2-1-4-The_Trinity
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2-1-4-The Trinity

We have seen that the three persons of the Trinity were all present at the Baptism of Jesus:  God the Father; God the Son; and God the Holy Spirit.  But there is evidence of the Trinity in the Old Testament, too.  We are going to be looking at some of this evidence in this lesson.

When Jesus, on unknown carpenter from Nazareth, came out of the waters of baptism, the crowds of the banks of the River Jordan were witnesses of a solemn moment.

  1. Who spoke to His Son?  God the

  2. Who was baptized? God the

  3. Who descended like a dove?  God the

The truth that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Spirit is God, is called the Doctrine of the Trinity.

God is one and exists in three persons.  But, we must remember that the persons of the Trinity are not three independent individuals.  They are three persons of the existence of the Divine Being we call God.  The clover leaf has been a symbol of the Trinity because it has one leaf with three parts.

Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13::14, Acts 2:32-33 are three verses which speak of the three persons of the Trinity.  The truth that there is only one God was shown to the Jews.  Every Jewish father and mother taught their children the words of Deuteronomy 6:4; "Hear, O Israel!  The Lord is our God, The Lord is one!"

All of the nations around the Jews believed in many gods.  Open your Bible to Genesis, chapter 1.  Read verses 1 to 3 carefully.

  1. Genesis 1:2 talks about God the Spirit.

  2. Genesis 1:3 talks about what God says.  Who is "the Word" through whom all things were made: Read John 1:3.

Which person of the Trinity do we see involved in the creation of the world in Genesis 1:1?

The word Messiah is taken from the language in which the Old Testament was first written (Hebrew).  The word translated into English as "God" is the word "Elohim."  The word Elohim, because it ends with the letters "IM", we know that it is a word in the plural form.

The Hebrew language in Genesis 1:1 means God, singular.  Non-the-less, the verse uses the plural Hebrew word "Elohim" because although God  is.  He has shown Himself to beGod.

In the English translation of Genesis 1:26 there is more evidence which tells us that God is a Trinity.  In these verses God speaks about Himself in the plural form.  There is also evidence in the use of "let us make" and "our" which are found in the plural form.

The Jews had more than one word for "God".  The Hebrew language also has at least two words which can be translated into the English word "One".

Achad-means one (made up of parts)

Yashid-means one (without being made up of parts)

For instance, the word Achad is used in Genesis 1:5, meaning one day-the evening and the morning.

Read Genesis 2:24.  In this verse we have Husband plus wife equaling one flesh or "Achad".

The word used for one in the Hebrew language in Deuteronomy 6:4 is Achad.  Does this mean there is or there is not evidence for the Trinity in Deuteronomy 6:4?

Now look at the last page of your Bible (Revelation 22).  Read the last five verses.  Can you find the three persons of the Trinity?

New Testament

As the apostles got to know Jesus better they realized that Jesus was not just a man.  It was not until after the resurrection of Christ that the apostles understood completely who Jesus really was.

Read John 20:28.  What did Thomas say to the risen Jesus which shows that he believed Jesus to be God?

The apostles had know for sometime that God was the Father of Jesus.  It was at the resurrection that they realized Jesus Christ was Himself?

When the Holy Spirit was given on the Day of Pentecost the apostles learned even more about the Trinity.  Read Acts 5:3-4.

  1. To whom did Peter say that Ananias had lied? (verse 3)

  2. Peter explains that Ananias has not lied to man.  He has lied to (verse 4)?

Or in other words, the Holy Spirit is one in three persons.  The most important reason for the apostles' belief in the Trinity is that this doctrine was needed to explain their experienced the working of all three persons of the Trinity.

Read 1 Peter 1:1-2 once again.  This time look for the things the verses say about God the Son.

  1. Verse 2 says that those who were chosen by the Father were afterward sprinkled with the blood of:

  2. What happening does this talk about?

The Bible teaches us that Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross in order to buy back (redeem) those who were to be saved.

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