Post by foxjj on Oct 26, 2022 7:02:04 GMT
God Revealed As Three Persons
Although Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 6:4: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one,” throughout Scripture this one God has revealed Himself in three persons. All three were involved in the creation of our world: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." (Genesis 1: 1-2) While referring to Jesus as the Word - as in The Word of God - John wrote: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." (John 1:1-3) Jesus commanded Christian baptism to be performed in the name of the Triune God when He said: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19)
In John 5:16-18, we have the record of why the Jewish leaders wanted Jesus' death: ”And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God." In John 19:30 Jesus claimed: "I and the Father are one." In his letter to the Colossians, Paul writes concerning Jesus: "The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." (Col. 1: 15-17). This was the Jesus who came to redeem sinful humanity: "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us"). (Matthew 1:22-23)
It is only through the working of The Holy Spirit in our lives that we can know, and experience spiritual truth. Jesus stated in John 14:17 that The Spirit was an individual: "the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." In chapter 16:8-9 Jesus goes on to speak further of the Sprit’s work: "When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me." It was at the Jewish feast of Pentecost that the Disciples experienced the coming of the Holy Spirit with great power.(Acts Ch. 2) Since that time He has empowered the Church of Jesus Christ to carry out the work of spreading the Gospel, which is the Good News of God's love and forgiveness through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
Today, let us praise our Triune God for His Grace and Love.
John Joseph Fox.
Although Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 6:4: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one,” throughout Scripture this one God has revealed Himself in three persons. All three were involved in the creation of our world: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." (Genesis 1: 1-2) While referring to Jesus as the Word - as in The Word of God - John wrote: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." (John 1:1-3) Jesus commanded Christian baptism to be performed in the name of the Triune God when He said: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19)
In John 5:16-18, we have the record of why the Jewish leaders wanted Jesus' death: ”And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God." In John 19:30 Jesus claimed: "I and the Father are one." In his letter to the Colossians, Paul writes concerning Jesus: "The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." (Col. 1: 15-17). This was the Jesus who came to redeem sinful humanity: "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us"). (Matthew 1:22-23)
It is only through the working of The Holy Spirit in our lives that we can know, and experience spiritual truth. Jesus stated in John 14:17 that The Spirit was an individual: "the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." In chapter 16:8-9 Jesus goes on to speak further of the Sprit’s work: "When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me." It was at the Jewish feast of Pentecost that the Disciples experienced the coming of the Holy Spirit with great power.(Acts Ch. 2) Since that time He has empowered the Church of Jesus Christ to carry out the work of spreading the Gospel, which is the Good News of God's love and forgiveness through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
Today, let us praise our Triune God for His Grace and Love.
John Joseph Fox.
