The Heart of Christmas: The HOPE of Redemption

One needs only to turn on the television or read the paper to see the darkness that is present in our world.  Whether it is a gunman massacring children in Newton, CT or a small child being stabbed right here in our parish, this world is full of evil and darkness.  Where do we find hope in such a dark world?  To whom or what shall we look?  God, in His Word, does not leave us hopeless and end the dark, but promises that one day this broken world will be redeemed and its darkness dispelled for good.  I want to show you today how the heart of Christmas is the hope of this redemption that God is bringing through Jesus Christ. 

In Isaiah 9:1-7, Isaiah proclaimed this HOPE of redemption to God’s people who were themselves about to enter into a time of deep darkness and distress.  God here was giving His people more than hope for their nation alone; He was giving His people the hope of the world.  All people need to know the HOPE of God’s redemption that we read about in Isaiah 9:1-7, because only God can fix this broken world.  What we celebrate at Christmas is how He is going to.  Let’s read about his hope together:

[9:1]  But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.  [2]  The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. [3] You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. [4] For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. [5] For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.

[6] For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. [7] Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:1-7)

We want to answer this question today: how do we come to a deep HOPE in God in such a dark world?  This passage shows us two ways that hope can erupt in the lives of God’s people. 

I.              Hope Erupts from Knowing What God’s Redemption will Mean for His People (9:1-5)

a.     God’s Redemption Means LIGHT for a People in Darkness (1-2)

God’s People were about to experience a time of “distress” and “deep darkness”, full of gloom and anguish.  Isaiah 8:11-22: [11] For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: [12] “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. [13] But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. [14] And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. [15] And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

[16] Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples. [17] I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. [18] Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. [19] And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? [20] To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. [21] They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. [22] And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.

Notice first that this darkness the people are going to go through is a darkness of their own making.  “Both houses of Israel” had forsaken their God and king and the darkness they are going to experience is a being “brought into contempt” by God.  They are coming under the discipline and judgment of the God whom they have forsaken.  But God promises here not to leave His people in darkness forever.  This deep darkness will not be their end.  God promises to transform their gloom into glory by shining a “great light” upon their darkness.

We too are a people who either have walked or do walk in a deep darkness of our own making.  We stand in need of God to open our blind eyes to the light of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4-6).  This is what it means to be redeemed (saved): to have been moved out of the kingdom of darkness into God’s marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).  It means that we have come to know Jesus Christ, who is the light of the world (John 8:12).  But this passage promises more than our individual redemption, it also promises a day when the light of God will shine on this dark world in a way that will dispel all of its darkness forever (this is partially happening now through the gospel).

b.     God’s Redemption Means JOY for a People in Distress (3-5)

God’s redemption will not only mean light for His people, but joy as well.  God will multiply both His people and their JOY (9:3).  God likens this joy to like the joy of harvest time and the gladness of dividing spoil.  It will be like the joy a hunter feels after the hunt of a lifetime, or the athlete feels after winning a championship. 

This joy will come through God’s great deliverance (9:4-5), as He breaks the yoke of their oppressors as He did in Judges 6-7 with the Midianites.  This is a reference to the story of Gideon, where the miraculous power of God was put on display in the deliverance of His people.  This deliverance will be so great that there will be a peace like the world has never known.  Items that are needed for war will be burned and used for other purposes.  Isaiah 2:4, also speaking of the coming Messiah’s reign, says “[4] He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”  This is Biblical gun control! 

This is why we sing, “JOY to the World!”  The coming of Jesus Christ into the world marks the arrival of infinite and eternal joy and gladness for the people of God.  This is another thing that it means to be redeemed: to experience the joy of God’s salvation!  Salvation ushers in the reign of Christ upon our hearts, bringing us joy, gladness, and peace with God forever.  What has you in distress today?  Do you know what it is to be happy in God?  You were made to be happy in God forever. 

II.            Hope Erupts from Knowing How God’s Redemption will Come to His People (9:6-7)

a.     God’s Messiah will Bring Redemption to His People (6-7a)

Here we see how God is going to shine this great light on His people and how He is going to restore their joy: through the sending of the Davidic Messiah!  Isaiah 9:6-7 picks upon the Messianic thread that has been running through the Bible since Genesis 3:15 and is a direct reference to the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant in 2 Samuel 7:12-16.  We learn from the New Testament that Jesus Christ is this promised Messiah (the child/son to be born).  [26] In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, [27] to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. [28] And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” [29] But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. [30] And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. [31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. [32] He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, [33] and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:26-33)

[68] “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people [69] and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, [70] as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, [71] that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; [72] to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, [73] the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us [74] that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, [75] in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. [76] And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, [77] to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, [78] because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high [79] to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:68-79)  Jesus is the LIGHT and JOY of the world!

