Our Core Values & Beliefs: The Trinity - Romans 11:33-36 - Pastor Daniel Reese

Good morning again.

If you have your Bibles, we're going to turn to Romans 11 here in just a second.

Romans 11.

I have four beautiful children that I love with all my heart.

They have changed me for the better in so many different ways and I love that I get to

be their dad.

I could go on and on as I'm sure many of us could about how, all about the different

ways that I have enjoyed them and how they've amazed me.

I'm sure we could all do that as parents.

For our purposes this morning though, I thought I'd share a story about a couple of them that

has left me not so much amazed, but more dumbfounded.

For instance, my daughter, not going to name names, but she's smart, she's funny, she's

kind, but there has been several times in her short little life that she has left me

and her mama with more questions than answers because we didn't understand the thought process

of what was going on through her head.

When she was younger, and still a little bit today even though she's 15 now, but when she

was younger in particular, we could be talking about something, describing something, we

could be pointing to something, whatever it is, and we'd be looking intently at whatever

that thing is and we'd be like, hey Adelie, oops I wasn't going to name names, but sorry,

look over there and Adelie would be looking over here, which is funny a lot of times,

you're like hey, yeah that guy over there in the blue shirt, Jim right there, you see

him, and she would be looking over here and it would make no sense to us.

It's funny sometimes, but then sometimes there's like danger, like hey Adelie, watch out for

that, that snake is coming for you, and she'd be like where, where, like it just made no

sense to us, like we had to like grab her and actually put her face there.

Here's this one time that we were sitting in our living room in our old house, and on

the front of our house is the front door obviously, but we had a storm door, and so

it was just all glass, and we would like to leave the front door open, so just to let

more light in, and one day we're sitting in the living room, and I won't say his name,

but when he was about four or five years old at the time, and he's outside and we're watching

him, and we are watching him grab a rock and throw it through the glass door, and it was

one of those moments that it just took a second for us to comprehend what just happened, because

we saw it happen, and I'm just sitting there like, that kid just threw a rock through my

door, and you go ask him about it, and like why in the world would you throw a rock through

the glass door, his response is, I didn't know it would break.

I didn't know.

The point is, my point in saying that is, is children cannot comprehend certain things

because they are young, and their brains haven't developed completely yet, so they do things

that don't make sense to us who are older and wiser.

We were all there at one point, and I'm sure each and every one of our parents could say

that we did things that left them dumbfounded from time to time.

Now a few months ago, when we were planning out this series, I had it planned out, and

I gave it to all the pastors, and I said, hey, which topic would you like to address?

Which topic would you like to speak on?

Not one of them volunteered for this Sunday.

Not one of them.

They avoided this one, because this is a hard subject.

The Trinity is one of those things that's hard to explain and hard to understand, but

I'm going to do my best with you this morning.

So the passage of Scripture we're going to use is Romans 11.

I'm going to ask Peyton to come join me up here.

Here's what I love about Peyton.

Yet last week he comes up to me and goes, hey, what do I need to do to get on the rotation

of being able to read the Scripture on a Sunday morning?

I said, you just did it, right?

That's all you got to do.

You just ask, and you shall receive.

All right, Peyton?

So I'm going to invite you to stand as he reads Romans 11.

33 through 36.

Oh, the depth of the riches in 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 him a gift to him that might be repaid?

Or from him, hand through him, and to him moral thanks, to be glory forever.

Amen.

Peyton, let's pray.

Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you that your ways are higher than our

ways, and we thank you that your mind is so much greater than us.

And I thank you for the heart of Peyton, as he just wants to read your word.

And I pray that you honor him for that.

I pray, God, that you just put a deep desire to know you better in him.

We ask all these things in your name.

Amen.

Thanks, bro.

Now, the reason I chose that passage is not because it has anything at all to do with the

Trinity.

I will use some other passages throughout our time this morning, but I think it's important

to understand that there are just some things that are not going to make complete sense

to us because we do not have the Lord's mind.

So my starting point this morning is to remind you that the doctrine of the Trinity cannot

be completely understood.

That's our starting point.

However, it is so vital to our faith, and that there's been countless attempts to understand

it.

Just because it's difficult to understand doesn't mean we're going to blow it off.

