God As One; God As Three; God As Three in One

Prayer. Our Father in heaven, grant us precisions of word and thought, Father, in true faith.

Give us the light of understanding by your Holy Spirit. Enable us to believe what you have spoken

in your word, that you are one and the only true God, existing in Father, Son, and Spirit.

Humble us, Lord, by the complexity of the matter at hand. In the present Jesus' name, amen.

Good morning. So today we begin a series on the attributes of God. I'm glad we have this time together.

A.W. Tozer in his book, The Knowledge of the Holy, says the most important thing about you

is what comes into your mind when you think about God. Not what you say or do or what you say about

yourself, but what you deeply in your heart conceive God to be like. Your knowledge of God.

In a way, our salvation depends on our knowledge of God. Jesus said,

This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God in Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

We must know God. Not carnal knowledge about him, but true knowledge based upon the word and spirit.

So, not just knowing about diamonds, where it's found underneath the earth and made of carbon atoms,

its value in the marketplace. But the knowledge we gain when we gaze upon a beautiful, sparkling diamond,

beholding it within its splendor. That's the kind of first-hand knowledge of God that we must have.

And a high view of God sees God as holy, high, and lifted up.

Helping us to see ourselves rightly as sinful, in a need of grace.

A low view of God is idolatry, and a mere figment of our imagination.

A high view of God leads to humility and reverence.

A low view of God leads to shallow worship and pride.

What you think about God affects your politics.

It affects your view of history. It affects your marriage.

It affects how you endure trials. How you understand persecution.

It affects everything.

And in fact, your whole life is being driven by how you conceive God to be like.

Everyone is a theologian. Everyone has this view of God in their minds.

So, in this class, my prayer is that we remove the blurriness of God's character,

and that it comes into sharper view,

so that our whole lives would be to live for God's honor and praise.

Jeremiah 4, verse 23 says,

Jeremiah 4:23

Thus says the Lord,

Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom.

Let not the mighty man boast in his might.

Let not the rich man boast in his riches.

But let him who boasts boast in this,

that he understands and knows me.

And so to that end, we're going to begin today with the doctrine of the Trinity.

And this is somewhat unusual.

Normally, if you read a book about the attributes of God,

it begins with things like God is a spirit, God is omniscient, God is holy, God is loving.

And Lord willing, we will get to those things.

But I chose this topic first because when we discuss the attributes of God,

they are the attributes of the triune God,

applying equally to the Father, Son, and Spirit.

So the Trinity will help us to understand how can God be the kind of God he is.

Now, what is the Trinity?

Where is that chapter and verse where the Bible defines the Trinity?

Well, as you probably know, the word Trinity is not in the Bible.

You don't find a point-by-point exposition of the Trinity.

Does that mean it's not in the Bible?

Well, we'll see.

The word Trinity comes from the Latin trinitas, which means threeness.

So even though the word is not in the Bible, it captures an essential truth.

So let's begin with a definition.

Wayne Grudem helpfully has defined the Trinity as this.

God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

and each person is fully God, and there is one God.

So each person is fully God, and there is one God.

And to understand the importance of the Trinity,

I want to tell you a story of a heroic man in the early church,

a man from Africa of great courage and faithfulness.

And this man defended the truth of Christ's deity against the raging assault of Satan.

And this man was named Athanasius.

In Athanasius' day, many inside the church actually excommunicated those who confessed that Jesus is Lord.

In fact, Athanasius himself was exiled five times, thrown out of his church, and then called back,

always standing up for the truth.

And during that time, many older people in the church were allowing wolves to ravage Christ's flock.

And by the year 300, the orthodoxy that Jesus is Lord was threatened with lies and heresy

by a man named Arius.

And Athanasius was only in his 20s, remarkably, when he entered into the public arena.

And one of the examples in history where the younger generation was calling the older generation back to biblical faithfulness,

and associated with Athanasius came the Latin phrase,

Athanasius Contramundum, Athanasius against the world,

a man who stood against the world in defense of the truth.

