God is Triune

Father, we ask that the Holy Spirit would move with might and power and deep conviction into our lives.

Father, your Son took on flesh, becoming fully human while remaining fully God.

He lived amongst us, and he died on the cross, and he died as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

And then he rose, Father, from the dead, triumphing over sin and over death and over hell itself.

And Father, we know that he did this not just to save us, but to reveal you.

So Father, help us not to treat with contempt that which your Son did at a great cost to himself.

So Father, we ask that you help us to know you, to love you, to know about you, to trust you, to know, Father, that there is but one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God but three persons,

that you desire us to know this for our great good and for our salvation.

So Father, do a wonderful work in our lives this morning, and we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

Thank you.

So, eventually, when I talk to people, they find out I'm a Christian, and we end up getting into maybe, you know, often when they find out I'm a Christian, nothing happens at all.

They just, oh yeah, you're a Christian.

It's the same thing as, I don't know, you like the Ottawa Senators, and it just, excuse me, the conversation just moves on.

But sometimes, at some point in other words, they'll get into a bit of a conversation with me about some of the problems they have with the Christian idea of God.

And the most common problem they have with the Christian idea of God or the Christian teaching of God is, of course, the problem of evil.

How is it that there could be a God who's all-powerful and all-loving and there still be evil?

The other thing which they often will bring up is the whole doctrine of the Trinity, that the Trinity is, well, there's a variety of problems.

I'm not going to look at the problem of evil today.

I probably will talk about it when we either talk later on about God being all-powerful or God being love,

because those are some of the sermons that we'll be doing over the next few weeks.

But we will talk this morning about the idea that God is three persons but one God.

And people will tell me, George, this is a complicated idea.

It's illogical.

It's needless.

It's confusing.

One plus one plus one never adds up to one.

It just doesn't make any sense.

Why don't you make the idea a little bit simpler?

It just sounds, George, as if it's either the type of thing that maybe, you know, Constantine and the church hierarchy were doing some type of a power play,

so they came up with this idea for political reasons.

You know, either that or it's, you know, all these crazed, sex-starved monks coming up with crazy types of ideas.

And now you guys just continue to believe it.

It makes no sense.

You should make it simpler.

And there's a variety of other things like this, so that it might be that it's, in fact, an offense to God to say that any mere human being,

this would be what many of our Muslim friends, for instance, or Jewish friends would say to us,

that it's a profound offense and blasphemous, in fact, to actually even think that any human being could be God or would even claim to be God.

So why is it that Christians believe this?

Well, just very, very simply, it has nothing to do with Constantine.

It has nothing to do with politics in the Roman Empire.

It has nothing to do with the power of the church.

It has nothing to do with sex-crazed monks, nor does it have anything to do with just people wanting to be more complicated philosophers.

The entire reason we believe in the Trinity is because of Jesus.

Very, very simply, very, very plainly, it all comes back to Jesus.

And, in fact, actually, once you understand that it's because of Jesus that we had to put the Christians trying to understand,

just being really attentive to who he is and what he said and what he did,

that we come up with these other creeds and stuff that try to put some extra language around it.

It's all just really everything in the doctrine of the Trinity, in a sense, is tethered to Jesus,

is anchored by Jesus, and grows out of what Jesus taught.

So what I'd like to do, I'm going to do two sort of types of things this morning.

Hopefully, I have enough time to do both of them.

First of all, I want to sort of just give you three simple little things about Jesus that, in effect, if you get that,

there'd only be one other one that if we did another sermon on the Incarnation, you'd add a fourth one,

which I'll tell you after I've done the third one.

But basically, everything about the thinking of the Trinity comes out of these three simple things that Jesus taught and did.

And then the second part is we'll just reflect a little bit about why, actually,

rather than being illogical, irrational, and overly complicated,

it's actually profoundly good news for every one of us and worthy of meditation.

So what's the first thing?

The first one thing actually isn't very complicated or controversial.

Jesus taught that there is only one God.

Jesus taught that there is only one God.

Now, we're going to look, if you turn in your Bibles,

we're going to be looking at a lot of Bible verses this morning.

And actually, one of the things that we're going to do is this.

All of the texts, with sort of one exception at the end,

and then another little exception that you'll see in a moment,

I'm going to take all of my examples just from the Gospel of Mark.

In a sense, what I'm going to do is,

not that I'm trying to fight anybody,

but I'm going to tie, in a sense, as Christians,

we're going to tie both of our hands behind our back to defend this doctrine.

And why?

Because many of our friends,

there are many of our friends who completely and utterly would discount the Gospel of John.

They would say that the Gospel of John was written way too late,

and so it's obviously just an invention by people who no longer knew Jesus.

Now, I actually subscribe to a bit of a minority position among scholars.

