At an Anglican men's
breakfast i was invited to recently, after the message someone asked the
speaker what he, being a non conformist, thought about the common book of
prayer and the Anglican liturgy. I found
the answer and following debate interesting.
The speaker was an Apostolic pastor and said that he envied the
structure of Anglicanism while he believed there should be balance and the
flexibility to express yourself and be led by the Holy Spirit. One of the people there said he'd come from a
Pentecostal church but found that for him, it lacked the backbone or structure
that he personally needed to ground him in the faith. He said he liked the Anglican church because
it had a structure and they rehearsed weekly the statement of faith in the
Nicean creed to remind them of what they believed.
Does anyone know it? We
should do as it's included as part of our GCI statement of beliefs as it is one
of the foundations of the Christian Faith, but it's something that I've never
really taken any notice of.
I'll read it to you.
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of
heaven and earth, and of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten
Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God, begotten not made, of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made. For us
and for our salvation, he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy
Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius
Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in
accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the
right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and
the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of
life, who proceeds from the Father. With the Father and the Son he is
worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets.
We
believe in one holy, all-embracing and apostolic Church.
We
acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look
forward to the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
(Translation based on The Book of
Common Prayer, 1979 copied from the GCI Statement of Beliefs on www.gci.org)
This all sounds very familiar - or at
least is should do. Today I want to rehearse
what should be very familiar passages to reinforce our foundational beliefs
about God. The first thing to note is
that we are trying to get our human heads around non human concepts, so our
vocabulary and understanding is limited.
It's like two slugs trying to describe the nature of a human being.
In the old testament we see God the
creator, being all mighty and powerful delivering His chosen people Israel from
their enemies, and we see His Spirit resting on people and inspiring them to do
things, whether it be leading countries or teaching or prophesying.
The new testament however teaches us that
it was actually Jesus who created everything, but the father and son
relationship was not apparent in the old testament, so they saw it as God being
One God and his Spirit or presence resting on people at various times.
Then, God became human, and since
that time, people have been trying to figure out how God works when you now
have a father and son relationship being described in the scriptures. In the centuries after Jesus died, there were
those who said Jesus was not God and those who said Jesus was not human – and
in this context, the church of the day formed the doctrine of the triune God,
commonly known as the Trinity. This was
defined and refined in the Nicean Creed in AD381 after much debate and study of
what the scripture said and what had been passed down from the apostles
themselves to their followers. What
emerged was the Trinity or probably more accurately described as Tri -
Unity. The unity of the three. This is not a biblical phrase but it is used
to describe what is revealed in the bible.
The aim today is to show that there
is one God but He is revealed as three elements, and these three elements are
evident through the revelation of Jesus as recorded in the bible. But to understand you have to look at it
through the lens of the new testament.
If break down any substance into its component parts, it's made up of
different elements. Taking water as an
example, it's made up of two parts Hydrogen and one part Oxygen, so each
individual molecule is made up of three distinct atoms. For water to be water it must have all three,
they are inseparable and intertwined so as to form one substance. All the atoms are equally water but if you
take away one element it becomes something else.
In the context of God, the commonly
used phrase is that God is three persons.
In our terminology – when we think of a person, we think of a unique and
separate individual so with this in mind we may incorrectly think that Father,
Son and Spirit are three individual Gods, but that is not the case. Person was actually derived from the Latin persona,
which at the time referred to actors when they would put on a mask and change
character and outward appearance but they were the same person. God likewise was seen in three different ways
and has three different roles, all distinct yet all one God.
The point is that the doctrine of the
trinity does not suggest that there are three Gods, but one God who is three distinct
persons. How? It’s a mystery because we
are looking at something beyond our human experience and understanding, but let’s
see what’s revealed in the bible.
Let’s look at a few scriptures back
to back to confirm the oneness of God.
Jesus himself said that the Lord is
one in Mark 12 v28 – 31 that is drawing reference to Deut 6v4-5.
v28 One of the teachers of the law
came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer,
he asked him, “of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
v29 “The important one,” answered
Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear o Israel
v30 Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your
strength’
v31 the second is this ‘Love your
neighbour as yourself’. There is no
commandment greater than these.”
Isa 45v5-7 says:
v5 “I am the Lord, and there is no other, apart from
me there is no God. I will strengthen
you though you have not acknowledged me,
v6 so that from the rising of the sun to the place of
its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the Lord and there is no other.
v7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring
prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord do all these things.
If you look back at v1 this is the
word of God revealed to Cyres. It talks
about one God, the creator.
In John 10v30 Jesus says “I and the
Father are one”.
1 Cor 8v4-6
v4 So then, about eating food
sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and
there is no God but one.
v5 For even if there are so-called gods,
whether in heaven or on earth (indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”),
v6 yet for us there is but one God,
the Father, from whom all things
came and for whom we live; and there
is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through
whom all things came and through
whom we live.
