 14:15-20).

This is an area commended for lifelong, adventurous study!

In His Grip,

Mark

-->

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 119:75

(This is an entry from a devotional commentary I am working on from Psalm 119 entitled ‘God and His Word’.   The introduction can be found here , successive entries have covered the 22 sections of the Psalm, and following entries verse by verse.)   "I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me."   In this section, Yodh, the Psalmist seeks comfort (v. 76) and compassion (v. 77) because of Your affliction (v.75) and the subversion of the arrogant (v. 78).   We had just seen in v. 67 and v.71 the good that comes from affliction, and now we see here that this affliction is from You and an expression of Your faithfulness.   Of course this is true, since all good comes from You.   This is part of the ‘exceeding faithfulness’ of Your word (v. 138).   Through affliction we truly seek You (Psalm 78:34, Hosea 5:15).   Through affliction comes praise and satisfac...
Read more

God and His Wisdom: An Introduction to Proverbs

“The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: To  know  wisdom and discipline, To  understand  the sayings of understanding, To  receive  discipline that leads to insight, Righteousness, justice, and equity, To  give  prudence to the simple, To the youth knowledge and discretion; Let the wise man  hear  and  increase  in learning, And a man of understanding will  acquire  guidance, To  understand  a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; Ignorant fools despise wisdom and discipline.” (Proverbs 1:1-7 LSB, with emphasis)   “My son, if you will  receive  my words And  treasure  my commandments within you, To  make your ear pay attention  to wisdom, Incline your heart  to discernment; For if you  call out  for understanding, Give your voice  for discernment; If you  ...
Read more

Psalm 119:76

(This is an entry from a devotional commentary I am working on from Psalm 119 entitled ‘God and His Word’.   The introduction can be found here , successive entries have covered the 22 sections of the Psalm, and following entries verse by verse.)   "O may Your lovingkindness comfort me, According to Your word to Your servant."   ‘O may Your lovingkindness comfort me’, yet how often I have refused to be comforted (Psalm 77:2).    Why is that?   ‘According to Your word’ is, in my pride, the last thing I want.   I want to be comforted on my terms, not on Yours Lord!   That is not true comfort, yet my flesh deceives me.   As I learned in my early counseling sessions, I had to come to grips with the reality that I just wanted relief, I didn’t want You.   I wanted temporary relief then to go on running my own life.   Your lovingkindness is such that You won’t allow that.   You know that onl...
Read more