Here in Isaiah 9:6-7, two descriptions are given about the coming Messiah.  We are first given His Name (6).  He will be called, “Wonderful Counselor,” meaning He will be a King of extraordinary wisdom.  We will “wonder” as His counsel.  He will also be called,  “Mighty God.”  This is an obvious statement of Jesus’ deity.  The baby born in a manger was Almighty God Himself, humbling Himself in human flesh.  He will also be called, “Everlasting Father.”  This is not a reference to God the Father, because the Father is not the Son, but is a reference to the fact that the Son, or Messiah, is equally eternal and that His rule will be like that of a benevolent father.  He will be a loving King who will eternally provide and protector His people.  Finally, He is called the “Prince of Peace.”  He will bring a global peace to the world and the nations will rely upon His counsel and just decisions in their disputes. 

The second description we are given about the coming Messiah is of His Rule (7a).  He will sit on David’s throne, and His rule will be characterized by peace, justice, and righteousness and will continue to expand for all eternity.  There will be no end to His Empire of grace. 

I would say that one glaring application from this passage is that Messianic hope needs to be rekindled among God’s New Testament People, the Church.  At the time of Jesus’ birth, Messianic expectation, though misguided, was at an all time high.  How much higher should our hopes be in the return of the Messiah who has come and conquered Satan, sin and death!  God’s people should be a people full of HOPE: bursting with light and joy because we know that God’s Messiah has come and will come again!  Too many Christians today want to rest their hopes in the wrong places.  Don’t rest your hopes in the American government; rest them in Jesus Christ and the government He is bringing to this world one day! 

b.     God’s Zeal will Bring Redemption to His People (7b)

Everything we read in this passage is crowned with the hope of this guarantee: “the zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”  This is an ironclad guarantee that full redemption (some of which we still look forward to) will come to the people of God.  The baby in the manger is the beginning of the fulfillment of this promise, and the cross and empty tomb of Jesus Christ proves that there is nothing that will prevent God from redeeming His people and His world.

God is zealously committed to redeeming His people, which includes you (or can include you).  This should be reason for great hope and confidence this Christmas!   Christmas should be a time where God’s people fill up with hope, looking back to the manger, the cross, and the empty tomb.  And it should also be a time were we look forward to the coming rule and redemption of God.  

God is Holy, Holy, Holy: Isaiah 6:1-13

Today will conclude our sermon series on the attributes of God with what I believe is God’s most important and most defining attribute: God’s holiness.  Some theologians warn against elevating any of God’s attributes above the others, but I think if one honestly considers what the Bible says about God, that they will agree that, when rightly understood, God’s most important and defining attribute is His holiness.  To say that God is holy is the closest we can ever get to describe Him, and I think that if the Bible had to give us one word to describe God, it would be “holy.” 

When speaking of God’s holiness, the Bible doesn’t give us one word but three: “holy, holy, holy.”  There is no other attribute that is given this threefold emphasis.  The reason for using the word three times is the same reason we put certain words in bold or italics: to emphasize their importance.  It is like putting an exclamation point behind this attribute.  And the reason for this emphasis on this particular attribute is because God’s holiness is the sum total of all of His other attributes. 

My prayer today is that each of us would catch a vision of God’s holiness as the prophet Isaiah did in Isaiah 6:1-13: [6:1] In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. [2] Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. [3] And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

[4] And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. [5] And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

[6] Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. [7] And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

[8] And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” [9] And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ [10] Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” [11] Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, [12] and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. [13] And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump.