I think there's really very good reasons to believe that every single thing in the New Testament

was written before the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70,

and so that everything in the New Testament was not far too late for there to be still many eyewitnesses around.

But we're going to take that.

We won't talk about John.

And then there's many other people who say that, in fact, there was Jesus' teaching,

and then it very quickly got confused and perverted.

And the person who perverted the teaching of Jesus was this man by the name of Paul.

And so that if you could go back in time before Paul,

you'd see that Jesus didn't teach these types of things because Paul confused everything.

And by the same type of token, they'd say you can't look at Jude, you can't look at James,

you can't look at Hebrews, you can't look at either of the epistles by Peter.

And so what that leaves is that they'll sort of credit, often some of our credits,

Mark, Matthew, and Luke, but especially Mark, because just about everybody,

actually up until about 200 years ago, most people thought Matthew was the first Gospel that was written.

But for the last 200 years, even the most skeptical scholars probably think that the Gospel of Mark

was the very, very first biography of Jesus that was written, the very, very earliest.

And it's the briefest.

So what we're going to do is we're just going to look at Mark.

We're going to tie not only both of our hands behind our back,

we're going to tie up one foot so that we have to hop around and try to defend it.

If you're right-footed, on your left foot.

If you're left-footed, on your right foot.

And that's what we're going to do.

We're just going to look at Mark just to see, in fact,

if these three key ideas that the Trinity grows out of can be found in the Gospel of Mark.

The first, the earliest eyewitness testimony to what Jesus said and what he taught.

So the first idea is that Jesus taught that there's only one God.

Well, if you look at Mark chapter 12, verses 28 to 34, we'll see Jesus teach this very clearly.

Mark 12:28–34

We'll just look at one verse because it's not a controversial text, but I want you to see it.

And it goes like this.

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another.

That's Jesus and the scribes and the Pharisees.

And seeing that Jesus answered them well, he asked Jesus,

which commandment is the most important of all?

Which is the most important commandment?

And then Jesus answered.

And what he's about to answer, our Jewish friends will tell us,

that he answers with the Shema.

I don't know if I pronounced it correctly.

That's close enough.

The Shema.

And it is the central piece of Jewish thought about God.

It is the central, it is like their creed that there's only one God.

And Jesus said it's the most important commandment.

Listen to what he says.

The most important is,

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul

and with all your mind and with all your strength.

And then Jesus adds a second one,

saying the second is this,

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

There is no other commandment greater than these.

And the scribe said to him,

You're right, teacher.

You have truly said that he is one and that there is no other beside him.

And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding,

with all the strength,

and to love one's neighbor as oneself

is much more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.

So Jesus very clearly accepted the Jewish creed that there is only one God.

Now, the second thing is that Jesus taught and modeled that,

but just by the way here,

you're going to now notice some differences between how I summarize my point

and what's on the screen.

And the reason is,

is that one of the ways I do my sermons when there's an 8 and 10 o'clock

is I create an email that gives the points to people.

And then to help refresh myself,

I write the points down by hand in my book.

It's a way to help me remember the flow of the talk.

I forgot my phone at home,

so I have no email.

So I'm using an earlier version of my points,

but my words will be very similar to the words which are up there.

But here's the second one.

That Jesus taught that he is different from the Father.

Or another way to put it,

is that the Father and Jesus are not the same.

That's what Jesus taught,

and he modeled it many, many, many times.

I'm just going to give you two particular examples.

So if you look at Mark chapter 14, verses 32 to 36,

Mark 14:32–36

this is a very poignant scene.

Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane,

and he knows that he's going to be captured very soon by soldiers,

and he knows that he's going to be convicted falsely,

and he knows he's going to die on the cross,

and he knows all of these things.

And so, you know, here this is actually a really important type of testimony

because it captures Jesus at his most vulnerable and his most fragile,

and see how he talks.

And they went to a place called Gethsemane,

and Jesus said to his disciples,

Sit here while I pray.

And he took with him Peter and James and John

and began to be greatly distressed and troubled.

And he said to them,

My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.

Remain here and watch.

And going a little farther,

he fell on the ground and prayed

that if it were possible,

the hour might pass from him.

Here, listen to this.

And he said,

Abba, Father,

all things are possible for you.

Remove this cup from me,

yet not what I will,

but what you will.

Very clearly, he's talking to his father, Abba.

And it's a very different...

He's obviously talking to a different person.

He's not saying he's the same as the father.

This becomes also very clear

if you just sort of turn your page

in most of your Bibles

and look at Mark chapter 15,

Mark 15:33–34

verses 33 to 34.

And now we see Jesus hanging on the cross,

and he's dying.

And here's what he says.