Doesn't mean we're going to ignore it.

But there have been countless attempts throughout the centuries of people trying to use different

analogies to help make sense to us.

The problem with most of them, most of these analogies, is that more often than not, they

end up as heresy.

Now, a heresy back in the day would get you killed.

If you taught something other than what the Bible said, if you twisted the Scriptures

in order to help form your own belief system, people didn't take that lightly, and they

would burn you at the stake.

The primary way that I have heard the Trinity explained heretically is called modalism.

Now, you might hear things like, the Trinity is like water.

It can exist in three different states, liquid and steam and solid ice.

The reason that that is not a good example of the Trinity is because the forms that water

can exist only can do so at one time.

A cup of water can only exist in one form at a time.

That form of modalism would be saying that I am a husband, and I'm a father, and I'm

a pastor, and yet I am still one person.

But the Bible is clear that the father, son, and spirit are distinct from one another.

Sina views me as her husband and her pastor, but she doesn't view me as her father.

My children view me as their father and their pastor, but they don't view me as their husband.

God is one, and at the same time, he is father, son, and spirit as three different persons.

Another weak analogy is thinking of the Trinity as a three leaf clover or a triangle.

They are one object, but with three different identifiable parts.

However, each part is not the full expression itself.

If you were to take one side of a triangle and separate it from the triangle, you would

just have a straight line.

That is the heresy of partialism.

The Bible tells us that God the Father is fully God, not just a part of God, fully God.

God the Son is fully God, and the Holy Spirit is fully God.

Not just parts of God, but fully God in and of themselves.

Now there are so many other heresies that we need to watch out for, but those are the

main two.

A couple others would be adoptionism, which teaches that Jesus was fully human, but he

was later adopted by God in some special way, either during his baptism or at his resurrection.

Arianism is another heresy, which teaches that Christ and the Spirit were a creation

of God as opposed to being God from the beginning.

Now here's the easiest way that I can explain the Trinity, and just know it's not going

to make logical sense to us.

Now my family has been watching The Chosen, I'm sure several of you all have watched

that show, it came out several years ago.

There have been several comments made by the creator of The Chosen that says that God does

impossible math.

He uses the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000.

How there was five fish and two loads of bread.

Now logically that would be enough for one to two meals maybe, right?

Depends on how big the fish are.

But he says God does impossible math.

With God we need to get used to impossible math because with him one plus one plus one

equals one.

But in our understanding one plus one plus one equals three.

So let's look at all three people of the Godhead and then I will do my best to put it all together

for you at the end.

Alright, so let's look at God the Father.

God the Father is easy for some and more difficult for others to understand.

Some of us have great memories of our Father while others might not have ever had their

Father around.

If you had a good earthly Father, this concept is easier for you to grasp.

If you didn't have a good earthly Father, I hope that that reality won't prevent you

from seeing God as a great Father.

Now one of the things I think about when I think about a Father is work.

We are told in 1 Corinthians that he is the creator of all things.

All of creation finds its source in him.

Work is the source of all that we have.

For instance, everything that you have is the result of somebody working for it.

Now my job provides the resources my family needs for food and shelter.

When my kids decide to grow three shoe sizes in the matter of six months, my work helps

keep them in shoes and clothing.

Without the Father's work, we would have nothing.

There would be no creation.

But a good Father doesn't just provide stuff for his kids.

I don't earn a paycheck and then send the rest of my family the money and wish them

wealth.

I want a relationship with them.

Ephesians 1 says that God has adopted us to himself as sons according to the purpose

of his will.

The Father is not a deadbeat dad just sending child support payments.

He values a relationship with us.

In Psalm 68, Scripture says that he is the Father to the fatherless and protector of

widows.

We're told in James that he is the giver of every perfect gift.

He does all those things because he values relationship.

I've learned so much about God since I became a Father myself.

Because once I understood how much I love my kids, it made me realize even more how

much God loves me.

Before I had kids, if someone disappointed me or betrayed me or I just didn't like, I

put up these walls around myself just so I didn't have to deal with them.

But then I had kids.

And they have disappointed me.

They have betrayed me and throw me under the bus with their momma so many times.

So many times.

Who left the dishes in the sink and then cleaned them off?

Dad did.

I got pulled over by a police officer.

