Of Faith in the Holy Trinity

There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body, parts, or passions; of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the Maker, and Preserver of all things both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there be three Persons, of one substance, power, and eternity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

I always enjoyed the joke:

“Question: How many Christians does it take to change a lightbulb?”
“Answer: Three….. but they’re really one….”

The trinity, the concept that God is both Three and One, is one of those concepts that is clear in the Bible (though the word “trinity” itself never appears) yet the idea itself is almost impossible to understand. How can Father, Son & Holy Spirit each be fully God, yet fully distinct? It does our head in (or at least mine), but you know, it is actually something that gives me a great deal of comfort.

It boggles my mind to think about the sheer number of telegraph poles & underground wires to hardwire the internet throughout Australia. It makes my brain hurt trying to understand the physics of a plane that weighs maybe 100 tonnes, getting enough thrust that it can push itself (and me!) up into the sky!

There are a thousand little miracles in my world that I don’t understand, let alone considering the almost infinite universe outside our world, yet God made all of these things. Should I be surprised that I find the nature of God hard to understand?

What I do know though, is amazing.

God the Father made us, loves us & has had a plan for me since before the beginning of time (let the idea of “before the beginning of time” bounce around in that noodle of yours!)
God, infinite, powerful and majestic, chose to become fully human, experiencing all the trials and temptations of human nature, yet living a sinless life. That same God submitted himself to a painful death on the cross, not because he messed up on something, but so he could take the judgement that I deserve for my inability to live the way I know I ought (and more importantly, the way God calls me to)

And, having taken the penalty for my sin, God the Holy Spirit dwells in all people who “confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their hearts that God raised them from the dead” and this Spirit is at work in me, convicting me of the gospel truth, and changing me to be more like Christ in the way I live, think & act.

Now that’s pretty awesome….