Three In One

In my experiences in Sunday school as a child and church services over the past few years, I had heard of the Trinity many times but it has always been on a base level. With this being one of the most important concepts in the Christian faith, I find it interesting that we are not studying this concept deeper. The Trinity teaches that our God is not just one in Himself but is actually three in one. He is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You may have discussed the Trinity in church but have you ever taken the time to think about what it means and how it is connected to you?

I believe it is pivotal to understand the Trinity in order to have the deep connection that God craves from us. So in my journey to build a stronger and deeper relationship with God, I have begun looking into each of the three parts of the Trinity. I want to better understand each part of the Trinity and what that connection means to me. Unfortunately, we can only understand a small portion of this concept since it is much more complex than our human imagination can take us. We are left only to attempt to grasp its complexities and use simple analogies to attempt to explain this concept. This shouldn’t stop us from attempting to deepen our knowledge or keep us from reaching the full grandeur of the Trinity.

For me, I have experienced God in the realm of a family, and from that, I base my understanding. For many others, they may not see God in this realm. There is no right way to connect to the Trinity and to God. If you connect to God differently, I encourage you to share that in the comments below. God is so vast that He has the ability to connect to each of us personally and directly. Each part of the Trinity is designed to connect us differently to a part of who God is. To me, God the Father takes directly from His name and is like a father in that He provides our daily needs, He is the creator of everything we had, have today, or will have. He grants us gifts that can be used professionally and personally as well as disciplines us when we go astray. The Father is the part of the Trinity that gives and takes away. He is the director of our path and has authority over everything.

Jesus the Son is like a brother and best friend to me, He received His guidance directly from the Father and put that into action when He was on Earth. Colossians 2:9 tells us that Jesus is fully man and fully God, “For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.” Since Jesus is fully man and fully God, He can understand both sides. He was tested on earth as a human, but He did not sin and remained holy, like God. He set the perfect example for us, an example we should try to emulate. Jesus is the best example that we can look at on how to please the Father. We can look at tHis ministry and find guidance. Everything we experience He also went through, death of family and friends, trials, persecution, physical and emotional pain, long days, and sleepless nights. He lived in the same world we live in and faced the same struggles we faced. Jesus, the Son is the human part of the Trinity.

When Jesus left us, He did not leave us to figure it out on our own. We were given the Holy Spirit that lives in the hearts of all Christians. It leads us in the way of the Lord and keeps us safe from the evils of the world. Jesus told us in John 14:16-17, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.” The Holy Spirit is just as much God as the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is God living inside of each of us. 1 Corinthians 3:16 says, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s spirit dwells in you?” We have the power of God living inside of us and He guides us daily. The Holy Spirit is our direct connection to God since it is a part of us and also a part of Him. Through the Spirit we have a direct line of communication to God the Father and God the Son, Romans 8:26 says, “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.”

The Trinity is redemption that was originated by the Father, achieved by the Son’s sacrifice, and applied through the Holy Spirit in us. God expresses His love for us in the Trinity by creating a Father who is before all time and knows all, He created the Son to bring us back to Him and to save us from our sins and the Holy Spirit who lives in us and guides us on His path of righteousness. The Trinity underscored the importance of a relationship with God and highlights how we connect to Him. God knew that we would need a father figure, a brother to help us through and a spirit living inside of us as a reminder in order to safely navigate our earthly lives, so that is what He became for us. He embodies not just one characteristic but all of the characteristics that we need. He created us to be His and to be connected to Him on the deepest level. He wants a relationship with us and on every level.

The concept of being three in one can cause a lot of confusion but if we study the Bible and take it as complete truth we know that we have one God that is greater than our understanding. Although He is one, He is able to connect to us in three different ways. Mark 12:29 tell us, “Jesus replied, ‘The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord.’” This is the same message we received in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.” Since the beginning, God has been one God in three persons. Each part comes together to make us God. Each part is as important as the other we know this because it states it in the great commission. Matthew 28:19 tells us, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” We are told to baptize people in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In doing it this way we bring the person being baptized into the relationship with each part of who God really is. We are inviting them into a relationship that covers all wants and needs.

The tough question we have to ask ourselves is do we have a relationship with each part of the Trinity or are we only connected in one part? To truly be God's we must have a personal relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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