I come in from the store, hey, Sina, look what tool I got.

It was on sale.

I've been wanting it.

It was on sale finally.

No, it wasn't.

You paid full price for that.

They have betrayed me time and time again.

There have been times where I didn't like them and they didn't like me.

But I have, what I have learned as a Father is that there is nothing that those kids can

do that will make me stop loving them.

I value my relationship with them.

It's precious to me.

And I take great care in making sure that those four kids of mine know that they are

deeply loved by me.

If I can feel that way about four little sinners, how much more does God feel about us when we

betray Him and disappoint Him and abandon Him?

They're still there ready for that relationship to be restored.

Not only that, 2 Corinthians chapter 1 says that He is the giver of mercy and comfort.

2 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

All of that to say, we have a heavenly Father who is lovingly and actively at work in our

lives.

He delights to foster maturity within His children and His watchful eyes always upon

us.

The Father longs for a relationship with you.

And we see that in Luke 15 with the story of the prodigal son.

The Father didn't wait for the son to run to Him.

He ran to the son.

He met Him where He was.

He kissed Him.

He restored Him.

He celebrated that He had returned.

But the Father is waiting and ready for you to come to Him.

He's waiting for you to come to Him so that He can restore you and tell you that you are

His.

Today, I'm going to ask you to return to Him.

Then we have God the Son.

Jesus is God in human form.

He is the same essence as the Father in spirit, but He is distinct.

John 1-1 is probably the most quoted verse when it comes to proving that Jesus is God.

In the beginning was the Word and the Word is with God and the Word was God.

That verse is important because it fights off certain heresies like adoptionism and

Arianism.

Jesus is not a creation.

He is God.

He was God in the beginning.

And that is so important to understand because that is what separates Him from every other

religious prophet and teacher that has ever been on the earth.

The deity of Jesus is what separates us as followers of Jesus from every other religion

that there is.

We don't worship a man.

We worship God.

We don't offer praised creation.

We offer praise to our Redeemer.

So it is God the Father that initiates our salvation.

But it is the Son who accomplishes it.

Without God the Father sending the Son, we would still be sacrificing animals on the

altar.

God, the Son, Jesus chose to leave His place next to His Father to come down to the sinful

earth because He knew that we would not be able to accomplish salvation on our own.

He accomplished what no man has ever been able to do.

He faced every temptation that we've ever faced and yet He did not give it to sin.

If He sinned just once, He is not God.

If He gave into temptation just once, He wouldn't be God.

Think about that.

Never a sinful act.

Never a sinful thought.

Never a sinful word ever came out of His mouth.

I wouldn't last an hour if I tried.

But He did.

And the reason He did is because He is God.

And since God is a holy God, and since God requires sacrifice for the forgiveness of

sins, the final sacrifice had to be free of sin.

Now, here's the difference between every sacrifice that has ever been made and Jesus.

Every spotless lamb that has ever been slaughtered, that has had its blood spilled on the altar

to take away the sins of the people is still dead.

They kept having to sacrifice over and over and over again.

They kept having to pour blood on the mercy seat in order for God to forgive their sins.

He didn't accept the three legged ones.

He didn't accept the ones that had any sort of disease or walked funny.

Only the best were suitable for sacrifice because it needed to cost the people something.

It had to be at a cost.

Now, our community in Texas where we moved from was really big into stock-showing animals.

And people would spend tens of thousands of dollars on pigs and lambs to show in hopes

that they might win a scholarship of some sort.

Now logically, I'm like, why don't you just put the tens of thousands of dollars in a

fund and, you know.

But the reason those animals cost so much was because of the genetics of the animals

that they were bred from.

Some particular lambs sold for over $300,000 at a stock show recently.

But not everyone can afford that kind of money on an animal.

So what a lot of people do is they'll spend a few hundred dollars on an animal just for

the experience.

But there's never any hope that this thing is going to bring back money.

It's just for the experience.

But God required the $300,000 lamb for sacrifice every single time.

The best one.

The spotless one.

The one with the best genetics.

Now I've heard from some that say, well that's because God doesn't want us to have nice things.

God doesn't want us to have nice things so that's why he wants the best.

No, no, it's because sin is so atrocious to a holy God that forgiveness had to cost something.

