The Holy Trinity ~ Matthew 3:16-17

Good morning and welcome to the Panhandle. I am posting this blog a day early because I wont have time tomorrow. Well here it is just 4 days until we celebrate Christmas. I was going to say until we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour, but we should do that every day.

Today's study is one that has brought confusion since the time of Christ Jesus, and that is the Holy Trinity. When I think about the Trinity I am reminded of a skit by Issac Airfreight. In the skit I think it is Paul trying to explain the Trinity to Sargent Goodfriday. Paul tells Goodfriday that there is God the Father and God the Son. And Goodfriday says something like, “so your saying God is two in one.” Paul says something like, “No that would be silly, He is three in one.” Finally totally confused Goodfriday asks, “Is that new math?” Paul answers back, “No New Covenant.” So yeah I get that this is a very confusing subject, but let wade through it the best we can.

A small country church was having a service of baptism in January following a week-long revival. Since the church believed in immersion baptism and they didn’t have the facilities in the church to do so, they decided to have the baptism service in the river. It was a cold January day. The pastor asked one of those baptized if the water was cold. “Naw!” he replied. One of the Elders shouted, “Dip him again pastor, he’s still lying!”

When Christ Jesus came up out of the water after being baptized by John, He received an immediate confirmation from His family. He saw the Spirit of God, and He heard His Father's approval. It was like having your family come and cheer for you at your graduation. - Stuart K. Weber (Christian Author).

Matthew 3:16-17

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

1. What or Who Is the Trinity?

The Holy Trinity is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We see the first hint of the Holy Trinity in the book of Genesis. In Genesis 1:2 we are introduced to the Holy Spirit or Spirit of God which moved over the surface of the water. And in Genesis 1:26 we read ~ Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

The Hebrew word used for God in Genesis 1 is 'elohiym (el-o-heem') which is the plural form of Supreme God. When referencing the creation of man in Genesis 1:26, Adam Clarke in his commentary states, “The text tells us he was the work of 'ELOHIYM (OT:430), the Divine Plurality, marked here more distinctly by the plural pronouns US and OUR; and to show that he was the masterpiece of God's creation, all the persons in the Godhead are represented as united in counsel and effort to produce this astonishing creature.” (from Adam Clarke's Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Biblesoft).

In Genesis 2:4 we read, “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven.” Notice that Scripture doesn't just say God, now it says LORD GOD. In the Hebrew this is 'Elohiym (OT:430) and Yahweh (OT:3068) or (Jehovah), which what we translate "LORD GOD" and we know that Christ Jesus is Jehovah.

“GOD is the good Being, and LORD is the dispenser of bread, the giver of every good and perfect gift, who liberally affords the bread that perisheth (manna)to every man, and has amply provided the bread that endures unto eternal life for every human soul. With what propriety then does this word apply to the Lord Jesus, who is emphatically called the bread of life, the bread of God which cometh down from heaven, and which is given for the life of the world! John 6:33,48,51” (from Adam Clarke's Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Biblesoft).

In Genesis 3:14-15 God makes a reference to Christ Jesus when He pronounces a curse on the serpent. In his gospel John states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.” (John 1:1-4). I think you would agree that here in the opening verses and chapters of Genesis and in the first chapter of John's Gospel we have references to all three parts of the Holy Trinity.

2. What the Holy Trinity is Not.

For so long I had it all wrong, I had seen an example of Winston Churchill used. It said, “Imagine three paintings of Winston Churchill – one in his uniform, one in a suit, and one of him with his grandchildren. Three different facets of Winston Churchill, yet the same man.” This is the wrong view, it is called Modalism which says, “There is one person who appears to us in three different forms or modes.”

Another wrong view is the Subordinationism which states - “The Son and the Holy Spirit are subordinate to God the Father in nature and being.”

A third and the final wrong view is called Tritheism. Tritheism denies that there is only one God and instead claims that there are three Gods.

The reality is that there is only one God, three divine persons who are coequal, and coeternal. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each one fully God in essence, yet each one different with different roles or primary functions in relating to the world through creation and redemption: The Father plans, the Son executes, and the Spirit applies.