And when the sixth hour had come,

there was darkness over the whole land

until the ninth hour.

And at the ninth hour,

Jesus cried with a loud voice,

Eloi, Eloi,

Lema sabachthani,

which means,

My God,

my God,

why have you forsaken me?

Very clearly,

he's talking to God.

He's not talking to himself.

He's saying that God

has forsaken him.

He's making a very clear distinction

between him and God.

So here's how we've seen so far.

Jesus teaches very clearly

that there is only one God.

And he teaches very clearly

that he is not the Father,

that the Father and him

are different.

But here now,

there's a third pillar,

the third anchor point,

so to speak,

of the doctrine,

out of which,

which tethers the doctrine,

of which the doctrine

of the Trinity grows out of,

is that Jesus taught

that he is God,

the Son of God.

That Jesus taught

that he is God,

the Son of God.

Now,

at this point in time,

often when I say this to people,

they go,

whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,

whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,

time out.

And many people

who might not know

very much about the Bible

know this one thing,

especially when it comes to this.

They'll say,

but didn't Jesus say

that the Father

is greater than him?

Therefore,

he can't be God.

Didn't Jesus say that?

Now,

it's very interesting

because often

the very same people

who will tell me

you can't trust

the Gospel of John

or et cetera, et cetera,

what they actually do

is they quote John to me.

So if they quote John to you,

something like that,

you'll say,

well, okay,

whoa, whoa, whoa,

that's a good point.

Let's look at it.

But actually,

what they've actually

just allowed you

to tell them

is dynamite

that blows up

their position.

If you turn

in your Bibles

to John chapter 14,

John 14 · chapter mention

John chapter 14,

verses 28 to 33,

we'll see

where Jesus says this.

And actually,

if you go back,

I mean,

John's Gospel

is just filled

with teaching

about Jesus being God.

And John chapter 14

John 14 · chapter mention

and 15 and 16 and 17,

this is Jesus speaking

in the upper room

to his disciples.

Once again,

he knows that he's

going to be captured

that evening.

He knows he's going

to die on the cross

the next day.

And so it's a very

intimate final words

that Jesus has

with his disciples.

But listen to

what it says here.

You heard me say

to you,

I am going away

and I will come to you.

If you loved me,

you would have rejoiced

because I am going

to the Father

for the Father

is greater than I.

And now I have told you

before it takes place

so that it was

take place,

you may believe.

I will no longer

talk much with you

for the ruler

of this world

is coming.

He has no claim

on me,

but I do

as the Father

has commanded me

so that the world

may know

that I love the Father.

Rise,

let us go from here.

Now,

here's the dynamite

in the text.

In fact,

you might want to talk,

put it up on the screen,

is that Jesus

is teaching here

that he and the Father

have the same nature.

Now,

this is not often

seen by us,

but I,

many of you know,

if you don't know,

I'm about to tell you,

I have nine children.

I can only father

human beings.

I didn't father

nine children,

three puppy dogs,

two cats,

and five guppies.

A member of our congregation,

a couple in our congregation,

Laurie and Andrea,

just this week

gave birth

to a healthy baby girl.

Woo-hoo!

And we all knew

that whatever was going

to come out of

Andrea's womb

was going to be human

because humans

beget humans.

Cats,

cats,

dogs,

dogs,

guppies,

guppies.

That's just the way it is.

Whatever I beget

is going to be

of the same nature of me.

So actually,

all of those times

in the New Testament

where God calls,

like those earlier things,

Abba,

Father,

where he's talking

to his father,

he's making a claim

that God and him

have the same nature.

Now,

usually those objecting

to this,

at this point in time,

they don't quite know

what to say

because they thought

they had the

mic drop moment.

They made their point,

they drop it,

and we move on.

But this is the first

of several pieces

of evidence

that Jesus,

in fact,

this is from John,

but other people

usually bring this up.

I don't have to bring

it up myself.

But let's go back

to Mark.

So the first part

of three is

that Jesus taught

that he and the Father

have the same nature.

The next one is

that Jesus acted

as only God can act

with demons and sickness.

go back to the Gospel

of Mark

and we'll see

just an example

of each of them

that are very,

very simple.

Mark 1,

Mark 1:25–26

verses 25 to 26.

There's a person

with a demon,

but Jesus rebuked him

saying,

be silent

and come out of him.

And the unclean spirit,

the demon,

convulsing the man

and crying out

with a loud voice,

came out of him.

And if you just sort of

look down to Mark

Mark 1:41–42

chapter 1,

verses 41 to 42,

we'll see here

Jesus dealing with

somebody who is sick,

who has leprosy.

Moved with pity,

Jesus stretched out

his hand and touched

him and said to him,

I will be clean.

He's been asked

to heal him.

I will be clean.

