The Holy Trinity – June 15, 2025

Praise to you and peace from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our text for this morning is the epistle reading from Romans chapter 11. Let me read it again.

Romans 11 · chapter mention

Oh the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable are his judgments, and how inscrutable his ways!

For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?

Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Who is the one and only true God?

The one and only true God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

three distinct persons, and one divine being, the Holy Trinity.

We see the three persons of the Trinity, especially in the baptism of our Lord.

You've got God the Father speaking to Jesus saying, this is my beloved Son.

You've got Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, actually standing in the water.

And then you've got the Holy Spirit who anoints Jesus by means of the dove.

Before Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, he instituted baptism.

He said, baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Again, the only true God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Three distinct persons, yet one divine being, the Holy Trinity.

Now, this is a mystery. It's a mystery.

For our human reason, we can't understand it.

But that's fine. We're not called to understand everything perfectly.

We are simply called to trust in our one true God and trust in the salvation

that he has provided through his Son.

There are some things which we know about God, and there are some things that we don't know about God.

There are some things that are revealed to us in the Scripture,

and there are some things that are not revealed to us in the Scriptures.

First of all, I want to talk with you about those things which we don't fully

understand or know about regarding God, and also those things which really are

not revealed in Scripture.

St. Paul says in our epistle lesson for today, Oh, the depth of the riches and

wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways.

In other words, God's riches, wisdom, and knowledge are very, very deep.

They surpass our human understanding and our human reason.

Furthermore, God's judgments are unsearchable. In other words,

they're unfathomable. We can't measure them.

Finally, God's ways are incomprehensible. We cannot comprehend it.

Again, they surpass our human reason and our human understanding.

St. Paul goes on to ask three questions. For who has known the mind of the Lord,

or who has been his counselor, or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid.

We don't fully know the mind of God.

We're not his counselor telling him what to do.

We don't give God a gift expecting that he's going to give us something in return, like a quid pro quo.

We don't owe God anything. God is God.

Again, we don't fully understand everything about him.

Sometimes God's ways are not our ways, and our ways are not God's ways.

There are times when we do not know why he does what he does.

There are some things that we just don't know about, and we are not given to know.

For example, why does this thing happen, or that thing?

Why are some saved and not others? Why do we go through various trials and tribulations?

Why does it seem that the righteous suffer and the unrighteous prosper?

There are times when we are frustrated and angry with God.

It's easy for a sinful flesh to question God, why this, why that,

or really put him on trial.

We want to be God's boss, telling him what to do and when to do it.

We want to live a perfect life on earth, and if we undergo problems,

then it's easy for us to then blame God and point the finger at him.

We want to give God instructions on how to be God.

There are times when we treat God like a spoiled child treats his parents.

Some child, a child wants to know why a parent is doing this or that and asking

questions. And sometimes the parent says, because I said so.

You really can't explain things. You just, this is what I said. And you listen.

The parents are an authority and they know what is best. So also,

God is God and he knows best, better than we do.

He's smarter than any one of us. And he said to Moses, I am who I am.

He also said to Job, I am who I am and I have your best interest in mind, just trust me.

So there are things which we don't fully know about God, and there are some

things that are really not revealed in Scripture.

But don't worry about it. Don't worry about the unknown. We are children of

God, and we are called simply to trust in God and to trust in the salvation

that He has provided through His Son.

Now, I want to talk with you about what we know about God and what has been

revealed to us in Scripture.

There are seven things.

What do we know about God? Well, from Scripture, we learn that He is our Creator.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He brought everything

into existence by the power of His Word.

He spoke and it came to be.

But furthermore, God preserves His creation by giving us daily bread,

our food and clothing, and all that we need.

We attribute creation to God the Father, the first person of the Trinity.

Second, what do we know about sin? We know that we have a sinful nature because

Adam and Eve rebelled in the garden.

They ate the forbidden fruit. A sinful nature was passed down to us from our

parents and we pass it down to our children.

Because of our sinful nature, we cannot save ourselves and we cannot appease

the wrath of God by what we do.

The prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament lesson for today confessed that he is

sinful by nature. He said, Woe to me, for I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips.

And so also for us, we confess this morning to our almighty God,

our merciful Father, that I am a poor, miserable sinner.

We have sinned against him in thought, word, and deed.

Jesus said to Nicodemus, The flesh gives birth to flesh, and we justly deserve

his temporal and eternal punishment.

Third, what do we know about God as our Redeemer? We know from Scripture that

Jesus is our one and only Savior.

He became incarnate and was born of the Virgin Mary. He is both God and man.

He is both divine and human.

He lived a perfect life in our place. He died upon the cross for our sins.

He redeemed us by his blood from sin, death, and the devil.

And on the third day, he rose from the dead. He is the second person of eternity in human flesh.

Fourth, what do we know about the Holy Spirit? Well, from Scripture,

we learn that the Holy Spirit sanctifies us, that is, makes us holy.

The Holy Spirit gave you a spiritual birth, a birth from above, a birth from God.

The Holy Spirit has given you salvation by means of water in the Spirit when you were baptized.

The Holy Spirit also helps us to love one another, helps us to do good works

for the sake of the neighbor.

And he works in us the fruit of love, joy, and peace toward one another.

The Holy Spirit is a third person of the Trinity.

Fifth, how do we know? What do we know about the forgiveness of sins?

From Scripture, we learn that there is the forgiveness of sins on account of Christ.

In Christ, God removes our sin as far as the east is from the west,

and he remembers it no more.

The prophet Isaiah was forgiven.

A hot coal from the altar touched his lips.

And the seraphim said, Behold, this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away.

Your sin atoned for.

And so also for you. This morning you heard the words, I forgive you all your sins.

Furthermore, you hear the gospel preached from this pulpit. A hot coal from

the altar will not touch your mouth, but our Lord's body and blood will touch your mouth.

And it's given to you for the forgiveness of sins.

Six. What do we know about God? From scripture, we know that God is love.

Jesus said to Nicodemus, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten

son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

God loves you. God loves me. God loves everyone.

How did God show his love to the world? God the Father loved the world in this way.

By sending his only begotten son to be our savior.

Christ's atoning sacrifice upon the cross is true love in action.

Romans chapter 5 says, God demonstrated his own love toward us in that while

Romans 5 · chapter mention

we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

And 1 John chapter 4 says, And this is love, not that we love God,

1 John 4 · chapter mention

but that he loved us and sent his son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sin.

God's love is not an emotion, but it is an action.

His love is self-giving. It's sacrificial love on our behalf and for our salvation.

Finally, how are we saved? We are saved by God's grace through faith in Christ and not by our works.

Whoever believes in Jesus will not perish and will have everlasting life.

Reject Jesus and you reject a God who loves. Reject Jesus and you reject the

one true God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Reject Jesus and you reject salvation by grace through faith in Christ.

Reject Jesus as all other world religions do. and you believe in a God of wrath

and anger whose anger must be appeased by our works.

So don't worry about the things that we don't know and are not given to know.

Don't worry about that. Rather, hold on to what you know from Scripture,

namely that God is our creator, that he forgives our sins on account of Christ.

We are saved through faith in Christ, and God sustains our life on earth with

daily bread, food, and clothing.

He blesses us with life, family, and church.

He guides us. He loves us. We also love and care for others.

We look forward to heaven when we will fully know God face to face.

Who is the only true God? The only true God is the Triune God,

the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Three distinct persons, yet one divine being, the Holy Trinity. This is a mystery.

We don't fully understand it, but that's fine.

We are called to trust in our one true God and to trust in the salvation that

he has provided for us through his Son.

Our glory be to God the Father who created us and who gives us our daily bread.

Our glory be to God the Son who redeemed us with his blood and through whom

we have the forgiveness of sins.

Glory be to the Holy Spirit who has given us faith in Christ and who preserves

this faith with his precious gospel for from him and through him and to him

are all things to him be glory now and forever Amen.