But it cost God so much more.

And that is where the Son steps in.

God didn't force Jesus to be the sacrifice.

Scripture says that Jesus willingly laid down his life for us so that we could have redemption

in him through faith.

The proof that this wasn't any other sacrifice is because once he was put in the tomb, three

days later came back to life, conquering death, conquering sin so that it no longer has any

power over us.

And without the sacrifice of the Son, we could never be considered righteous.

I hope you're beginning to see the harmony within the Godhead.

The Father initiates the relationship and the Son accomplishes it.

No more $300,000 lands are needed because the Son laid down his life for us while we

were still sinners, while we were still sinners.

Do you think the prodigal Son never sinned again once the Father restored him?

Do you think He never disappointed him again?

Of course He did.

The sacrifice of Jesus isn't going to keep you from sinning, but we continue to plead

the blood of Jesus because that is enough.

This morning, I don't know where you are in your relationship with the Lord.

I don't know how you walked in here, but I'm going to ask you to trust that when Jesus

said it was finished, that it was.

Stop running.

Stop running.

Stop trying things your own way.

Stop waiting until you get your life together.

Trust in Him as your Savior.

You can see the unity of the Trinity when it comes to salvation.

The Father initiates it, but the Son is the one who accomplishes it, which leads me to

the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit.

Before that crucifixion of Jesus, the Holy Spirit dwelt in a temple made by man.

In the wilderness, He dwelt in the portable tabernacle that was moved as the people wandered

throughout the wilderness.

But when Jesus was crucified and He said it is finished, the Bible says that the temple

curtain that separated the Holy of Holies, the place of His presence from everything

else was torn into from top to bottom.

That signified that the Holy Spirit was not going to be in just one location anymore.

You didn't need a high priest to enter into His presence.

I love the description that Terri Lee Cobble gives on the role of the Holy Spirit.

She writes, God the Father calls us into His family.

God the Son secures our salvation through His finished work on the cross.

God the Spirit breathes new life to us and is the seal of our salvation.

All three members of the Trinity working together for our salvation.

The Holy Spirit now lives in His people, not in a temple.

He's not some mystical force.

He's not your conscience.

He's the living God inside of you that is working to make us more like Jesus.

He brings conviction when we sin.

He sanctifies us.

He empowers us to overcome and He leads us in our Christian walk.

Almost every week, almost every week I'll be in some sort of conversation with my family

and we'll be around the dinner table or we'll be sitting around and almost every single

week we'll go to Google.

I wish we had this when I was growing up sometimes.

He would go to Google to answer whatever question that was just asked.

Like the other day, Asher asked me about the baseball player Chris Bryant.

Used to play for the Cubs.

Asher asked me, what team did he get traded to?

He was like, you got traded to the San Francisco Giants.

We happened to be watching the Giants game.

We didn't see Chris Bryant on there.

We go to Google, where's Chris Bryant?

Well, he's now with the Colorado Rockies.

I didn't know that.

Holy Spirit didn't leave me there, but that's what Google did.

Google was useful in helping us find out that information.

But I would never go to Google to ask the questions that really matter.

How do I handle this situation with my kids?

How do I lead them through that?

What do I say to somebody who is in the midst of a hurting season?

It's just a painful situation.

Now Google might have some suggestions, but I'm not looking for information in those scenarios.

I'm asking God to give me wisdom because his ways are better than my ways.

His words are better than my words.

His ways are better than anything that I can find on Google.

I am so thankful for his spirit, especially when it comes to making big life decisions.

The spirit of God led me and my family to move to Iowa.

I always fall back on that because I trust his leading.

I trust his leading because logically, maybe it didn't make that much sense for us to move

so far from home.

Maybe it was going to be difficult, but we trusted his leading.

As I lead this church, I have to check my preferences at the door because ultimately,

it's not me who leads but the spirit of God living inside of me.

More often than not, I found that he leads me to places that are outside of my comfort

zone because it's not about making me look good, but about him receiving the glory that

he deserves.

The spirit of God does that.

The Holy Spirit is not an emotion or a feeling.

As clearly as I am speaking to you now, where you know my voice and you know who is speaking

to you.

That is who the Holy Spirit is.