And immediately

the leprosy left him

and he was made clean.

Now once again,

this doesn't seem

like much,

but it's something

that only God can do.

You and I

have all prayed

that somebody

would be healed.

And what we in a sense

are expecting

is that I say,

Father or Jesus,

please heal this person.

And what we're hoping

is that in a sense

the Father,

Jesus hears it

and Jesus doesn't,

the Father doesn't say,

okay, well I'm going

to get the right medicine

or I'm going to ask

somebody else to do it.

No, what does the Father do?

He says,

demon be gone.

He says,

be healed.

So you see here,

Jesus doesn't pray.

He acts exactly like God,

but he doesn't sort of

play act like God.

He acts like God

and what only God

can do happens.

The demon is gone.

The leprosy is gone

by a simple act

of Jesus' will.

Then we also see

that Jesus forgives sin,

but only God

can forgive sin.

It's a bit of a longer text,

but if you look at Mark 2,

Mark 2:1–12

verses 1 to 12,

we see this.

Jesus forgives sin,

but only God

can forgive sin.

Here's how the text goes.

Actually,

if we skip down

clear to verse 5.

So basically,

there's a,

you know,

they're all in a room

hearing Jesus teach.

They want to bring,

their friends want to bring

this man to be healed.

They can't get through,

so they make a hole

in the roof.

They drop the man through.

And here we take it up,

the story at verse 5.

And when Jesus saw their faith,

he said to the paralytic,

Son,

your sins are forgiven.

Son,

your sins are forgiven.

Jesus has never met

this man before.

This young man

has done nothing

against Jesus.

Only one person

can only,

I can't come up and say,

I forgive you

of all your sins.

You'd go,

what?

You can't forgive?

That's just,

that's what crazy people say.

You know,

that's what the people

who mutter to themselves

and wear the same clothes

for five weeks in a row

and wander the streets

of downtown Ottawa,

they say things like that.

Not somebody like this.

You can't just say,

I forgive your sins.

I might be able

to forgive Chris

if he does something to me.

Daniel might be able

to forgive me

if I do something to Daniel.

But no human being

can just get up

and forgive the sins

of another person.

That's only something

God can do.

And that's what Jesus says here.

Look at it again,

verse 6, 5,

Son, your sins are forgiven.

Now some of the scribes,

verse 6,

were sitting there

questioning their hearts.

Why does this man

speak like that?

He is blaspheming.

Who can forgive sins

but God alone?

And immediately,

Jesus, perceiving in his spirit

that they questioned

within themselves,

said to them,

Why do you question

these things in your heart?

Which is easier to say

to the paralytic,

your sons are forgiven,

or to say,

rise,

take up your bed and walk?

But that you may know

that the Son of Man,

that is Jesus,

has authority on earth

to forgive sins.

He said to the paralytic,

I say to you,

rise,

pick up your bed

and go home.

And the young man rose

and immediately picked up

his bed

and went out before them

so that they were all amazed

and glorified God,

saying,

We have never seen

anything like this.

Now, obviously,

there's no logical connection

between being able

to heal somebody

and forgive sin.

but there's a very profound

spiritual,

theological,

and philosophical

connection to it.

Because once again,

we see that Jesus does

what only God can do.

Only God can say,

Paralysis,

be gone.

Health,

replace what was causing

the paralysis.

I bestow it.

Only God can do that.

And in fact,

you can't actually

necessarily tell

whether or not

God has forgiven your sins.

That's in a sense

an invisible thing.

But this is a very visible thing

and it's obviously

a very, very good test

that it vindicates

and validates

what Jesus says.

I mean,

at the end of the day,

the reason that

there are any Christians

in the world

is because the death

of Jesus upon the cross

in fulfillment

of centuries

of prophecies,

in fulfillment

of centuries

of preparation

in terms of

sacrifices

and topology

and prophecies

and poetry

and wisdom

and all of this

and also in the context

of Jesus saying

that he's going to die

in a particular way

and he's going to rise

on the third day

and Jesus' death

upon his cross

and his resurrection,

the resurrection

vindicates

what Jesus says.

It vindicates

who he is.

It vindicates

his teaching.

And this,

in a sense,

is just giving us

a bit of a foretaste

that God,

the Son of God,

Jesus is going

to do something

to vindicate

all of our trust

in his words

and in his work.

And what we clearly

see here

is that Jesus claims

to be able

to forgive sins,

something that only

God can do.

And fourthly,

God instituted

the Sabbath

and its rules.

Very clear.

You read the Old Testament,

what our Jewish friends

call the Torah

or the Tanakh.

God creates

the Sabbath,

God institutes it,

God sets the rules.

What does Jesus do?

He says he is

the Lord of the Sabbath

and can change

the rules.

