In the first lesson, on the Trinity, we looked at how the members of the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are uncreated, co-equal, and eternal persons. In this lesson we look at what makes them ONE God and that is their attributes or substance.
This is what all members of the Trinity have in common and what makes them unique. We will look at the attributes of justice, holiness, love, omnipotence, omnipresence, mercy, and others. After defining the characteristic, we’ll then look at how it relates to us and how we should respond because of it.
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Charts that illustrate truths about the Trinity
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Understanding the Trinity, part Two
The One Substance of the Trinity
Teacher, Yvon Prehn
Review—this lesson is part of a series on the Trinity
• Understanding the Trinity, part One, The Three Persons of the Trinity, how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are uncreated, co-equal, and eternal persons.
• Understanding the Trinity, part Two, The One Substance of the Trinity, the attributes shared by the members of the Trinity and what that means to us.
• Understanding the Trinity, part Three, The Trinity Throughout the Bible, descriptions of the Trinity and roles of each member in the Old and New Testaments.
• Notes, videos, podcasts, charts, and associated resource links are all available on www.Bible805.com
We are again going to use Tertullian’s explanation of the Trinity
• He was a Roman lawyer, and in the early days of the church, he came up with the word, Trinity, which he defined as
• una substantia, tres personae
• Meaning God is one substance in three persons.
In the previous lesson we looked at the meaning of Personhood
Holiness
• Defined: The word holiness refers to His separateness, His otherness, the fact that He is unlike any other being. It indicates His complete and infinite perfection..”
John MacArthur
• “There is none holy like the Lord; there is none besides you.” 1 Samuel 2:2
• “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord Almighty.” Revelation 4:8
• And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” Isaiah 6:3
• Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? Exodus 15:11
Justice
• Goes along with His holiness, as God is set apart, He is totally different than us in that He is JUST in a perfect degree.
• Hebrew: ṣadîq: just, lawful, righteous
• “The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He.” Deut. 32:4
• Thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly. Nehemiah 9:33
These two characteristics are first because
What this means to us
• God as Creator, Sustainer, King, and Judge has the right and power to set the rules.
• We have violated them and are justly condemned to an eternity apart from Him.
• But by His grace, He sent Jesus to die on the cross to save us.
• And when we accept Him as Savior, He gives us God’s very life in us, so that instead of His Holiness being something that separates us, it can become a characteristic of our lives.
Holiness—from source of condemnation to a call to participation
in it
• 1 Peter 1:15-16
But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
• 1 Thessalonians 4:7
For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.
• 1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
• Since we have a hard time doing this, the next characteristic is important….
Merciful
And we are to be like Him
• Matthew 9: 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
• James 2:12-13 LB You will be judged on whether or not you are doing what Christ wants you to. So watch what you do and what you think; 13 for there will be no mercy to those who have shown no mercy. But if you have been merciful, then God’s mercy toward you will win out over his judgment against you.
• Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
• Mercy often translated “Kindness.”
APPLICATIONS for us—Always come down on the side of kindness and mercy
• We are so easy to take offense.
• Don’t assume a negative about others (why is it, we never assume good things?)
• Great advice by I’ve forgotten who, when they said, “I don’t know why I do what I do, how can I assume to judge why another person does what they do?”
• Remember Satan is the “accuser of the brethren.”
• Don’t do this job.
• We can critique or challenge actions, we cannot EVER ascribe motives or label a person because of one action.
• Finally, simply, BE KIND.
Moving along in God’s Characteristics—
Love
What this means for us—
in I Cor 13, put in God for the word love
• All that love is, describes what God is to us
• 1 Cor 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.
• Put God in for the word LOVE…..
• “God is patient; God is kind…. God does not dishonor others, God is not easily angered, God keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God never fails.”
Like many of God’s attributes, it is difficult to truly understand God’s love—Paul prayed for his people that they might be able to understand it
• Eph. 3:17 I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
• We need to pray for that understanding also—I think many of our questions and fears would be solved if we truly understood the depths of God’s love to us.
Truth
In contrast, Satan is the father of lies
• John 8: 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
• This is why untruth in ANY FORM is so horrible for a Christian.
• Whenever we are not honest, we reflect the enemy, not our Lord.
A few quick notes on Satan, as much confusion
• Satan DOES NOT share any of the characteristics we are talking about with God.
• He is a CREATED being, not equal in any way to God.
• He is ONE being, not everywhere, though he has an army of fallen angels, and most likely he doesn’t care at all about you as an individual.
• His is not ALL-KNOWING.
• He cannot read your thoughts, he has NO IDEA of your future.
• He is not the cause of every trouble and misfortune in your life and neither is God (though God is merciful and protects us from much), as James 1:13-14 reminds us.
• When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.
How to know the source of problems
• KNOW the BIBLE
• Know how God wants you to live—it is very different than the standards of our world today and sadly much of what you hear even from some Christian sources.
• Ask for wisdom when you are confused as to the source of your trials or about what to do.
• Ask for strength, wisdom, help to do what you need to do.
• Ask others for prayers and help.
• “Get up off your face” and do what needs to be done.
All-knowing, Omniscient
What this means to us
• He knows all about us and yet
• HE understands AND He still loves us.
• He doesn’t get tired of us, of dealing with us.
• A wonderful example for us to follow…..so often we might say or think, “oh if you really knew that
about this person.”
• God already does and He loves and accepts them—
• Also, we might get tired of someone we love
messing up in the same ways again and again….
God doesn’t give up on them.
• We cannot (should not, pray for the ability) do less.
Everywhere, Omnipresent
Combining His Love and Omnipresence—remember these verses…
• Romans 8: 38 For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, 39 or where we are—high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean—nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God.
All Powerful, Omnipotent
What it means
to us
• Recognize that just because God CAN do all things, doesn’t mean He will do them.
• Or do them in the ways we think are best….
• Or in the timing we want***REMEMBER HE sees the BIG PICTURE, of how we are to grow, influence others, for our good and His Glory—see chart on HIS view of time.
• Someday, All will be well-see printable to remind you—both on www.Bible805.com.
• But we need to trust His love and wisdom until then.
Immutable, Unchangeable
What this
means to us
• Nothing we do can change how He feels about us.
• Or his promises to us.
• Or on the other side—His expectations, commands, justice—
• They are timeless also.
• In a very practical way, learn applications of His Word for today by learning their true meaning in the past—Study Hermeneutics.
• Which we will be doing.
Eternal
What it means to us
• No, we can’t conceive what this really means.
• Listed last on this chart to remind us that all the extraordinary, previously mentioned attributes of our God will never end.
• And He shares this with us. “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” 1 John 5:11–12
• That makes all God is personal and unlike human emotions, God’s understanding, love, and mercy to us will never end.
• And for that we can be eternally grateful.
Final application, strive to be like your God
• We cannot imitate the “omni” characteristics but many of God’s characteristics we can and are commanded to.
• WWJD, “What would Jesus do?” is not just a saying but an excellent question to ask ourselves continuously as we think about the character of our God.
• Remember the #1 goal of a disciple, by its very definition, is to become like the one we follow.
• We should always and in every way strive to become like our God, like Jesus.
• It is an overwhelming goal, but let’s try our best to do justly, love kindness and to walk humbly with our God.
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