I believe that he is speaking to you today and he's telling you to get out of your comfort

zone.

He's telling you to repent.

He is telling you to trust him.

I wish we could get into all the ways that the Holy Spirit works and we will in a few

weeks.

We'll get into that, but today I want you to just know his voice.

I don't know what your sins are, but if you're feeling convicted to confess some things this

morning, that's the spirit of God speaking to you.

I don't know if you were truly saved this morning, but if you feel the desire to surrender

your life and begin a fresh start, that is the Holy Spirit of God speaking to you this

morning.

I don't know where he is speaking to you to trust him and obey, but whatever those steps

are that he has put in your heart, he is speaking to you this morning.

It's not me.

I want to close this morning by looking at a passage of Scripture that is well known

to most of us.

Genesis 126 reads, the God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness.

First chapter of the Bible, let us make man in our image and in our likeness.

So in the beginning the Bible says that God, the original word being Elohim, the word Elohim

that is used for God in Genesis chapter one is a plural word.

It'd be like saying they created man in their image and in their likeness.

So God created man in his image and in his likeness.

But then in chapter two, after he created man, God says he sees it and he says that is

not good.

That's not good.

What wasn't good?

It was because man was alone.

So the three persons of the Trinity, the three persons of the Godhead looked at man and realized

it wasn't good because within the Trinity there's community, there's harmony.

They are not alone.

So he puts man to sleep, he takes a rib from his side and he creates woman.

And later on it says that the man and the woman, they became one flesh.

Man shall leave his father and mother and become one flesh.

Then there's also this fun command later that says be fruitful and multiply.

So man and woman become one flesh and they begin to have children.

One of our favorite things to do during the summer when we lived in Texas was to go up

to the mountains of New Mexico and go to family camp.

It was the best week of the year for us.

We had great quality time.

We didn't have to clean up anything.

It was awesome.

And we did so many things together.

At least one night of the week we would have family competitions.

And most of those involved some sort of relay.

And every one of us had a specific task in that relay and we had to complete that task

on our own.

In the end if we won, it wasn't Daniel won, it wasn't River won, it was the Reese family

won.

That is the best picture of the Trinity in my opinion.

Not perfect.

The Trinity is best pictured as a family.

All distinct but all one.

My wife and I are one flesh and our children are a part of that.

But we are under the name of Reese because we are one.

We are all distinct.

We all have different responsibilities and we are known as the Reese family.

The father and the son and the spirit are all distinct.

They all have different responsibilities but they do it all with the title of God because

he is one.

So when God created man in his likeness, in his image, it wasn't complete when he just

made Adam.

It was complete and good when there was community, when there was harmony.

Have you ever gotten home?

And you were hungry but there wasn't any food in the house?

Well, there was food in the house but you had to put it together and you had to actually

put some effort into it, whether it be a sandwich or something else that you have to put together.

There's nothing worse than showing up to a place where you are looking for a meal and

the meal is not prepared, right?

God's mercy is always prepared.

So whenever you show up, the forgiveness is ready.

It has been marinating by the Father since the foundation of the world.

It was thrown onto the fire when the Son was put on the cross and it was taken off the

fire at his resurrection.

And it is always served hot and ready by the Spirit of God.

The question is then, are you ready to eat?

Are you ready to eat?

The Father initiates it.

The Son accomplishes it and the Spirit gives it life.

The Father initiates it.

The Son accomplishes it and the Spirit gives it life.

I don't know where you are in your journey but the mercy is ready.

The meal is ready.

You just got to determine if you're ready to eat.

Let's pray.

Father, I pray that you will send us your Spirit right now to speak, to convict, to comfort,

to save.

What we can't do on our own, you have done.

So Father, we don't worship your creation.

We worship you, Creator of all things.

We give thanks for Jesus who willingly laid down his life for each and every one of us.

And we give you thanks for your Spirit that lives inside of us.

That's accessible to all of us.

So Father, I pray that you will speak.

Help us know your voice.

Get us out of our comfort zone this morning Father.

You paved the way.

You prepared the meal.

So Father, I pray that you will just put that picture of us, picture of you in our mind

as the Father ran to the Son.

I pray that you help us come to our senses because we know you're there waiting for us.

So Father bring us to the altar.