Only God can do that.

Only God.

Look at it,

it's Mark chapter 4

Mark 4:27–28

verses 27 to 28.

Mark chapter 4

Mark 4:27–28

verses 27 to 28.

Maybe I have

the wrong text

which would just be

very, very, very...

Mark 2, sorry,

I can't read

my own writing.

Mark chapter 2

Mark 2:27–28

verses 27 to 28.

And it goes like this.

And he said to them,

they're having a debate

about what Jesus'

disciples were doing,

and Jesus said to them,

the Sabbath was made

for man,

not man for the Sabbath.

So the Son of Man,

referring to himself,

is Lord,

even of the Sabbath.

He takes the prerogative

of God

in terms of the Sabbath.

Jesus acted like

only God can act

when he stilled the storm.

Jesus acted like

only God can act

when he stilled the storm.

Look at Mark chapter 4

Mark 4:39–41

verses 39 to 41.

They're in a storm

with the disciples.

It's a terrible,

terrible storm.

They think they're all

going to die.

And in verse 39,

and he awoke

and rebuked the wind

and said to the sea,

peace,

be still.

And the wind ceased

and there was

a great calm.

And he said to them,

why are you so afraid?

Have you still no faith?

And they were filled

with great fear

and said to one another,

who then is this

that even the wind

and the sea obey him?

Only God

can speak to the wind

and tell it to stop

and it stops.

To take the waves,

even if all the wind

and all the current

all of a sudden

was to die,

those of you

who've been on water

know that it takes

a long time

for the waves

to be still.

Only God

can actually tell

the wind to stop

and the waves to stop

and for there

to be calm.

Jesus didn't pray

that God would do it,

he merely said it

and it happened.

Only God

can do that.

Jesus claimed

that he would rule

from God's throne.

Jesus claimed

that he would rule

from God's throne.

Mark chapter 14

Mark 14:61–64

verses 61 to 64.

Mark 14

Mark 14:61–64

verses 61 to 64.

Now this is also

very significant

because he also does,

first of all,

he's doing this

while he's under oath

and he's on trial

for his life

and he's under oath

and hear how he responds.

So they say to him,

verse 61,

but he remained silent

and made no answer.

Again,

the high priest said,

are you the Christ,

the son of the blessed?

Because they were

devout Jews,

they're not going to say

the divine name,

they're actually saying

in a sense,

are you the son of Yahweh?

And back then,

our culture

is completely

and utterly confused

about what it means

to be a human being.

And that's

a whole other sermon

that ultimately

goes back

for the arguments

in favor of abortion

that ultimately

make us all now

very confused

about what a human being is

or what a human being isn't,

what a person is

and what a person isn't.

Jewish people weren't,

they understood

that if he was

the son of the blessed one,

he is God.

And they asked him

that directly.

And Jesus said,

and here,

if you go back

to the book of Exodus,

in chapter three,

where God reveals himself,

he reveals himself

as I am.

And if you read

the Greek version

of the Hebrew text,

you see that Jesus says

that he is,

I am.

He says,

I am God

to them

in question

as to whether he is

the son of the blessed one.

He says,

I am.

And then to emphasize

that he said,

and you will see

the son of man

seated at the right hand

of the power

and coming with the clouds

on high of heaven.

And here,

it doesn't sort of mean

like,

you know,

right now,

Daniel's,

you guys are all,

you know,

you folks over here

are sitting at my right,

but I'm obviously,

no, no, no, no.

The picture is

of a co-regent

of a very,

very big throne.

And that in fact

that there's God

on a throne

and right on the throne

with him

at his right hand

is Jesus.

So he pronounces

the divine name.

He says,

I am,

I am God.

And he says,

I'm actually,

you're going to see me.

I will be sitting

on God's throne

with God.

And how do they respond?

And the high priest

tore his garments

and said,

what further witnesses

do we need?

You have heard

his blasphemy.

What is your decision?

And they all

condemned him

as deserving

death.

Jesus claimed

that he was God,

that he would rule

from God's throne.

And finally,

and I'm going to leave

Mark

for the first time,

look at the last text,

Jesus accepted

people's worship

as he taught

the Trinity.

Jesus accepted

people's worship

as he taught

the Trinity.

Look at Matthew

Matthew 28:17–20

chapter 28

verses 17 to 20.

So I've gone away

from Mark,

but I've gone to

another one

that even skeptics

will acknowledge.

In fact,

actually up until

about the year 1800,

this was viewed

as the earliest text.

But around the 1800s

it started to move

towards being Mark.

And here's what it is.

It's after the

resurrection of Jesus.

He's died.

He's risen from the dead.

Verse 17,

And when they saw him,

they worshipped him,

but some doubted.