So may God raise up more men and women who are more concerned with being faithful to God's word

than receiving the world's applause.

And it was indeed a dark moment.

The false doctrine from Aries spread rapidly during the early church.

And what was Arianism?

Well, Aries rightly said that there was only one God.

But then disastrously, he wrongly reasoned that if Jesus was the Son of God,

then he must have had a beginning.

He's the Son.

He must have had a beginning.

Right?

And therefore, there must have been a time where Jesus did not exist,

and only the Father was eternal.

And this came to be known as Arianism, which denies the full deity of Christ.

And we see these ancient heresy in modern times.

Oneness Pentecostals, who were kicked out of the assemblies of God many years ago.

Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses.

There's nothing new under the sun.

But by God's grace, in a moment of great triumph, in 315 AD,

the church sent representatives to the city of Nicaea to wrestle with the Scripture and to clarify their position.

And the rest is history.

There they formulated the Nicene Creed, which contains these important lines.

And when you read the Nicene Creed, think of begotten as meaning as the same essence as,

and essence as the same godness as.

So these are important lines.

We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,

begotten, so of the same essence as, the Father before all ages,

God from God, light from light, true God from true God,

begotten, not made, of the same essence as the Father, of the same godness as the Father.

And later in 381, a statement was added about the deity of the Spirit,

which forms the modern Nicene Creed.

And there, in the three great ecumenical creeds,

the Apostles, the Nicene, and the Athanasian Creed,

are all structured around this threeness and oneness.

And these creeds are like letters from our spiritual ancestors,

warning us against dangerous theological mistakes that have threatened the church in the past.

But sadly, many in our modern day have not saw fit to have

that humble listening of the past.

Matt referenced last week that Ligonier study on the state of theology done for Americans.

And it is clear that even in our own day,

the doctrine of the Trinity is outright rejected by those who claim to be Christians.

So the question was this,

Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God.

In 2020, 30% of American evangelicals agreed that Jesus is not God.

In 2022, that jumped to 43%.

That's amazing and saddening, a travesty.

Before we begin, let's ask the question,

why does this even matter?

Someone might object,

I worship God, we don't need these distinctions.

It's so abstract and vague.

People throwing around terms like essence and begotten,

co-this and co-that, it just seems so irrelevant.

We don't need these distinctions as long as someone worships God.

However they conceive him to be,

that's what's most important, right?

We worship God.

Well, to the contrary,

Jesus disagrees with that.

Remember in Jesus' last discourse,

on the night of his betrayal,

before going to the cross,

before the darkness of the crucifixion,

Jesus prays for his disciples

in his high priestly prayer.

And you can imagine the importance of these words.

In his hour of crisis,

before you go away,

what will you say to the frightened disciples?

What would you say?

Stop being so anxious.

You're always so anxious.

Or I'll be right back.

You know, BRB.

He doesn't say those things.

Instead, to get through the crisis,

Jesus is saying,

I need you to have a deeper understanding of God.

And he begins teaching them about the Trinity

and the sweet fellowship

between the Father, Son, and Spirit.

In John 17,

Holy Father, keep them in your name,

which you have given me,

and they may be one,

even as we are one.

Or verse 22,

The glory that you have given me,

I have given to them,

that they may be one,

even as we are one.

I in them,

and you in me,

that they may become perfectly one.

And the high priestly prayer

underlines the glorious mystery of the Trinity.

And so for the Lord Jesus,

this isn't a speculative topic.

It's entirely practical.

It helps us in times of suffering

and persecution.

And likewise,

early Christians were passionate

about this topic,

not because they were interested

in speculative philosophy

or scholastic theology.

No, because they wanted to worship

the Lord rightly.

And I would venture to say

that preserving this truth

in the Nicene Creed

helped the church persevere

through years of severe persecution.

And if that is so,

friends,

the church

must remove this blurriness

and provide clarity

on this important topic.