Notice the subtle differences. This talks about one God the Creator being
Father from whom and Son through whom all things came, one creator
but the product of the two, it's like having a painting commissioned, someone
will say I want a portrait of my tortoise and the artist will paint it, but as
we’ll read in Genesis in a minute, the Spirit was there too.
Clearly we are talking about One God. But we see distinct persons evident in Matt 3v16-17
v16 As soon as Jesus was baptised, he
went up out of the water. At that moment
heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting
on him.
v17 and a voice from heaven said
“This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Clearly there are three distinct persons
evident here. Father in heaven, the Spirit
and the Son. The father is distinct from the spirit who is distinct from the
son. God in heaven, speaking, God on
earth, Jesus and God going between one and other, The Spirit.
This is reinforced in Matt 28v18-20
v18 Then Jesus came to them and said
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
v19 Therefore go and make disciples
of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit
v20 and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And
surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
These are Jesus words,
differentiating between the three persons of God. Baptizing in the name of Father, Son &
Holy Spirit.
So we see revealed by Jesus Himself
that God is three distinct persons. That’s straight from the horses mouth so to
speak.
Ok, let's look at some more examples.
John 1v1-3&14
v1 In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
v2 He was with God in the beginning.
v3 Through Him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made.
v14 The Word became flesh and made
his dwelling among us. We have seen his
glory, the glory of the One and only who came from the Father, full of grace
and truth.
This is clear, that in the beginning the
Word was with God and the word was God – one God, two persons. God created everything through his word and
then the word became flesh and dwelt amongst them.
So we see the Father and Son’s role
in creation, but if you look at Genesis 1v1-2 the Spirit of God hovered over
the waters – guess what, a third element is revealed as well. One God – three persons – tri – unity.
In Col
v15 He is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn over all creation.
v16 For by him all things were
created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones
or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
v17 He is before all things and in
him all things hold together.
Lets continue in 19-20
v19 For God was pleased to have all
his fullness dwell in him and through him
WHY? to reconcile to
himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making
peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Jesus was the image of the unseen
God. He revealed God. The fullness of God dwelt in him and through
him all things are reconciled to God. How?
We are saved by his love, for He died on the Cross to reconcile God and
Humanity.
Picking up the point about the fullness
of God, let's look at the incarnation story in Matt 1.
Matt 1v18 says “This is how the birth
of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to
Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through
the Holy Spirit.” Again we see God in
unity, he sent his spirit to plant his seed in Mary, so we have the three
distinct persons, father, son and spirit evident.
The Word, Jesus was therefore both fully God and fully
human. The second element of God became
human and therefore the creator became part of his creation, how, by the Holy
Spirit so you have the unity of the one evident in three different ways.
Although distinct persons, we see in
John 14 that these persons are one – then we see reference to the Spirit being
both the Spirit of God and Jesus – so the Spirit is revealed as divine a third
element of one God. Please turn there
with me. Again these are Jesus words.
READ John 14v6-21
Let’s break it down.
v6 Jesus is THE Way, THE Truth and THE
Life – He’s the ONLY way people can get to the father. The Old Testament perception was that of a
distant God, the only way to reach God is through Jesus. Don't forget the
curtain that separated God and man was torn from the top down when Jesus died.
v7 If you know Jesus, you know
God. How do we know Jesus? He is the
word – so by reading the word – the bible we can get to know him. By getting to know Jesus, we see God revealed
to us. Of course Jesus is alive and
living in us by His Spirit as we'll discover later, so we have a relationship
with him and through prayer, through both talking and listening, we get to know
him.
v8 Philip wanted Jesus to reveal his
father.
v9 Jesus says that whoever has seen
Him, has seen the father. One God.
v10 Jesus is in the father and the
father in him. His words are not his own
but the father speaking through him.
v11 Jesus repeats it saying “believe
me” I am in the father and father in me.
So we see the oneness or unity of God the father and son.
v12-14 says that whoever believes in
him will do even greater works than he did, because he was to return to his
father and whatever we ask in his name he’ll do. This is why we pray for things in Jesus
name. That's why we can step out in
faith when we do the will of God.
So how will Jesus do these things?
v15-16 Those who love Jesus will do
what he commands. Jesus prays to his father and he sends the comforter. The Holy
Spirit, so he will live with us forever.
So here we have it, father son and spirit, one God working in
unity. The glorified human, Jesus,
intercedes or prays on behalf of humanity and as a result God comforts us by
his Spirit. Isn’t that cool. Again we see that God is one God who is three
persons working in Unity.
v17 says that the world would not
recognise the Spirit but he lived with them and would live in them. From Pentecost we know that God’s Spirit
lives in us, it’s not just resting on us.
We are temples of God – not a distant God, a personal God.
v18 To further emphasise the one-ness
of Father and Son, and God revealed in Jesus, Jesus says that He will not leave
us without comfort and that He would come to them.
v19 We’ve been nearly 2000 yrs since Jesus died,
but he’s still alive living in and through his church, how, through His Spirit. In comparison to eternity this has been a
very short time without seeing Jesus in his human form.
