Have you noticed that our world is consumed with sets of three? Eggs have shells, whites, and yolks. Space is determined by height, width, and depth. Time is discussed in terms of past, present, and future. Our existence is defined by the connectedness of body, soul, and spirit. Even baseball contains an important set of three… three strikes… a connotation that extends the boundaries of baseball. Of course, the set of three that reigns above all is The Trinity, the unity of the Godhead: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These co-equal Persons making up this eternally infinite set of Three bring a bunch of love, grace, relationship, and a ton of HOPE.
The Trinity (Godhead) sets Christianity apart from all other religions. Believing in a God in three Persons is not contrary to logic, it’s beyond logic. One-ness and three-ness… equals full-ness… each One has the fullness of the Godhead. I know, it all sounds like fuzzy math. I admit, even in my 30’s, I struggled with understanding the concept of God in three Persons. It is only with time and my maturing relationship with God that I have an ever-developing understanding of The Trinity. Truly, it is through prayer, penitence, and persistent reading of God’s Word that we can grasp the concept of our Triune God… a God of three roles and three HOPES.
In 2 Corinthians 13:14, God’s Word states how The Trinity is divinely co-equal, co-eternal, and co-substantial: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. Yes, AMEN and Hallelujah! Connected by the word “and”, we see how The Three are equal while having different roles… roles that offer HOPE, connected with a bunch of HOPE, wrapped in an amazing bow of HOPE. Our God is so amazing that it takes three connected beings, each with separate roles, to encompass His entirely wonderful Way, Wisdom, and Word. While all Three love us with a love that is beyond measure, each Person within The Godhead has unique ways of showing us love. The Father has the responsibility of loving leadership. His Son has the role of loving salvation. His Spirit relates to and dwells within us, providing loving guidance (God-dance). Each one has a responsibility that is woven with love to lead, save, and guide us. Now that’s a whole lot of love connected to a whole lot of HOPE.
If you are struggling with understanding The Trinity… how our God is a God in three Persons, I may be able to offer some HOPE. Our being is comprised of three parts: body, soul, and spirit. These three aspects make us who we are… think of three circles nested within each other. We have a physical body, from our head to our toes, which is represented by the outer circle. The next inner circle represents our soul. It is our soul that gives us our emotions, defined in both Greek and Hebrew languages as a “living being”. Our soul is limited because its foundation is humanity. And, we all know how our humanity can fail and fall. This is where the spirit fills that human void… it is the core circle for a reason. While we can glorify God with our soul, we can’t express His love through our soul alone… after all, our soul is human. On the other hand, the spirit is… spiritual… our only way to connect with God. We can only live according to His Spirit through Jesus. Through genuine belief that Jesus died for our sins, followed by a repentant heart, we connect with God on a spiritual level. We are sealed by His Spirit… sealed with HOPE.
Just as our body, soul, and spirit have different roles within the human body, The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have unique roles within The Godhead. While these beings are three separate Persons, like the circles mentioned prior… they are interconnected: sharing the same love, wisdom, character… HOPE. They work as one while performing their individual roles and responsibilities.
In case you are still wrestling with The Trinity/Godhead concept, I have a few more viewpoints to help develop a deeper understanding of the Godhead while developing a deeper relationship with God. Space was briefly mentioned earlier as a set of three dimensions. Yes, space has three distinct dimensions, yet the dimensions of height, width, and depth are not parts of space that stand alone. If one dimension is taken away, the concept of space goes away. Another example is brought to you by our heroes. If you come from a military family, think of our God in three Persons as a one-armed service… fighting for freedom. The army, navy, and air force have distinct roles in protecting our freedoms while still making up our one-armed service. The Godhead is the complete being of God while being the three Persons of God. One Person of The Trinity does not exist without the other while each has a role that encompasses its own dimension and service.
If, in my humanity, I have failed to enhance your understanding of The Trinity, I have one final viewpoint, “going graphic” to offer HOPE. Yes… I’m a visual learner and found this graphic beyond helpful. This tri-angle supports The Tri-unity… the unity of three Persons. While I have seen this graphic before, I recently discovered that the colors used here are purposeful. The additive primary colors of light combine to form white light. It shouldn’t surprise us that The Trinity can be symbolized with something as beautiful as Jesus who is the light of the world. Light defeats darkness, light guides our way, and light gives us HOPE.
Yes, there is HOPE in three… The Tri-unity… The Godhead, known as God in three Persons: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I find HOPE in knowing that our God is so loving, smart, powerful, and full of grace that He is a one-ness in a three-ness. Yes, it’s beyond our humanity to completely understand just how loving, graceful, and unified our God is because He exists beyond our logic, beyond our humanity, beyond our HOPE. What I rest in is the fact that The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit connect with each other to connect with us.
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