And many Roman Catholic apologists

will actually say,

well, see,

that's why you need

the Roman Catholic Church,

the big C.

Because you cannot prove

the Trinity from the Scripture.

You need the councils

and the creeds,

but we must disagree

with them there.

because ultimately,

we prove not our case,

not from the church fathers,

however helpful they may be

as a humble listening

of the past,

but ultimately to the Scriptures.

We must look to the Scriptures

as the foundation of our faith.

And so our goal

in our time together

is to expound scripturally

of the Trinity.

God is one,

and God is in three persons,

and discuss why this matters.

And so to do this,

we have to do three things

to prove the Trinity

from the Scripture.

First, we must show

that God is one.

Second, three in one.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

are all God.

Each person is fully God.

And third,

these three persons

are not identical.

And then we'll spend some time

thinking about application.

So point number one.

God is one.

God is one.

So the first thing

we must say

that Christians believe,

just as Jews believe,

is that God is one.

And many accuse Christians

of being polytheists.

Right?

Accusing Christians

of believing in three gods.

And while it is true

that Christians believe

in a plurality,

it is not polytheism.

So Christians would hardly affirm

Deuteronomy 6, verse 4.

Deuteronomy 6:4

Hear, O Israel,

the Lord our God,

the Lord is one.

You shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart,

with all your soul,

with all your might.

So God is one.

This is referred to

as the Shema,

because the first word here

is the Hebrew word Shema.

Shema, O Israel.

And Israel was to understand

there is one God.

In contrast to all

the other surrounding nations

who worship many false gods,

Israel was to worship

the one and only true God.

There is one creator God.

The creator God of Israel

is the God who created

the heavens and the earth

and who redeemed the people

out of slavery

to be his special people.

But in another sense,

the Shema means for Israel

not only to say

that God is one,

but God, you are the one.

Like in a love relationship.

God, you are the only one

my heart desires.

The one I will love

with all my heart,

my soul, my mind, and strength.

And marriage pictures

that exclusive love,

does not,

an unbreakable love

between God and his people.

And the first commandment

is you shall have

no other gods before me.

An exclusive loyalty

to Yahweh as their king.

And the people in exchange

are his treasured possession.

And the heart of the Old Testament

is a call for Israel

to worship God

as their one and only true God

and worship him alone.

And this is a God

who will have no rivals.

His glory he will not share

with another.

He alone is God,

utterly unique,

ultimate authority.

At his command,

the Red Sea was parted.

In the ten plagues,

he shows his supremacy

over all the other false gods

of the Egyptians.

He can make the sun

stand still at his word.

I am the Lord God.

That is my name.

My glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to carved idols.

So all glory and praise

are due his name alone.

And God speaks authoritatively

about the past

and the future.

He's in absolute control

of all things.

And there are only two possibilities.

Either God is reigning

or he is being ruled over.

And the Old Testament

is emphatic that God is reigning.

Isaiah 44, verse 6,

Isaiah 44:6

Thus says the Lord,

the King of Israel

and his Redeemer,

The Lord of hosts,

I am the first

and I am the last.

Besides me,

there is no God.

Who is like me?

Let him proclaim it.

Is there a God besides me?

There is no rock.

I know not any.

Or Deuteronomy chapter 32,

Deuteronomy 32:39

verse 39,

See now that I,

even I am he,

and there is no God beside me.

I kill,

I make alive,

I wound,

I heal,

and there is none

that can deliver

out of my hands.

Because he's in full control,

fully sovereign,

fully reigning,

there is none

that can deliver

out of his hands.

There is none beside him

or over him.

Isaiah chapter 45,

Isaiah 45:22

verse 22,

Turn to me

and be saved

to all the ends

of the earth.

For I am God

and there is no other.

And so consistent

in the Old Testament

is that there is only one God.

And the New Testament

actually affirms

that God is one.

Jesus affirms

those Shema in Mark 12.