Now just sort of

pause here about this.

It's an accurate

translation,

but it's a little bit

misleading.

Now,

I've been speaking

for 27 minutes.

I don't know how many

have I put to sleep.

I'm not asking for a test,

but I'm sure I've put

some of you to sleep.

I don't know how many

of you were worshipping.

Why?

Because in a sense,

whatever worshipping

you're doing is going on

behind your eyeballs

and in your heart.

But that's not what

he's referring to

because then how would

he know whether

anybody's worshipping him?

What they mean is,

they fall on their face

prostrate.

They do FaceTime

in front of Jesus.

That's what the word

worship here means.

It's not only

bowing low,

but actually on the ground.

They're,

think,

on the ground.

And the doubted

is that there's

some of them there,

they're not,

like,

should it be like this?

Should I stand?

Like,

that's the doubting.

Like,

what do you do?

Do you go full face

worship?

So that's what they're seeing.

If you were there

with a time machine,

you went back in time

with a time machine,

you'd see Jesus appear

to all of these disciples

after he's risen

from the dead.

bang,

huge number of them

right on their face

worshiping him.

And Jesus doesn't rebuke them.

You go look at the book of Acts.

There's a time in the book of Acts

where Paul and Barnabas,

Paul performs a mighty miracle,

and all of a sudden

in the local dialect,

they said,

good grief,

the gods have come down

and they go

and they get their pagan priest

and they come and want to start

offering sacrifices

to Paul and Barnabas.

And Paul and Barnabas

run and say,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no.

You have to leave

all these idols.

I'm not God.

Don't worship me.

But here Jesus accepts it.

And then listen to what he does

in the context of accepting worship.

Verse 18,

And Jesus came and said to them,

All authority in heaven

and on earth

has been given to me.

Go therefore

and make disciples

of all nations,

baptizing them.

Here's the key.

In the name,

singular.

Not in the names

of the Father

and of the Son

and of the Holy Spirit,

but in the name,

singular.

And for Jewish

and Christian thought,

the name represents

identity.

It represents,

in a sense,

the whole person,

the whole nature

and person of God.

And so,

in a sense,

when he says,

in the name,

singular,

of the Father

and the Son

and of the Holy Spirit,

we see here

in microcosm

the building blocks

of all of the creeds

on the doctrine

of the Trinity.

There is but one God

who exists

as three persons,

Father, Son,

and Holy Spirit.

All in the context

of receiving worship,

the claim of all authority

in heaven and earth

being given to him.

And then you continue on,

verse 20,

teaching them to observe

all that I have commanded you

as if he is God.

And then this,

and behold,

I am with you

always to the ends

of the age.

Only God can be omnipresent.

Why do Christians

believe in the Trinity?

It's not because

of sexed,

crazed,

incel-type monks

or Constantine

having a power play.

It's all because

of Jesus.

And if you just add

a fourth thing

that Jesus was fully human,

if I was to do

a fourth thing,

which I don't have time for,

and it just showed

how he was tired,

he cried,

he slept,

he had to eat,

all those types of things,

you'd have all

of the building blocks

of all of the doctrine

of the Trinity

and the Incarnation.

And the whole history

of people who doubt it

or try to go into heresy

are all people

who lose track

of these things

and can't account

for Jesus.

And I've just used Mark.

Didn't even go into

Matthew, Luke,

John, Paul,

Hebrews.

Just Mark.

So here's the thing

that's very,

very important.

The doctrine

is tethered to Jesus,

it's anchored in Jesus,

it grows from Jesus.

It's really just merely

trying to honor Jesus

and what he taught.

And here's the thing

with all of these teachings.

What you cannot say

after hearing this,

in this argument,

most people think

it goes back

to C.S. Lewis,

but Lewis learned it

from Athanasius

1,700 some odd years ago.

What you cannot say

after hearing this

is that Jesus was

merely a prophet

or a good man.

Because we would all agree

that if in fact

Jesus knew

that this was not true,

then he's a liar.

He's not a good man.

He's a deceiver.

He cannot be a prophet.

He cannot be a good man.

He cannot be

a trustworthy teacher.

He is a liar

and a deceiver.

And he deserves

whatever punishment

he gets.

I got a scamming

phone message

the other day

claiming that I had

to give information

about my bank account

and I text in the back,

I hope you all

go to jail.

That was my response.

I hope you all

go to jail.

And you all think,

way to go.

I'm going to do that too.

Like that's the thing to do.

The other thing is,

and we all,

we come to downtown Ottawa,

you go wandering around,

you're going to see

lots of crazy people

who think that

there are all sorts

of crazy things,

who hear from God,

who are God.

So Jesus either

thinks he's God

and he isn't,

and then he's a crazy man.