Bring us to our knees because you are good and you are worthy of it all.

Let's call these things in your name.

We love you.

Moving in our midst.

I worship you.

I worship you.

You are here working in this place.

I worship you.

I worship you.

You are here moving in our midst.

I worship you.

I worship you.

You are here working in this place.

I worship you.

I worship you.

You are weeping, a miracle worker.

Promise keep the fight in the darkness.

My God, that is who you are.

You are here touching every heart.

I worship you.

I worship you.

You are here moving in our midst.

I worship you.

I worship you.

You are here healing every heart.

I worship you.

I worship you.

You are here turning lives around.

I worship you.

I worship you.

You are here bending every heart.

I worship you.

I worship you.

You are weeping, a miracle worker.

Promise keep the light in the darkness.

My God, that is who you are.

You are weeping, a miracle worker.

Promise keep the light in the darkness.

My God, that is who you are.

That is who you are.

That is who you are.

That is who you are.

That is who you are.

My God, that is who you are.

My God, that is who you are.

Even when I don't see that you're working.

You never stop, never stop working.

Even when I don't see that you're working.

Even when I don't needless you're working

You never stop, never stop working

You never stop, never stop working

Even when I don't see that you're working

Even when I don't feel that you're working

You never stop, never stop working

You never stop, never stop working

We make a miracle worker

Promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God

That is who You are, You are

Waymaker, miracle worker, promise keeper

Light in the darkness, my God

That is who You are, that is who You are

That is who You are, that is who You are

That is who You are, that is who You are

That is who You are, that is who You are

Not as strong as I

Not as strong as I

Not as strong as I

Not as strong as I

Not as strong as I

Never stop working

Even when I don't see it, you're working

You never stop, you never stop working

Even when I don't see it, you're working

Even when I don't feel it, you're working

You never stop, never stop working

You never stop, never stop working

Even when I don't see it, you're working

Even when I don't feel it, you're working

You never stop, never stop working

You never stop, you never stop working

We make a miracle worker, promise people

Light in the darkness, my God

Light is who you are

We make a miracle worker, promise people

Light in the darkness, my God

Light is who you are

Light is who you are

Light is who you are

Light is who you are

Light is who you are

Light is who you are

Light is who you are

That is who you are

You can be seated

I don't know how the Lord spoke to you today

But if he did, remember that the meal's been prepared.

It's ready.

It's got to eat it.

Are you going to pick up a fork and eat it?

Are you going to continue to walk in it as we leave and as you go eat lunch later today

and dinner today, I hope that you'll remember that all the work that he's already done for

us, it's already been completed.

Father initiates it.

Son completes it.

And the Holy Spirit brings life into it.

Before we leave, there's a few things I'd like for you to know.

Number one, we have a church survey out.

It's going to end on Friday.

You can get it on our app.

You can get it on our website.

I want to thank those of you that have filled that out.

We want to know what's going on.

We want to know the things that you're excited about and the things you think we can do better.

We want to know that.

And so if you haven't filled out that survey, please do so.

Please do so by Friday because it'll close.

Sign it on our app or church website or if you name it, email you the link.

I'll be happy to do that.

But I'm looking forward to hearing how we move forward in the next coming weeks, months

and years.

Next, you'll notice on the back table, there's some t-shirts there.

We're trying to raise money for our mission trip to Panama here in a few weeks.

They're just cornerstone shirts.

And you can go pick your color.

They can answer all those questions for you, but I encourage you to just go out there and

get...

It's been a while since we've had a new cornerstone shirt, and so that was the idea.

And so I encourage you to go order some of those.

They'll be open for several weeks, so you don't have to do it today, but I encourage

you to go grab them.

Finally, here in a couple of weeks, we have a couple of options for baseball games at

the River Band.

It's number one.

On Wednesday, I think it's the 10th, it's free tickets.

So if you want a ticket to the River Band, this game, let us know.

But the bigger option that we're really pushing is our young adult ministry anchors is inviting

any young adult to come, and there's going to be food, and they reserve this big area.

And so we want...

If you know somebody in that age group, please, please, please let them know that we want

to have community with them.

You can talk to Fred and Julie, they're out there as well.

I hope you'll have a great week.

I've loved being with you this morning, and we'll see you next week.