You'll recall

one of the scribes

asked Jesus,

Which commandment

is the most important of all?

Jesus answered,

The most important is,

Hear, O Israel,

the Lord our God,

the Lord is one.

So Jesus affirms

that God is one.

In 1 Corinthians 8,

when resolving the question

of meat sacrifice to idols,

Paul says,

We know that no idol

is anything in the world

and there is no God

but one.

James says,

You believe that God is one.

You do well.

Even demons believe

and shudder.

So the demons

can affirm the Nicene Creed.

1 Timothy 2, 5,

For there is one God

and there is one mediator

between God and men,

the man,

Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 4, 6,

One God and Father of all

who is over all

and through all

and in all.

Lastly,

1 Timothy 1, 17.

The king of the ages,

immortal, invisible,

the only God,

be honor and glory

forever and ever.

So rewind in Genesis 1.

This one God

created all things.

Unlike other pagan

cosmic stories

where creation is a result

of God's fighting

against each other,

one God speaks the world

into existence

by his word.

Ex nihilo.

Out of nothing,

he creates.

Ten times,

you're reading

the opening chapter,

and God said,

and it was so.

And God has supreme authority

over all creation.

He is not some tribal God,

but he is the king

whom every person

will give an account.

And this is the one

who created Adam and Eve

in his own image.

There is only one God.

There are not three gods.

There is only one.

So the response

to this oneness, right,

makes Muslims and Jews

say,

that's right,

God is one.

So therefore,

the Trinity is excluded, right?

One plus one plus one

equals three.

Right?

Father, Son, Spirit,

that's three gods.

If God is one,

that excludes Jesus

and the Holy Spirit's deity.

But this is not so.

Not at all.

So let's look at

the Old Testament again

and examine this criticism.

And B.B. Warfield

in his book,

The Biblical Doctrine

of the Trinity,

has an insightful comment

about the nature

of the Old Testament's

witness about the Trinity.

He says this,

The Old Testament

may be likened

to a chamber

richly furnished,

but dimly lit.

The introduction

of light

brings into it

nothing

which was not

in it before,

but brings out

into clear view

much what was in it,

but was only dimly lit.

That's a paraphrase.

So what he's noting here

is important,

that the nature

of the scripture

is progressive.

It's progressive.

So God reveals

himself in stages.

So the Trinity

is more clear

in Isaiah

than it is in Genesis.

It's more clear

in the New Testament

than it is in Isaiah.

So the nature

of the scripture

is progressive.

The light

is getting brighter

and then when the light

of the New Testament

is brightest,

we can go back

into the Old Testament

and see things

that were dimly lit,

but not at all perceived.

It's like we know

more now

than they did back then.

Right.

Yeah, exactly.

Exactly.

So we can go back

into the Old Testament

knowing what we know

about God

in the New

and see things

that were there

all along.

And so the church fathers

thought

this was very important

to go back

into the Old Testament

and to see hints

or footprints,

they would call it.

I think it's called

the vestigia trinitatis.

So it's the footprint

or shadows

of the triune nature

of God

in the Old Testament.

So I want to throw out

a question for us here

is where in the Old Testament

is the plurality

of God implied?

And I have some here

as you can see.

Genesis 1

and the Spirit of the Lord

hovered over

and then

when

the angel of the Lord

makes an appearance

that's the pre-incarnate Christ.

Yeah.

And then God.

When does God

ever make an appearance?

The angel of the Lord

is fascinating, right?

He's a fascinating figure.

He appears

in numerous

points

and angels

refuse worship, right?

Yeah.

In Revelation.

Yeah, 22.

The Revelation

the angel says

don't do that.

I'm a fellow servant.

Don't worship me.

But this angel

accepts worship.

It appears

he has God's name, right?

And God sends him out

so it's

he has a name of God

but at the same time

he's distinct from God.

So a lot of people

have seen the angel

of the Lord

as being

Jesus says

in Israel

the spirit of the Lord

was upon me.

