Saturday, June 16, 2012

God’s Nature: Attributes of the Trinity


God is a triune Being: God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. The number three signifies Divine perfection and completeness, as in the fullness of the God-head representing all Three Members of the Trinity (Ephesians 3:19; 4:13; Colossians 2:9). All three Persons of the Trinity appear together in certain Scripture verses, such as those describing the baptism of Jesus Christ (Luke 3:22).

One way to consider these three aspects of God is that God the Father is the Originator or the “mind” of the plan, including the plan of creation, of salvation, or of anything in between or thereafter. God the Son could be regarded as the Embodiment of the plan, the One Who spoke the worlds into existence (Genesis 1:3); Who wrapped Himself in human flesh to redeem us (John 1:14); and Who will return to reign victoriously forever (Revelation 21:1-3).

The Holy Spirit is the Empowerment of the plan (Micah 3:8; Luke 4:14; Romans 15:19; 2 Timothy 1:7), Who moved upon the waters at the beginning of creation (Genesis 1:2) and Who indwells every believer at the moment of salvation to motivate their walk with Christ (1 Corinthians 6:19). The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to draw attention to Jesus Christ (1 John 4:2-3; 1 John 5:6), Who is the only Way we can know the Father (John 1:18; 5:37; 14:7,9).

As we study the Trinity, it appears that His characteristics can each be described in three facets. God is equated with love (1 John 4:8,16), spirit (John 4:24), and light (1 John 1:5).

God is All in All (Romans 11:36), and His three main attributes reflect His command over all things, persons, and events. He is omniscient, meaning that He knows everything past, present and future (Psalm 139; Romans 11:33-36). He is omnipresent, meaning that He can be anywhere and everywhere, at any time point in the past, present and future (Psalm 139; Revelation 1:8). His abode is the three heavens (2 Corinthians 12:2), with the earth as His footstool (Isaiah 66:1).

And He is omnipotent, meaning that God Almighty (Genesis 17:1, 28:3, etc.) created (Colossians 1:16) and has power over all things, persons, and events, no matter when and where they occur (Genesis 18:14; Jeremiah 32:27). God therefore can transcend time, space and physical laws to accomplish His will.

And yet there are three things God cannot do: He cannot change (James 1:17), for He is the same, yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He cannot lie (Titus 1:2), for He is the Truth, the Life and the Way (John 14:6).

And because He is holy (Leviticus 21:8; 1 Peter 1: 15), righteous (Exodus 9:27; 1 Samuel 12:7; 2 Chronicles 12:6; Psalm 11:7; 33:5; 36:6; Isaiah 32:1; 41:10; 1 John 2:1; Revelation 16:5; 19:11, etc.) , and just (Isaiah 61:8; 1 Peter 1: 17), He cannot let a sinner into Heaven (Romans 3:23) unless that sinner is washed clean in the precious blood of the Lamb of God (John 1:29, 1 Peter 1:19, Revelation 5:12), and made righteous by his faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the only way to Heaven (1 Corinthians 15).

Despite His infinite power and wisdom, and His wrath at sin, which is fitting for His perfect holiness, God treats His children with three benevolent traits: love, mercy and grace. The Greek word for His love is agape, or self-sacrificing charity (1 Corinthians 13) that led the Father to give His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in Him will have everlasting life (John 3:16). His love is constant and everlasting (Jeremiah 31:3) That same agape love led Jesus the Son to willingly lay down His life for His friends (John 15:13).

God’s mercy (Deuteronomy 7:12; 1 Kings 8:23; Psalm 59:17; 66:20) is everlasting (Psalm 52:8; 136:26) and flows from His love and compassion toward us (Psalm 51:1; 86:15), not only for His chosen people Israel but for all who put their faith in His Son (Romans 11:30-32; 1 Peter 1:3). Because of God’s mercy, He withholds the punishment incurred by our sins of everlasting death in hell, so He doesn’t give us what we do deserve (Ephesians 2: 3-5).

And because of God’s grace (2 Thessalonians 2:16), He does give us what we don’t deserve – eternal, abundant life with Him on earth and in Heaven (Ephesians 2:5-9). Praise God that He makes those who have placed their faith in His Son to be His children, joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8: 15-17), and ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Be sure to join us for the rest of this series, in which we will discuss how the Names of Christ describing His qualities can be grouped in threes; how man is made in God’s three-part image reflecting the signature of the Trinity; how the Resurrection centers on the Divine number three, and how God designed us to honor and worship Him in triplets of praise!

This post was featured this week at What Joy is Mine -- thanks so much and God bless!


© 2012 Laurie Collett









36 comments:

Frank E. Blasi said...

Another great post.
And I'm looking forward for the rest of the series.
God bless,
Frank.

Wendy @ E-1-A said...

WoW Laurie! This must have taken some amount of study to produce such a work.