And you know what?

Nobody should worship

a crazy man.

A crazy man needs help.

Or he's a liar.

The only other option is,

and this is what

Christians believe,

is that it's all true,

that he is in fact

the Lord.

That God himself

has come into

his creation

to do what only God

can do

to make himself known

and to redeem

human beings.

But some of you

might say,

George,

that's still so complicated

and all of that

type of stuff.

Like, you know,

George, okay,

those are all

very interesting points

and I can sort of

see how it is

that you Christians

think this,

but George,

come on,

good grief,

compared to just

some other religions

that just very clearly

teach that there's

only one God

or other types

of religions

that teach that

all things are God.

I mean,

those are just,

they're simple,

they're more plausible,

they're obviously

more likely to be true.

Well,

that's true.

They are vastly

more plausible

to be true.

But here's the problem,

and it's a very big problem.

This,

my wife and I,

we married when we were 13

and so coming up in the fall

we'll be married 40 years.

That's how we managed

to be our young age

and still be married

for such a long time.

And if you,

if you ask my wife

if she really fully

understands me,

she'd say,

no.

Some things I understand,

but there's things

about George

that are just a mystery.

Like,

I just,

I still haven't figured

these things out

about George.

And,

you know,

we all know what it's like

to try to even just

understand another human being.

Or actually even

understanding ourselves.

Like,

very,

very shallow people

think they understand

themselves.

But once you actually

get going,

like,

you realize there's

just complexities

in any human being

that we don't really

understand ourselves.

And I,

and I'm,

I've been living

with myself

for a long time.

And I've been,

you know,

with,

I've known Louise

a long,

long time

and I,

I still don't

fully understand her.

I can't get my mind

completely around her.

The only way

that I could get my mind

completely around her

is if I'm more

than human.

But you see,

that's exactly

the type of false

step we're taking

with God.

You see,

if God

is easy

to understand,

it means

he can't be God.

it means

that he's less

than a human being.

We can have

a pretty good

understanding

of a leaf.

Leaf is way less

than a human being.

Or a bug,

way less than

a human being.

But we can't have

a very good understanding

of even a creature

the same as us,

a person.

Only someone

greater

than a human

could have

the knowledge

of a human

the way we have

the knowledge

of a bug.

And so if we claim

that we have

that knowledge of God,

you know what

that's actually showing?

It's showing

that that understanding

of God

cannot possibly

be true.

I don't mean

to offend,

but it cannot

possibly be true.

Your conception

of God

is of a being

less than you,

not greater,

no matter how much

you add worship

to it.

And out of all

of the systems

of philosophy,

out of all

of the systems

of theology,

out of all

of the ideologies,

and out of all

of the religions,

there is only

one option

that portrays

God

as something

greater than

our mind.

In fact,

there's only

one teacher,

only one faith,

that is even

remotely

in the correct

direction

that if there

is a God,

what that God

must be like.

Now, of course,

this doesn't prove

the Christian

conception of God

is correct,

but there's no

other alternatives.

alternatives.

There are no

other alternatives.

Next week in the

blog, I'll give you

a suggestion of

some books to

help you understand

the doctrine of

the Trinity,

but you can at

least see that

while this idea

of plausibility

is very plausible

to us,

hence its

plausibility,

it in fact is a

witness against

us that those

other conceptions

of God cannot

possibly be true.

There has to be

something about

understanding a

being who is

infinitely greater

than you,

because if you

think about it

for a second,

the difference

between you and

a leaf is a

finite difference.

The difference

between you and

a bug is a

finite distance.

The distance

between you and

God is an

infinite distance.

And so it is

that there must

be, that isn't

that the doctrine

of the Trinity

is irrational,

but it's actually

opening up to

the idea that

God in fact is

vastly greater

than you,

that it's as

if you were in

a subterranean

cavern and

they bring you

into a cavern

and all you

have is your

cell phone and

you can't even

use the flashlight

thing, all you

can do is turn

it on and all

you can do is

get the tiniest

little bit of

an idea,

but you just

have a sense

from that and

from the sound

that you are in

a huge space.

And occasionally

if you look,

you see things

that are wonderful

and beautiful and

you'd be filled

with awe and

filled with fear

because you're

in a tiny

light in a

huge space

and that is

exactly what it's

like with us

with God.

Our minds are

tiny and God

is vast and

he reveals true

truth to us even

though it in a

sense is far

bigger than our

minds.

I need to draw

this to a close,

but this is really

important good news.

The final point,

only God can

reveal himself and

only God can

provide the way

to himself.

If you think

about it for a

second,

if you sit

beside,

after church

you try to

have a conversation

with somebody

and they refuse

to even talk

to you,

even look at you,

even answer any

of your questions,

you can't know

them.

