February 5, 2011 … God Is Three

Passage of the Day: 2nd Cor. 13: 14 … May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

My Journal for Today: Yesterday I journaled about God being ONE. Today He is also THREE; and John MacArthur is right, from his devotional book Strength for Today, when he says that the mystery of the Trinity [shortened from “tri-unity”] must be something we, as Christians, accept in faith. There is simply no explanation from human logic to explain the Trinity; nor is there any word picture adequate to help clarify the concept. For me, it is the greatest of theological mysteries.

Yet, God’s word, both Old and New Testaments, is clear in declaring the wondrous tri-unity of the God-head. In the Old Testament, in Genesis 1: 1, we read, “In the beginning, God …;” and the term for “God,” in this verse, is the Hebrew , “Elohim,” a plural noun. In Isaiah 42: 1, we read of God, The Father, speaking of “The Messiah” in Whom He places His Spirit; or in Isaiah 48: 16, The Messiah speaks of His Father’s Spirit sending Him to be the focus of God, the Father’s plan of redemption.

SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 42: 1 - …[God, the Father speaks of Messiah and His Spirit] "Here is my Servant, whom I uphold, my chosen One in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on Him and He will bring justice to the nations.”
SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 48: 16 - [Messiah speaking] “ Come near to Me, hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, I was there. And now the Lord GOD [i.e., “Adonai Jehovah” in Hebrew] and His Spirit Have sent Me.”

In the New Testament, Scripture records God, The Father, declaring from Heaven His favor upon His Son and sending His Spirit, like a dove, upon Messiah (see below in Matthew 3: 17). Jesus, Himself, declares, in the Upper Room Discourse, to His disciples that He will ask His Father to send His Spirit to be their Helper (also below, John 14: 16-17). And Paul, in today’s verse of blessing [above], clearly expressed the grace, love, and fellowship from our God, Who is three in One.

SCRIPTURE: Matt 3: 17 … [God, the Father declares from heaven] … "And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased."
SCRIPTURE: John 14: 16-17 [Jesus speaking to His inner disciples] … … And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever - 17 the Spirit of truth.

So, to pursue a personal and intimate knowledge of God is to pursue, in faith, through biblical logic, a relationship with the One true God, Who is expressed in three Persons, … in our Triune God, … the wondrous and mysterious “Elohim.”

So, I ask myself (and you) today: “How well have I gotten to know, and how well do I relate, to the three Persons of the Trinity?” >>> Personally, I need to know Him/Them much more deeply, going from confusion to clarification and then to commitment. But in this pursuit I know that it is The Father’s will that I know His Son intimately; and I have the ultimate Mentor in God’s Spirit to pursue knowing all Three in One.

My Prayer Today: Holy Father, Lord Jesus, precious Holy Spirit, You are my Elohim. Amen