The Trinity: Foundation of Christian Faith and Worship

Here we have, in this text of Scripture here, an oft-repeated benediction in the church. In fact, if you had been at Eastpoint Church this past Sunday at the close of the service, you would have heard me recite these words in a benediction of the congregation there at Eastpoint Church. For the Bible, beloved, is replete as it were with these, what we call "Trinitarian formulas." These formulas are succinct statements that set forth to us the Person and work of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. [00:23:23]

No other doctrine is so deep, beloved, that for nearly over two thousand years of study and reflection, we have yet to plunge the depths of its understanding. And yet, at the same time, no doctrine is so near and so dear to us and to the church that it establishes all that we are, it establishes all that we have, it establishes everything that we will ever be. [02:05:74]

The religions of this world, from the monotheism of Islam and Judaism, to the polytheism of Hinduism and Buddhism, to the hybrid and aberrant teachings of Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses, all find their divergence from biblical Christianity where Christians affirm that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Trinity, therefore, is a most beloved doctrine of the church, and therefore it is a most defended doctrine in the church. [03:14:05]

And through the years, the Trinity has been confessed, it has been taught, it has been defended, it has been exegeted, and it has been illustrated. And admittedly these illustrations through the years, while helpful at points, have often left us ultimately wanting. Popular illustrations like the egg, the one egg and three parts -- the white, the yoke and shell. Or water, water that is coming in three forms -- solid, liquid and a vapor. [04:50:69]

Christianity joins Judaism and Islam as the prominent monotheistic religion in the world, that is the one God religion. And like Judaism and Islam, Christianity rejects the idea of multiple gods. When we speak and teach, we don't say, "gods," plural, but rather we say, "God," singular. And yet, beloved, that God, that God that we proclaim, that singular God that we proclaim from the very first steps of our Lord Jesus Christ upon the earth began the revelation that that God is three in Persons. [07:58:33]

The early church, the early stages of the church, and the church fathers, while always affirming that God is one, the church faithfully and frequently confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord, that Jesus Christ is God. The early church, the early church had two agendas beloved, two agendas. One was the proclamation and the spread of the gospel, and two was the defense of the truth. [09:10:80]

And the Nicene Creed declares, "We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things invisible and visible. In one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of the same essence as the Father." And so Arianism was condemned, and the language of Trinitarian orthodoxy was established. [15:49:68]

And we can too, beloved, for the Bible teaches us three things about God this morning. One, that God is one. Two, that God is three. And three, that the Three are one. It teaches us that God is one, it teaches us that God is three, and it teaches us that the Three are one. That God is one, the doctrine of the Trinity states that, beloved. It states that God is one, that there is one God. [18:44:36]

The Bible tells us that the three are one in creation. In the Scriptures the Father created, in the Scriptures the Son created, in the Scriptures the Spirit created. All, all, all, the Bible tells us, were present at creation, performing and accomplishing the singular will of creating all things good. The one true God created all things. The three are not just one in creation, but they are one in the resurrection as well. [26:16:50]

For salvation is Trinitarian. The language of redemption is in the Bible, is the language of the Trinity. Here is the message of the gospel, beloved. The message of the gospel is this, "God saves." God saves. He saves sinners. And yet, how God saves reveals to us the nature and His name. For as Father, He appoints unto salvation. As Son, He accomplishes our salvation. And as Holy Spirit, He applies our salvation. [32:40:29]

Not only is salvation Trinitarian, beloved, but worship is Trinitarian. Worship is Trinitarian. That for which we were created and that for which we have been re-created, namely worship, is a uniquely Trinitarian exercise and experience. And Philippians chapter 3 and verse 3, the Scriptures tell us that we worship God by the Spirit for the glory of Jesus Christ. We worship the Father by the Spirit for the glory of Jesus Christ. [34:38:27]

In the Bible and in the history of Christianity, the blessed Trinity, beloved, is inescapable. From Genesis to Revelation, we see the one true God revealing Himself in three Persons. You can't get around it. The more you study the Scriptures, the more plain and the more important it becomes to your everyday life. Gregory of Nazianzus, a fourth century theologian in Constantinople put it this way, "I cannot think of the One without quickly being encircled by the splendor of the Three. [36:46:10]