You know

he quotes Isaiah

as another

yeah the spirit

of the spirit.

Yes.

Yeah.

So we have Genesis.

We have the angel

of the Lord.

Is there any other place

that the plurality

Olivia?

I don't know where

somewhere

in the Old Testament

it's called

the man of God

or the son of man

like a scene

where they eat

under a tree

but a lot of people

think it's Jesus

or Elijah

or the plurality of God

and then there's

there's I think

one more place

that's all the new trees.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm thinking

when you say

the son of man

I was thinking

of Daniel 9

where the son of man

is given all authority

sovereign power

and glory

and it's like

who is this son of man

who is presented

to the ancient of days

and is given

an eternal dominion

an eternal kingdom.

It's puzzling right?

So where is the plurality

of God implied

in the Old Testament?

So we have

the angel of the Lord

there's the Daniel

there's certain places

where it seems

that there are

a divine figure

that appears.

Yeah.

The plurality

of God implied.

The servant passages

in Isaiah

come to mind.

They're not

they're

they're

very shadowy

but

they're very much

perfect

once Jesus comes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

The servant

the servant

comes

and seems

to have

the attributes

of God

the servant

will save

his people

from their sins

but who can save

a God alone?

Who is the servant

that Isaiah speaks of?

And Moses

talking about

there's going to come

a God

will rise up

a prophet

after me

and listen to him.

Yeah.

Yes.