You need that

other person to

reveal something

about themselves

for you to know

them.

And so it is

with God.

Unless God

reveals himself,

we cannot know

him.

And at the same

time,

that only God,

if there is this

infinite God,

the only way who

can provide a way

towards God,

to God,

has to be God

himself.

It can't come

from a prophet

or philosophy

or technology

or technique

or spirituality.

It has to come

from God

or it can't

possibly be real.

Only the infinite

can provide a way

for the finite

to connect

to the infinite.

And that's what

we hear with

Jesus about

the gospel.

And it's not

just,

I mean,

here's the thing,

I mean,

things about this,

which I've run

out of time,

but they're so

precious.

Nothing grounds

the dignity

of human being

more than

the doctrine

of the Trinity

and this idea

that God,

the Son of God,

took on flesh

and lived amongst

us.

To understand

that God himself

could take into

himself our human

nature,

that he would walk

amongst us,

gives us most

profound dignity

to every human

being that we

could meet.

It doesn't matter

if they're from

China or from

Africa,

from North America,

it doesn't matter

if they're from

the far north,

from the Middle East,

that every God,

the Son of God,

took on flesh

and walked amongst

us and every

human being then

has this profound

dignity as a

result of the

doctrine of the

incarnation.

And that we see

that God didn't

just sort of reveal

himself in a way

that only smart

people can understand

or that only very

poetic and subtle

people can understand,

but just as a

young child

gets a true

sense of a human

being,

you can read even

the youngest child

stories about

Jesus and they

can start to

understand and

know him.

And even the

youngest child,

in fact,

young children have

an easier time of

understanding that

God loved you so

much that he came

to seek you and

find you and die

on the cross to

make you his child

because he loves

you and that is a

story that even

the simplest child

can understand,

but the most

profound mystic

intellectual poet,

musician will

never exhaust,

but will also

understand.

And God does

not just sort of

reveal himself in

a way that he

can stand back

aloof, but he

comes among us

in the midst of

our mess and he

comes amongst us

in the midst of

our mess not to

condemn us, but to

die on the cross

and to provide a

way, the way,

by which we could

return to him.

You know, there

have been many

people, and I'm

not taking plot

shots, this is a

common thing about

all over the

world, but I'm

sure there are

many low-wage

workers in

North America

and many small

business owners in

North America who

wonder if high-paid

bureaucrats and

politicians effortlessly

make decisions about

lockdowns and throw

them out of work and

put their business out

of business.

And they wonder if

these people know

what it's like to be a

low-wage worker.

Do they know what

it's like to be a

small business owner?

And they have very

good reasons to ask

that question.

But only in the

gospel do we know

that God knows what

it's like for you to

be a human being.

He is not a God

aloof from your

mess.

He came in the

midst of human

mess.

And he will come in

the midst of your

mess.

He died bearing

your mess for

your mess so

that you could

be the adopted

child of God

when you put your

faith in Christ.

He comes in to

know us so that

we might know God.

Let's stand.

Bow our heads in

prayer.

Father, we confess

before you that we

just very casually

think that our

minds and our

minds formed by our

culture is the

measure of all

things.

And if you don't

meet the criteria of

our mind that

somehow that's your

problem, Father, we

don't even recognize

our profound pride

and arrogance.

And so, Father, we

thank you for your

word.

We thank you,

Father, that we have

a chance to gather

around your world and

to be confronted about

our pride and our

arrogance.

And we ask, Lord, that

you would humble us,

that you would humble

us, that we would

acknowledge that you,

if you are God, if

there really is one

answer in our prayer,

that you have to be

vastly greater than

us.

You have to be one that

our mind can't fully

understand, that we

can only get bits and

glimpses that you

give to us, that that

has to be what is

real.

And, Father, we give

you thanks and praise

that you don't just

merely give us pieces

of information in the

abstract, but that you

came and walked

amongst us, that you

revealed yourself so

that we would know

you, that we would

know that you have

provided a way, even in

the midst of our mess,

that you will be our

God, that you would be

our Father, that Jesus

would be our Savior, that

the Holy Spirit would

indwell us, that we

would have a hope of

heaven, a hope of glory,

a hope of a future,

that you have revealed

yourself in such a way

that we know that when

we put our faith and

trust in Jesus, that you

will never let us go,

that you will never

forsake us, that you

will never mock us, that

you will never shame us,

that you will never

deride us, that you

only become our Savior

to save us and to fit us

from heaven, to do what

we cannot do that only you

can do.

Father, we ask that you

would fill us with a

great comfort and great

confidence and trust in

Jesus, and a great,

great confidence that there

is but one God, Father,

Son, and Holy Spirit,

three persons, one God,

forever and ever.

Amen.