I.              The Meaning of God’s Holiness

To say that God is holy carries at least two meanings.  First, God’s holiness describes His cleanness (6:2,5-7), or moral purity.  God possesses infinite moral purity.  This is implied in how quickly Isaiah recognizes His own uncleanness (6:5).  We often speak of “feeling dirty” after being in a place that is filthy, but here Isaiah feels dirty because of how morally clean the presence of the Lord is!  As 1 John 1:5 says, “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” 

The second meaning that God’s holiness has is that God’s holiness describes His otherness, and by “otherness,” I mean that God is absolutely separate from and above all creation.  He is “wholly and completely other.”  This is the primary meaning of holiness.  Several passages illustrate this truth.  You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, (Leviticus 10:10 ESV).  So “holy” is the opposite of “common.”  God is the most “uncommon” being in the universe!  “There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.” (1 Samuel 2:2 ESV)  Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? (Psalm 77:13 ESV)  So to say that God is holy is to say that God is in a class all by Himself in a most profound way. 

The apostle John would record witnessing a very similar description of God as Isaiah witness in Revelation 4:8: [8] And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” From these two passages, I would like to point out at least eight ways in which God is in fact completely separate and uncommon.  To begin with, this passage shows us that God rules like no other (1,5).  Though the earthly king Uzziah has died, creating great uncertainty in Judah, the heavenly King YAHWEH lives on and He will never ceases to reign! He alone is THE KING of Kings and Lord of Lords (Adonai).  The next way that God is separate from all creation is that God is higher than any other (1b).  Isaiah sees Him “high and lifted up,” because He is the MOST HIGH GOD.  There is no authority or rule “over” Him.  Everything that exists, exists under His rule. 

God is also more glorious (beautiful) than any other (2).  The “train of his robe” fills the temple.  Even the mighty seraphim cover their feet and faces in humility before God.  They confess that God’s glory fills the whole earth.  Consider how vast and beautiful our universe is!  We are supposed to look at it and say, “If the universe is this vast and beautiful, how much more vast and beautiful must the One who made it be!”  The whole earth is full of God’s glory, but fallen men and women do not have eyes to see it (Romans 1:20).  Also, there is coming a day when the earth will be filled with the glory of God in a much more profound way (Num. 14:21, Hab. 2:14). 

But there is more!  God is mightier than any other (3).  He is called “the LORD of hosts.”  This name of God carries the image of a mighty military commander and King.  Revelation 4:8 calls Him “ALMIGHTY,” calling attention to God’s omnipotence.    

God’s existence is like no other (Revelation 4:8).  He is the God who “was and is and is to come.” He is eternal.  Also, God’s moral purity is like no other (2, 5).  Again, not only does Isaiah (a fallen sinner) feel unworthy to be in God’s presence, but also so do the sinless seraphim.  Even the stars are not pure in God’s sight (Job 25:5). 

This passage also shows us that God loves like no other (6-7).  Isaiah is a man of unclean lips, and has no business existing in the presence of a holy God.  God doesn’t have to atone for Isaiah’s sin, but He does so out of the abundance of His love, mercy, and grace. 

Finally, God’s prerogative to do all that He wills is like no other (8-13).  God gives Isaiah here a ministry of hardening.  Now we do want to make sure that we also say that this hardening partially took place because the people of Israel were a wicked and rebellious people.  God’s truth always has a hardening affect upon unrepentant hearts.  But we also clearly see here a truth that the Bible declares, and that is that it is God’s prerogative to grant a wicked and rebellious people repentance or to allow them to continue in their own rebellion.  He has mercy on those whom He will have mercy and He hardens whom He will harden and He is never unfair or unjust in doing any of it (Romans 9:18). 

Once one understands the meaning of God’s holiness, it makes sense that God would also be jealous.  How could He not be?  The attribute of God’s holiness logically implies that God should be jealous just as my being my wife’s husband logically implies that I should experience jealousy if the affection that belonged to me was being given to another man. 

There is no one like our God!  Consider the attributes we have studied in this series.  He is independent, immutable, eternal, omnipresent (God is spirit), omniscient, omnipotent, wise, sovereign, righteous, just, merciful, gracious, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, wrathful towards sin, good, and triune.  I say again, there is none like Him!  This is the meaning of God’s holiness.

II.            The Implications of God’s Holiness

a.     God’s Holiness is Dangerous for an Unclean People:

Isaiah calls it a woeful thing to be who he is and to see what he saw.  A “woe” is an announcement of doom.  He is pronouncing judgment upon himself!  He is a man of unclean lips (a lost man), and he is so because he is a man with an unclean heart.  Remember that it is fittingly a terrifying thing to see God in both the Old and New Testament.  No one can see God and live because no uncleanness is permitted to exist in God’s presence (Habakkuk 1:13).  This is bad news for Isaiah and every other person who has ever lived outside of Jesus Christ, because we are all people of unclean lips and hearts.  Our only hope is that God would be gracious and intervene for us, providing an atonement for our sins to take our guilt away and make us fit for His presence.  This is what He does for Isaiah in 6:6-7.  He provides a remedy of grace from a place of sacrifice and the grace of God overrides the guilt of Isaiah, making him fit for God’s presence and God’s work. 