But does that

passage not

if you listen to

that passage

you're just expecting

a prophet

you want to be

God

and I'm sorry

I can't wait

to say

the context

of the question

he was speaking

about Jesus

Yeah

because Jesus

well the prophet

Deuteronomy 18

where it says

Moses

there will be

a prophet

like me

and listen to him

and the prophet

will say things

that will come true

and that's the way

you should know

that he's a true prophet

and I think Jesus

his resurrection

right

he says

I'm going to be

raised up on the third day

and when

it happens

it is the

the prophet

that Moses spoke of

but it's

he's

not necessarily

the deity of God

I mean

the deity of Christ

but it does

vindicate Christ

in what

all I said

was true

Yeah

And it wasn't even yet

he had to wait

for David

to come

and then after David

Jesus

came

Yeah

So Moses was talking

about two people

ahead of him

Yeah

To clarify

I don't disagree

what I'm saying

is that that passage

itself

does not talk

about Jesus

as

Moses was not God

so if Moses said

I'm a prophet

like me

Yeah

That passage

in the context

it's actually

it's not the plurality

It's not the plurality

of God

it's

it's

it's affirming

the truthfulness

of what Christ said

and all that he did

and

yes

I agree

and some of the things

he said was

I'm the Father

I want

Yeah

Tom

Maybe I missed this

I stepped out for a second

but

the

Hebrew word for God

Elohim

is plural

but it's singular

it's used as a singular

verb

but it's a plural noun

referring to God

which is

puzzling

and it's

there's this plurality

in

the Godhead

seemingly

just in his name

Yeah

You can say the same thing

from

the Shema

you're always real

the Lord your God

the Lord is one

because

it uses

three different names

for God

it's the Yahweh

and the Elohim

and then

this is a little more complicated

but in the Hebrew manuscripts

they didn't want to say Yahweh

so they vocalized it

with Abed and I

so it's like

Yahweh

anyway

it's

the classic

you know

God is one passage

there's actually

three names

of lies

for God

Yeah

that is good

that is good

Sneaky

hints

I want you to get this

but

I'm going to stick this in here too

for here

like you'll get it

someday

Yeah

Right now

after coming out of Egypt

with all these

multiple gods

I want you to get

God as one

but

later on

remember

that's

that's so true

Romans 8 16

the spirit of God

bears witness to our spirit

that we are children

that's a reference to the spirit

yes

yeah

the spirit is equally God

exactly

and all these

and so many

so much more

if you look in the Old Testament

right

you can see

hints

footprints

shadows

of the triune nature of God

not explicitly stated

but you can go back

after the

of the New Testament

the light shines

and see like

oh yeah

I see that there were

the Old Testament authors

were not uncomfortable

using plural forms

of nouns

for God

like why is that

but

and

one other

is

the

Genesis 2

which we

we talked about

that

let us make man

in our image

after our likeness

and

Genesis 3

Genesis 3:22

verse 22

the Lord God said

the man has now become

like one of us

knowing good and evil

he wasn't talking to angels

well and it's interesting

because

the

non

you know

some people could say

look

the church fathers

you can go and find

anything you want

in the Old Testament

if you have an agenda

I can go find

anything I want

if I'm going to go

in there looking for it

but even non-Christians

wrestle with this passage

of Genesis 2 and 3

so many Jewish rabbis

contradict each other

fumbling in an explanation

of what is going on

in Genesis 2

some rabbis point

that the us and our

is Genesis

as God speaking

with angels

and other rabbis

like no that cannot be

we did not

God

angels didn't create us

we're not creating

the image of angels

that just cannot be

and one Jewish writer

in the 2nd century BC

wrote a book

called Jubilee

and he had a lengthy

quote of Genesis

and he just dropped

the plural self-reference

out of it

so that's one way

of avoiding the problem

just avoid it

by deleting it

from your quotation

and I think

that just shows

the early church

were not reading

back into the Old Testament

things that weren't there

if Jewish

non-Christians

were wrestling

with the same issues

with the plurality

that's implied

and you know

the us and our

from a New Testament

perspective

we can say

this is intra-Trinitarian

conversation

so let us make man

in our image

and I think

when John writes

in the beginning

was the word

the word was God

was with God

right

Jesus was clearly there

the spirit is there

and the scripture

is hinting at

that there is a plurality

within the God

even in their act

of creation

and so our response

to the Muslim

is that there is one God

but there is a plurality

and that is attested

to in the Old Testament

one other

one I wanted to speak about

was Psalm 110

Psalm 110

Psalm 110

was the

verse 1

was Jesus'