To maybe make it clearer, I hope: God the Father is the great Architect of creation, redemption, and completion, who plans, directs and sends. The Son and Holy Spirit are willingly subordinate to Him and yet equal in deity.

God the Son obeys the Father, accomplishes redemption, and with the Father sends the Holy Spirit to apply the work He has begun. In all things He glorifies the Father.

God the Holy Spirit brings to completion the work planned by the Father and begun by the Son. In all things He works to glorify the Son.

Okay clear as mud now right, well maybe just a little clear than mud I pray.

Why have I spent all this time to try and help you understand that God is a Triune God? Because this is an important fact that you must know to make since of what happens when Christ Jesus' comes up out of the water after being baptized by John.

3. The Manifestation of the Holy Trinity (vs. 16-17)

Here was a manifestation of the Trinity, in a scene akin to a family reunion. All three members of the Holy Trinity made their presence known in such a way that the bystanders could see or hear them.

This was a testimony to those there about the identity of Jesus, the Messiah. It serves as one of hundreds of displays in Matthew's Gospel for Christ Jesus as the Messiah. The appearance of the First and Third part of the Trinity was also a personal affirmation of the Son, Christ Jesus; the second part of the Trinity. This fact reminds us that God is a loving, and affirming God. Why do I say this? Well see how God the Father, and God the Spirit showed their love and affirmation for God the Son during this important moment in His life. (Read vs. 16-17 again).

The third person of the Trinity, descended upon Christ Jesus. Notice the Holy Spirit came as a dove with dove-like meekness. The dove held a special place among the Israelite, remember it was the dove in Genesis 8:11 that returned with the olive leaf ~ When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. To the Israelites a dove was the symbol of purity of heart, harmlessness, and gentleness. Look at Christ Jesus' references in Matthew 10:16 ~ I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent (gentle) as doves.

The form chosen here was undoubtedly an emblem of the innocence, meekness, and tenderness of the Saviour. The gift of the Holy Spirit, in this manner, was the public approval of Christ Jesus, and a sign of His Messiah-ship.

Some, like the Gnostics; teach that this was God coming upon the man Jesus, and thereby changed him from man to God/man. This is not so, Christ Jesus was already fully God and fully man before his baptism. No, the Holy Spirit coming and landing on Christ Jesus was the Holy Spirit showing His affirmation and love for Christ Jesus as He publicly acknowledged Christ Jesus' beginning of His earthly ministry.

As John the Baptizer said in the Gospel of John, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit’” (John 1:32–33).

John also heard a voice from heaven at the baptism. The voice said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (vs. 17). Twice in the Gospel of Matthew the Father speaks from heaven. In both cases He speaks in the third person (this is) instead of first person (you are); thereby addressing listeners other than just Christ Jesus. The second time God spoke these words was on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Stuart K. Weber (Christian author) says, “The wording in both cases is a warm, fatherly statement reminiscent of the threefold emphasis on Isaac's uniqueness and value to Abraham in Genesis 22:2 ~ He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."”

The term "Son" is expressive of love and of the nearness of His relation to God, and equality with God. “I am well pleased,” the language implies that God the Father was constantly well pleased with God the Son (Christ Jesus); and in this public manner God the Father expressed His approval of Christ Jesus as the Redeemer of the world. At Christ Jesus’ baptism He was given this divine confirmation from the Father, a word of His being and His behavior, of His acceptance and His approval. The person of the King is now introduced as the Son of God! He is Christ Jesus, the Messiah.

Water baptism does not save you, but every believer should be baptized, because Christ Jesus, Himself, commanded it. He said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19)

Christ Jesus not only came from Nazareth, but He also came from heaven, where He shares glory with God. His baptism once again showed His humility and obedience to His Father. His first coming was wonderful, because He came to usher in a heavenly kingdom and to offer you a place in that kingdom. In Church speak this is “to be saved.” Saved from what? Saved from the consequences of sin – eternal separation (death) from the Triune God. So when Christ Jesus comes the second time it will not be to save, but to judge the world and to establish His kingdom here on earth. Are you ready? Will you spend eternity with the Triune God or will you spend eternity in the pit of hell? You must choose Christ Jesus or you have chosen hell.

Thanks again for dropping by, and may you and yours' have a very Merry Christ-mas

Biblesurfer