God has provided such a remedy of grace for each of us here today in the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.  Through the death of Jesus Christ, unclean men and women can have their sins atoned for and be declared clean in God’s sight.  This happens by a person repenting of their sins and coming to complete trust and reliance upon whom Jesus is and what He has done to make atonement for us.  But this is not all He does for us! 

b.    God’s Holiness is Contagious for a Redeemed People

When God redeems a person (atones for their sin; makes them fit for His presence), He then works to make them more and more holy like Himself.  In the Bible, from cover to cover, God calls His people to be holy because He is holy.  “For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:45 ESV) [13] Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. [14] As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, [15] but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, [16] since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:13-16 ESV)

And being holy means what we saw earlier, to be morally clean and set apart from the rest of the world.  It means to not love the world or the things that are in the world (1 John 2:15-17).  Essentially, for a child of God, being holy means simply being His.  [26] You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine. (Leviticus 20:26 ESV)  God tells His people that He has separated them from all the peoples in order for them to be holy, i.e. be His.  This is exactly what we see in Isaiah 6:8, where Isaiah says, “Here am I!  Send me.”  What’s he saying?  “Here I am, I’m yours!”  He goes from being a man who says, “Woe is me!” to being a man who says, “Here am I!”  This is what is means to be holy: to be His, to be set apart, not just from the world, but also for God and His purposes so that we can show the world who He is and fill it with His glory. 

How do we do this?  How are we to be holy as God is holy?  To put it simply, we must do so by faith.  God makes an interesting connection while explaining to Moses why he could not enter into the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 32:51.  He says that breaking faith with God is to not treat Him as holy.  So to not have faith in God is to not treat Him as holy, or separate, but to have faith in God is to treat Him as holy.  This is such a practical application: in order to be holy, I must look to God in faith that He alone can and will make me such and then act upon that faith.  Commenting on this passage, R.C. Sproul says of Isaiah that “God took a man with a dirty mouth and made him His spokesman,” because “from brokenness to mission” is the pattern of all of God’s people.  God can do the same thing in your life as well when you look to Him your only, holy hope.  Will you do so today?

God is Triune

Today we will cover the essential doctrine of the Trinity.  Just as God is all the many attributes we have seen so far in this sermon series, He is also triune (a trinity).  Augustine once said that if you denied the trinity you would lose your soul, but if you tried to explain the trinity you would lose your mind!  That is a pretty fitting statement concerning what is both a most essential doctrine and a most complicated one at the same time.  As with any doctrine, God’s people need to understand what God reveals and affirm that to be true, even when it is hard to understand.  Where I want to end up today is simply to have you leave with the mindset that we will affirm/believe what God has revealed about Himself and will trust Him with what we do not understand. 

I.              Understanding How to Approach the Doctrine of the Trinity

I find it helpful when approaching the doctrine of the trinity to keep the lesson of Deuteronomy 29:29 in mind: [29] “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.  According to the Bible, among all the things that can be known in our world, there are some things that are secret things and they belong to God and there are some things that God has revealed to us for our good (so we can know Him and obey Him, etc.).  And some things are revealed by the Bible to be true, but are not revealed exhaustively.  In such cases we want to affirm and believe what God reveals to be true and trust God with what we do not understand.  The fact that I believe something to be true does not mean that I fully understand why it’s true or how it all works.  That would be a most arrogant requirement for something to be true: “I don’t understand it, therefore it is not true!”

One reason that the doctrine of the trinity is so hard to understand is because there simply is no analogy that adequately illustrates it.  This should not surprise us, because there is nothing like God in all of creation!  And furthermore, we should recognize that it is healthy to realize that God is incomprehensible.  If we can fully wrap our minds around God, then He is no longer God. 