favorite verse

in the Bible

to quote from

it's quoted

in 24 separate

or alluded to

in 24 different times

and Psalm 110

Psalms 110:1

verse 1

says

the Lord

says to my Lord

sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies

your footstool

and the Lord

Yahweh

is speaking to

another person

whom he calls Lord

right

and this other person

clearly within the context

of the psalm

is the Messiah

David's messianic son

and this one

in Psalm 110

who sits at God's right hand

who triumphs over his enemies

he is a priest

in the order of Melchizedek

he has divine power

to judge the nations

to shatter kings

in his wrath

so the Lord

is speaking to the Lord

this Messiah

it's a puzzling

reality

what is going on

and Jesus quotes this

in his dispute

with the Pharisees

who are attacking him

Jesus says to the Pharisees

who do you think

of the

what do you think

of the Christ

whose son is he

they answer

the son of David

then he said

how is it

that David

in the spirit

calls the Messiah

Lord

and I think

it's the same

it's the same

Yahweh speaks

to Adonai

in Psalm 110

and I don't know

how fully

David understood

this

what he was saying

but under the

inspiration

of the spirit

he's somehow

saying that

the Lord

is speaking

to another

person

whom is called

Lord

the God

the Father

is speaking

to the Son

sit at my right

hand

until I make

your enemies

your footstool

in Isaiah 9

this Messiah

is called

Mighty God

Everlasting Father

Prince of Peace

and again

this Messiah

will save

his people

from their sins

in Isaiah 53

but who can save

from our sins

but God alone

who is this Messiah

that David

and Isaiah

speak about

so those

are the hints

it's there

but it's

you know

we don't know

it could be

is God

three persons

is God

more than

three persons

from the Old Testament

we can't

we can't say

for sure

but one of the

remarkable things

is that once you

open the pages

of the New Testament

the Trinity

isn't so much

explained

but it's assumed

throughout the

whole narrative

and so what was

vaguely hinted at

in the Old Testament

now becomes clear

you know

some say

Jesus never claimed

to be God

except in a few

lines in John's

Gospel that were

added much later

is that right

does the New Testament

affirm Jesus deity

yes

yes

yes they do

yes

there's scholars

that now

are acknowledging

that ancient

Judaism

did have

that is pluralistic

pluralistic

conception

of their

one God

and that

the phenomenon

of Judaism

denying that

is a recent

it's a recent

phenomenon

it's post-Christian

that I would say

was in response

to Christianity

but if you read

the first century

Jewish text

first century

BC AD

they seem to all

acknowledge this

many of them

anyway

and then

that's lost

once you go through

the Christian

centuries

so I think

they knew it

it wasn't

they may not have

the exact

conception

you know

a precise

trinity

but they knew

there was this

plurality

it wasn't just

David said

something

everybody forgot

it

I think

they were

aware

yeah

that's a good

point

so even

historically

this plurality

has been

part of the

Jewish faith

and it's not

something the

church fathers

just kind of

came up with

that thin air

yeah

I think we can

emphatically say

yes

the New Testament

affirms

Jesus DHU

Pastor Matt

preached on

Mark 2

a couple weeks

ago

Jesus is Lord

of the Sabbath

he's Lord

over God's law

Jesus receives

worship

after the

resurrection

Thomas says

my Lord

and my God

Jesus doesn't

say look

I'm your Lord

but not your

God

what are you

doing

he says

no no no

he accepts

worship

he's like

yes

he accepts

worship

that is due

God alone

and in

Revelation

the Lamb

on the throne

is worshipped

he receives

that which is

due to God

alone

he not only

receives worship

he takes on

divine titles

right

he is given

the name

Savior

but Isaiah

43

God says

I even

I am the

Lord

apart from

me

there is

no Savior

and Jesus

the name

Jesus

literally means

Savior

Savior

and not only

Savior

but he takes

on the name

of Shepherd

right

John 10

and David

would say

the Lord

is my

shepherd

and there's

many other

titles that

Jesus takes

on

Redeemer

the Son

of Man

the True

Vine

the Bridegroom

clearly alluding

to God's

work in the

Old Testament

the I am

statements

in the

Gospel

of John

are filled

with allusions

to Jesus

deity

one of the

I am

statements

for example

is I am

the light

of the world

and that

gives life

to the world

he's recalling

the wilderness

experience

and the

pillar of fire

that led

Israel

through

the desert

so any

listener

would have

understood

that light

was a picture

of the light

of God

himself

and the

light

metaphor

is where

the light

of God's

glory

is present

as God

led the

people

through the

wilderness

to salvation

Jesus

saying I

will lead

my people

out of

darkness

into the

light of

salvation

through my

life and

death

and so

these I am

