The legendary 5th century Saint Patrick is credited with both driving snakes out of Ireland and explaining the Trinity
using the three leaved shamrock clover to illustrate how three separate persons could exist in one being.
I say legendary because there is no evidence of either as fact. The shamrock does not explain it anyway.
Christendom in the main is Trinitarian, having a Holy or Blessed Trinity at the center of its belief foundation.
There is a Biblical basis for God being a three person being - Father, Son, and Holy Ghost - the traditional order used in
organized Christian denominations. The Apostles Creed, also known as Nicene Creed, was adopted by the Ecumenical Council of
in 325 AD which met at Nicea, revised by the Council of Constantinople in 381.
In modern times it is called the Apostles Creed and used by most Protestant Denominations and the Roman Catholic church.
The relevant lines of the creed for this discussion are:
1. I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
2. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
3. I believe in the Holy Spirit, (or Ghost).
Convicted Christians believe in a Trinitarian Deity -- One God Being expressed as three Divine Persons.
Scripture is filled with references to God the Father, the creator. It also says all things were made through the Son.
Jesus referred and deferred to the Father throughout his teaching ministry and called upon His Father often.
Jesus asserted that the Father always did as the Son asked because the Son unfailingly obeyed the Father.
Before He was crucified, Jesus told His disciples that a comforter would come, but that the comforter could not come
unless He, Jesus, departed earth and returned to the Father.
Jesus said that The Holy Spirit, or comforter, would testify about Him (Jesus), and empower the believers. The first evidence
of this occurred on a day we now celebrate as Pentecost, the fiftieth day of Easter. The disciples were gathered in a room
in Jerusalem when there appeared tongues as of fire above each person.
"When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house
where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
[ Acts 2:1-4 New King James Version ]
|
Peter went to the balcony, or whatever, and preached a Spirit filled sermon to the people gathered outside who were drawn
from curiosity about the sounds coming from the house. Men from many nations listened and heard in their own
language what Peter was saying. Impossible in the natural realm. This was the first public instance of the Holy Spirit giving
testimony, through the mouth of a man, about Messiah.
God the Father seems to have appeared on the earth in Exodus 33: 17-23 while Moses was on
Mount Sinai receiving the tablets of the Law.
So the LORD said to Moses, "I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight,
and I know you by name."
And he (Moses) said, "Please, show me Your glory."
Then He (God) said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you.
I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
But He (God) said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live."
And the LORD said, "Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock.
So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by.
Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen."
|
The passage says it is the LORD, He who made the covenant with Abraham ... God the Father. There are numerous places in
Scripture where it is reported that God spoke to or appeared to an individual in some form or other, most often an
'Angel of the Lord' but sometimes as God. In the Sinai wilderness God appeared among the people by day as a cloud and
by night as a column of fire (must have been spectacular). But there is no way to know which person of the Trinity it was in
all cases.
It appears that there is a hierarchy of Father, Son and Spirit with the absolute power and authority residing in the Father, yet they
seem to be a triune self. It is clear to me that there are three distinct expressions of one God. More than that I can not say. The
importance of the Trinity issue to me is that it delineates areas of responsibility between God and me.
It is the Father who gave the Law and gives us Grace through
the Son who saves me from my inability to live up to the Law, while
the Holy Spirit gives me assurance in all such matters and sustains my faith.
May He do as much and more for you. He will if you ask.
|
|