II.            Understanding the Doctrine of the Trinity (as best we can)

The doctrine of the Trinity is the teaching that there is only one true God, but that He eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each being fully and equally God, but separate persons at the same time.  Essentially, there is a distinction between being (essence) and personhood.  Keeping with this distinction, the doctrine of the Trinity makes seven basic affirmations: (triangle)

a.     There is One God

b.    The Father is God

c.     The Son is God

d.    The Holy Spirit is God

e.     The Father is not the Son, nor the Son the Father

f.      The Father is not the Holy Spirit, nor the Holy Spirit the Father

g.    The Son is not the Holy Spirit, nor the Holy Spirit the Son

     

III.         Understanding Where We See the Doctrine of the Trinity in Scripture

Now that we have made these seven affirmations, we want to see where they come from in the Bible.  Let’s being with the first affirmation that there is one God.  The Bible affirms that there is one and only one God: Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”  Contrary to the claims of Islam, the doctrine of the Trinity does not teach Polytheism (that there are multiple gods).  Trinitarianism is fundamentally monotheistic.

The second affirmation that the Father is God is found all over the Bible.  Consider just one example in 1 Corinthians 8:6: [6] yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

The third affirmation is that the Son is God.  Historically, this has been the most debated point and is fundamentally the most critical affirmation of the doctrine of the trinity.  The Bible declares Jesus Christ to be God and warns that those who deny this truth are heretics on their way to hell.  Historically, this truth was denied by Arianism, and is stilly denied by many heretical groups today, some of whom claim to be Christian.  While there are many different places we could observe this truth in the Bible, we will simply look at some of the most profound places. 

John 1:1-4,14-18: [1:1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. [4] In him was life, and the life was the light of men.   [14] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. [15] (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) [16] For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. [17] For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. [18] No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known. 

In John 8:58, Jesus Himself claims to be God: [58] Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”  Philippians 2:5-11: [5] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. [8] And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  The title, “Lord” affirms His deity because it is the Greek word that translates “YAHWEH” in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint).  Also, in the gospels the title “Son of God” was interpreted by the religious leaders as Jesus making Himself equal with God.

Colossians 1:15-20: [15] He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. [16] For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. [17] And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. [18] And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. [19] For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, [20] and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Jesus is also explicitly called “God” in the New Testament in several places.  One example is Titus 2:11-13: [11] For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, [12] training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, [13] waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

The fourth affirmation is that the Holy Spirit is God.  We see this clearly in Acts 5:3-4: [3] But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? [4] While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”  Also, consider 2 Corinthians 3:17-18: [17] Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. [18] And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.        

As far as the remaining affirmations (which are denied by Modalism) go, we are noting simply that there is a clear distinction of persons in the trinity.  We see this in Creation (Gen. 1:2,26; Col. 1:16), at Jesus’ Baptism (Matt. 3:16-17), in the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20), in the Work of Redemption (Ephesians 1:1-14), and in all the places where they are referencing one another or spoken of as one referencing, honoring, etc. the other (John 20:17).

IV.          Understanding the Implications of the Doctrine of the Trinity

There are two implications that we want to walk away with when meditating upon the truth of the trinity, and the first is that Christianity is deeply relational.  That God is a Trinity means that not only having the capacity for relationship but also actualizing that capacity is part of God’s very essence.  Understanding the trinity helps us to understand how God can be so personal.  And we as image bearers of this incredibly relational God are also incredibly relational: having the capacity to have relationships with God and other image bearers of God.  The more relational our Christianity is, the more it reflects God.  The church is to be one of the closest things to the analogy of the trinity that the world ever sees: one body full of loving, sacrificial, servant relationships for the glory of God. 

A second implication that springs from the truth of the trinity is that Christianity is exclusively Trinitarian; meaning that to not affirm this doctrine is stand outside of Christianity (to be lost).  There may be some confusion on this doctrine, and we will always have questions about it, but a continual denial of the truth of the Trinity is not only heretical, but is damnable.  Simply put, someone who ultimately denies the Trinity is not a Christian and any denomination/religion that ultimately denies the Trinity is not a Christian denomination/religion.  One scholar rightly said “Christianity stands or falls with the confession of the deity of Christ and of the Trinity.” 

If the trinity isn’t true, as the Bible puts if forth, then our atonement is affected.  How could a creature bear the wrath of God for our sins?  And if one could, then how could all glory go to God?  Also, if the trinity isn’t true, are we not committing idolatry when we worship Jesus, whom the Scriptures command us to worship? 

Do you affirm this truth?  Are you ready to defend it?  More importantly, have you been humbled by the vastness of this glorious truth?