statements

are alluding

to God's

work in the

Old Testament

and he

not only takes

on titles

like Savior

Shepherd

Redeemer

and Lord

he has

divine works

right

he forgives

sins

but who

can forgive

sins

but God

alone

as a Pharisee

is recognized

they were

rights

only God

can forgive

sins

because ultimately

as David

said

I've sinned

against God

and him

alone

my sin

against

Bathsheba

and Uriah

he stops

the wind

at his

word

what kind

of man

is this

says the

disciples

even the

winds

and sea

obey him

answer

he's God

right

he's God

he even

commands

the forces

of nature

and there's

more we can

say

the apostles

consistently

gave the

title Lord

to Jesus

in their

letters

1 Corinthians

8-6

Paul says

yet for us

there is

one God

the Father

from whom

are all

things

and for

whom we

exist

and one

Lord

Jesus Christ

through whom

are all

things

and through

whom we

exist

and it's

interesting

that is

1 Corinthians

8-6

people will

point out

that is

the Shema

and Paul

is inserting

Jesus

into that

as describing

him as

Lord

there is

one God

in 1 Corinthians

8-6

so Paul

calls him

Lord

through whom

all things

exist

and the word

Lord in the

New Testament

is the

Hebrew

word

translated

into the

Greek

Kyrios

Kyrios

and that is

the word

that is used

to describe

Jesus

over and

over again

and that

same word

is used

over 6,000

times in

the Old

Testament

to describe

God

so Jesus

is fully

God

and you

will call

Jesus

in John

8

calls himself

Yahweh

before Abraham

was I am

and the Pharisees

understood what

he was saying

because they

picked up

stones to

kill him

for blasphemy

right

they would

be right

he's calling

himself

God

except that

it was

true

Jesus

was God

understandable

reaction

you're only

50 years old

you're saying

you saw

Abraham

face to

face

he existed

2,000 years

ago

and Jesus

was saying

I am God

and they

understood

what he was

saying

because they

picked up

stones

to kill

him

God

came to

earth

and he

killed

him

yes

his people

knew him

not

yes

yes

Jesus

yes

yes

yes

the love

of God

Jesus is the

image of the

invisible God

as Hebrews 1

says

so

the eternal

son of God

light from

light

true God

from true

God

we don't need

to pick a

couple verses

from John

to prove

Jesus deity

it is

throughout

the entire

New Testament

so let's

talk about

the Holy Spirit

the third

distinct person

from the

Trinity

of the

one God

the Father

is God

Jesus

is God

and the

Holy Spirit

is God

and these

are distinct

persons

despite there

being only

one God

I hope

your mind

is just

kind of

getting a little

confused now

how can that

be possible

there being

one God

and three

distinct

persons

in the

one God

and some

people will

say I

don't really

get this

whole business

about the

Holy Spirit

that's just

the word

for the

breath

the wind

the power

of God

working

through the

world

right

they don't

see the

Holy Spirit

as a

distinct

person

and Christians

who grew up

with the

KJV

anyone

grew up

with the

KJV

here

KJV

there you

go

I'm

familiar

with the

term

Holy Ghost

and the

Holy Ghost

it has

connotations

of distance

of an

impersonal

God

who's a

ghost

the Holy Ghost

right

it's like

who is

the Spirit

I mean

and

in many

passages

the Holy

Spirit

is spoken

of

impersonal

terms

we tend

to think

of the

Holy Spirit

as a

force

but the

Holy Spirit

is a

person

right

and frequently

does

activities

that belong

to personhood

so right

before the

cross

Jesus

expresses

an

internal

intimacy

with the

Father

and he

promises

to send

the Holy

Spirit

onto the

church

one

distinct

from both

the

Father

and the

Son

and the

Holy Spirit

is the

paraclete

the helper

the advocate

it says

that

God

decrees

Jesus

accomplishes

and the

Holy Spirit

applies

to salvation

yes

it's all

Trinitarian

in the end

yes

our whole

faith is

Trinitarian

yes

now why

did Jesus

have to

leave

before the

Holy Spirit

comes

well

that's easy

because God

wanted it to

be that

way

I actually

don't know

why

Jesus had

to leave

before the

Spirit

comes

maybe it's

because Jesus

was

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yeah

at a

at a

Pentecost

yeah the

Spirit

is poured

out

but yeah

so there's

the Jesus

as a

sense

and the

Spirit

comes

down

and the

Spirit

in John

14

26

is the

helper

the

one

whom

the

Father

will

send

in my

name

he

will

teach

you

all

things

and

bring

to your

remembrance

all that

I have

taught

you

and so

the

Holy Spirit

teaches

us

right

the

Spirit

enables

them

to

remember

he

bears

witness

with

our

spirit

that

we

are

the

children

of

God

the

Holy

Spirit

helps

us

in

our

weakness

he

intercedes

for

us

with

groanings

too

deep

for

words

right

the

Spirit

understands

our

needs

and

Paul

in

1 Corinthians

4

the

Spirit

searches

everything

he