Like Frank... I too am looking forward to the rest of this series. The names of Christ sound intriguing. I am looking forward to finding out how you group these into 3's too.

Wendy @ ECTaS

P.S. Thank you for linking up with Scripture Sunday this week. It is one again, a privilege to host a link back to this site.

Denise said...

Wonderful post.

Nadwrażliwiec said...

For me the biggest evidence, that Jesus is God, is the fact of His resurrection. If He hadn't resurrected, Christianity would'nt exist today - His disciples had a lot of enemies among other Jews and Romans. If resurrection hadn't been truth, their enemies had very simple evidence of that: they should simply show dead body of Jesus. Nobody of them did that, so Christ is God.

Bonnie Way aka the Koala Mom said...

Great explanation. Growing up in the church, I've never had a problem believing or understanding the Trinity. It's complicated, but it makes sense to me. :)

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks, Frank! I appreciate your encouragement.
Have a blessed week in Him,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks, Wendy! You are a blessing for your kind words, and thank you again for the award from Scripture Sunday!
God bless,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks, Denise! God bless!
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks so much, Bonnie Way, for your visit & kind comment!
God bless,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Excellent point, Zim. Also, why would the disciples risk their lives for a lie?
Blessings to you,
Laurie

a joyful noise said...

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost the three in One. Great post Laurie!

Amy W Thornton said...

Great post. I like studies that acknowledge and talk about the Trinity. People get confused by the triune aspect and just give up, but there is so much to be learned by really studying God in Three Persons. Thank you for sharing and for a very informative post. And thanks for linking up with NOBH! Smiles -

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, A Joyful Noise! Thanks for your encouragement.
God bless,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks, Amy, for your kind comment! Just as we can learn more about humankind by studying our mind, spirit and body, we can learn more about God by studying the Trinity.
May you have a blessed week in Him!
Laurie

Charlotte said...

What a great job of explaining things that so many do not understand. You helped make them understandable.
Blessings,
Charlotte

Donald Fishgrab said...

Great post, Laurie.

The trinity is a critical aspect of who God is, yet many fail to understand the importance. Since we humans cannot separate ourselves physically, as God can, it can be a little confusing, but the concept of a person performing different functions gives at least a partial understanding of the idea.

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks, Charlotte, for your kind words! God bless you!
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks, dfish! I appreciate your encouragement. One of the great joys of seeing Him face to face in glory will be that we will finally understand Him completely, for we will be as He is.
Blessings to you,
Laurie

Ms. Kathleen said...

What an awesome lesson on the Trinity. AMEN. I really learned something today. AMEN! Have a wonderful day!

http://theemptynestexpress.com

Brandee Shafer said...

Wow. Very meaty!

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks, Ms. Kathleen -- I so glad you found it helpful!
Blessings to you,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks, Brandee, for your visit & comment!
God bless,
Laurie

Brian Miller said...

nice....that had to take some time to put together, but well thought through and i like all the references you have added to it as well...you def made me think today...smiles.

Unknown said...

What a loving and thorough walk through scripture-- thank you.

Aloha,
Following ya from Friendship Fridays. We're riding the wave of life at localsugarhawaii.com and I'd love it if you'd join us for the sweet ride.

xo,
Nicole
localsugarhawaii.com

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks, Brian! I'm glad you found the post thought-provoking. Bible truths certainly do give us a lot to ponder.
God bless,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks, Nicole, for your encouraging comment & for following!
Blessings to you,
Laurie

Michelle DeRusha said...

Wow, Laurie, I am impressed. This is amazingly thorough. And I thank you...I am doing some research on the Holy Spirit, so the verses you referenced will be very helpful!

Joan Hall said...

Laurie - I'm really enjoying this series of posts and learning more about the Triune God.

Blessings,
Joan

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks so much, Michelle! I'm glad you found this helpful. May God bless your research & give you wisdom.
Love in Him,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Hi Joan,
Thanks so much! The next in the series is all ready to go, but our cable was struck by lightning Fri. & we're still not online at the house, so hopefully soon, if I can figure out how to open the post at my husband's work!
God bless,
Laurie

Naomi said...

Laurie...at the WJIM link up, you received the most visits so I am featuring this post and your blog this week at WJIM. I'm glad to be doing so. :o) This is a great post! Thank you for linking up at WJIM.

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks so much! I am honored and blessed. God bless you for all you do to spread God's Word.
Love in Him,
Laurie

Mommy Emily said...

you spend so much time in the word. you inspire me to do the same. thank you friend.

kd sullivan said...

I love this! Scripture filled triplets of praise!

Laurie Collett said...

Thank you, Emily, for your kind encouragement. You are a blessing!
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Dear kd sullivan,
Thanks so much for your kind comment!
Blessings to you,
Laurie