So we see the Spirit coming from both
father and Son. Are there two Spirits?
no, because father and son are one.
v20 Jesus is in the Father, and we’re
in him and he is in us. REPEAT. This shows that we’re united with him
also. We are Included in the Trinity as
we are in Christ.
Another word used to describe this is
perecoresis – the mutual interpenetration of the three distinct persons of
God.
There is sometimes confusion over the
Holy Spirit. Is it, or he, a powerful
force or something else?
We’ve read that the Holy Spirit is
both sent by God and by Jesus, so is he, a lesser part of the trinity? The church used to say that the Spirit was an
“it”, a power or force sent from God but denied He was actually God Himself,
not a distinct person. The Holy Spirit,
simply is God, living in and around us, the third person is the essence or
Spirit of the other two combined. They
are inseparable, when you get one, you get them all. In this way, God is alive and living right here,
right now, and so is Jesus by the presence of the Spirit. So does that mean that the Spirit is somehow
lesser with no independent thoughts or actions?
No. Just as Jesus said that he
spoke for the father, he also had a mind of his own, so too does the
Spirit.
It says in Romans 8 that the Spirit
intercedes for us.
v26 In the same way, the Spirit helps
us in our weakness. We do not know what
we ought to pray form but the Spirit himself intercedes for us in groans that
words cannot express.
v27 And he who searches our hearts knows
the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in
accordance with God’s will.
Even when we don’t know what to pray
ourselves, the Spirit prays for us, but he does so in accordance with God’s
will, so although distinct, he operates in accordance with God’s will because
HE is GOD also. The Spirit is in and
around us, so He knows what’s wrong and takes it to the Father.
The Spirit also has emotions –
because we are talking about God.
Eph 4v30 says “And do not grieve the
Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption”
Matt 12 v30 – 32 shows that a) you
can blaspheme the Holy Spirit and b) doing so is unforgivable. Jesus says
v30 He who is not with me is against
me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.
v31 and so, I tell you, every sin and
blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not
be forgiven.
v32 Anyone who speaks a word against
the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit
will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
Jesus said he’d forgive those who
spoke against him, remember on the cross he said forgive them for they don’t
know what they were doing. But those who
blaspheme the Spirit – God – would not be forgiven. This further emphasises the point that the
Church does not preach universalism – this indicates there are those who will
blaspheme God and reject the gift of Grace that’s been given to them. This is
also where we have to be careful with our relationship with others, we can't
judge others, especially other Christians even if we don't agree with them 100%
because we don't know what God by His Spirit is doing in their lives where they
are at. We don't have perfect
understanding either, so we're not in a position to condemn others who may have
a different ministry or different understanding. Whilst we may not agree with them, we need to
be careful we're not judging others or blaspheming what God may be doing in
their lives by His Spirit. I was talking
to someone the other day who had been a drug addict and dealer, and now he's a
street pastor who goes out talking to people suffering with the issues he once
had. He changed so we can't judge others
as we don't know what God's doing in their lives.
You cannot therefore dismiss the
Spirit as just being like a power or a force that God uses – God’s Spirit IS
GOD interacting in the world today. We
have the living God living in and around us continually. God is not a distant God, he’s an intimate
loving God. He created us and knows us
literally inside out. We don’t even know
a fraction of how the spiritual reality works, but from what the bible reveals,
and we read this just now in John 14v20 we do know that God lives in us, and we
in him. We are included therefore in the
reality of the trinity even though we can’t describe the mechanics of it. Just as we are in God, and God in us, we have
independent thoughts and actions, so to do the three distinct persons of
God.
Conclusion
To conclude, there is confusion over
terminology as we try to explain God, however as I’ve said before, us trying to
explain God is like a pair of slugs in my greenhouse trying to explain to each
other what I am. There are numerous
diagrams and models of God if you google it.
The eastern orthodox churches have a different view from the western
churches, and many splits and divisions have been caused by people having
differing views. The fact is, God is, who
God is, and no matter how hard we try, we are trying to explain God from the
perspective of our limited human understanding, so all the triune models are
helpful to visualise and humanise God but they are imperfect.
So we see that the bible is quite
simple in its description of God. We
have, revealed, three distinct but inseparable persons that make up one
God. There is God the Father, God the
son, the Word who created all things, who became human flesh and blood, and God
the Holy Spirit, who rested upon people in the old testament and who, since
Pentecost dwells within us. When we
think of God, all three persons are intertwined and inseparable. The bible reveals what we know about God, but
that is not really very much because the bible writers were also conveying what
was revealed in Jesus but with the constraints of their own experience. What I’ve gone through today is the tip of
the iceberg, the more you look at it, the more there is to discover. Who God is and how he works is a mystery, but
what he’s done, what he’s doing and what he’s going to do are clear. God loves the world so much that he became
human, was born, lived, died, rose again and ascended, so that we may be
reconciled with God and enter into the relationship that exists between the
different persons of God, and thereby we have eternal life in Him.
Scriptures are quoted from Today's New International Version (Zondervan)
No comments:
Post a Comment