Triplets of Grace: God in Three Persons

 

 

God’s ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9), so only He can understand His own nature as One God in Three Persons. Like the mysteries of the Incarnation (John 1:14), the Church (Ephesians 5:32), and the Rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51-52), the Trinity is a great mystery that our limited human minds cannot understand fully until we reach glory (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Yet the Scripture is clear that God is one God, yet a three-part Being – Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; Luke 3:22). We may not fully comprehend it, but we can have faith that it is so because God’s Word says it (2 Timothy 3:16). Each Person of the Trinity is unique, and yet All are equally God and perfectly aligned in Their will.

God is Spirit (John 4:24), Love (1 John 4:8) and Light (1 John 1:5). The spirit, or mind, of Father God formed a plan (Job 33:4; Psalm 143:10; Isaiah 61:1; Romans 8:9,14,27;; the body of God the Son offered Himself in perfect love to fulfill that plan (John 10:15,17; 15:13; 1 John 3:16). and the light energy of the Holy Spirit empowered that plan (Genesis 1:2). Father, Son and Holy Spirit are self-existent (Exodus 3:14), present from the beginning of time (John 1:1), and each possesses all the divine attributes.

From the beginning of Scripture (Genesis 1:1), the Trinity appears as Elohim, or Hebrew for God -- a plural noun used with a singular verb form, reflecting the constancy of all three Persons of God acting as One Creator. God the Father loved the world so much that to save it He gave His Son (John 3:16), conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20).

When Jesus the Son was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended on Him in a bodily shape like a dove, and God the Father in Heaven voiced His approval of His Son (Luke 3:22). As Jesus died for our sins, He with His last breath recognized that the Spirit was leaving His earthly body and was returning to the Father (Luke 23:46).

Thank God for His Triune nature, for without it, how would the plan of salvation be possible? Jesus suffering and dying as human flesh to pay for our sins would have no meaning or value unless God the Father raised Him from the dead, by the power of the Holy Spirit. All who trust in that as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6) can therefore have everlasting life (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

After His death, burial and resurrection, Jesus Christ’s last words to His disciples before He ascended into Heaven were: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:19).

When a person is saved by placing their faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), they are indwelled by the Holy Spirit (John 3:5-8; 2 Corinthians 1:22), Who instructs them in the knowledge of Jesus Christ (1 John 4:2). In turn, we can know the Father through knowing Jesus Christ (John 5:37;14:7-9). Paul prayed that the Father of glory would give believers at the church of Ephesus the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:17).

Many of the other epistles acknowledge and recognize the distinct yet unified Persons of the Trinity.  Jude tells us to pray in the Holy Ghost to keep ourselves in the love of God (the Father), looking forward to eternal life through the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ (Jude 1:20-21). Peter says that believers are foreknown by the Father, sanctified by the Spirit, and cleansed from our sins by the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:2).

When we are born again and then baptized as a public act of obedience to God, we are baptized “in the Name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” reflecting the “the fact that all three persons of the Trinity have accomplished our salvation,” as the Prince of Preachers Charles Spurgeon put it (Sermon no. 115; 1 February, 1857). Spurgeon goes on to say:

The Father blots out my sin; the Father accepts me and adopts me into his family through Christ. The Son could not save without the Father any more than the Father without the Son; and as for the Holy Spirit, if the Son redeems, do you not know that the Holy Spirit regenerates? … When you say, “Saviour,” remember there is a Trinity in that word—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, this Saviour being three persons under one name. You cannot be saved by the Son without the Father, nor by the Father without the Son, nor by Father and Son without the Spirit. But as they are one in creation, so are they one in salvation, working together in one God for our salvation, and unto that God be glory everlasting, world without end. Amen. 

There are numerous passages in which Jesus prays to the Father or where He tells the disciples that He will leave but that the Comforter (Spirit) will come, again emphasizing that the Three Persons of the Trinity are distinct yet One in their perfect will. May we be ever thankful to the Trinity for our salvation -- to God the Father Who sent His Son to save us and His Spirit to guide us!

© 2013 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

It’s the Message, Not the Medium

 

Photo by Adam J.W.C. 2009

In this dream I was teaching an adult continuing education class. It was held in a kindergarten classroom filled with tiny desks and chairs and cluttered with piles of toys. Some of the adults attempted to sit down, but most huddled awkwardly at the back of the room. I had brought in many visual aids, books, and notes but could find nowhere to set them down. I tried to write on the chalkboard, but it was filled up with an overabundance of writing and pictures. I tried to erase it, but the eraser was heavy with chalk dust and only made more of a mess.

To make matters worse, I could find no suitable chalk. I had an old, splintered piece of lavender chalk that was too brittle to write on the board. One of the students brought me a crayon and showed me that it wrote easily and visibly on the board, but I was concerned that it could not be erased and would ruin the board for other teachers. 

Another student brought me a small gift box, saying it might contain a solution to my dilemma. I opened it and shook out a sea of confetti, only to find small decorative soaps within, sculpted like sea shells, starfish, jellyfish, and other sea creatures. I tried marking the blackboard with one of them, but it was too soft and crumbled like sand.

Finally I realized that I could use my finger to write in the chalk dust already on the board, just like pranksters write “Wash Me!” on the dirty window of a car. My plan was to draw a diagram of the human brain and show how different regions were involved in various interactions with the environment. But to my horror, as I lifted my finger, I realized that I no longer remembered how to draw the brain!

So I turned my attention back to the class, only to find that most of the students had already slipped away, no doubt put off by the clutter, confusion, and inadequate preparation. But an elderly, overweight woman with swollen legs remained, and she said softly, “I thought you were going to tell us about Jesus.”

My heart sunk as I realized that I had gotten so caught up in the presentation that I had forgotten the most important message! I knelt on the floor beside her and explained that we are all sinners (Romans 3:23) deserving eternal punishment in hell, but God gave His only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross to pay for all our sins so that we could have eternal, abundant life with Him (John 3:16; 10:10).

A younger couple also remained. “Oh, we’ve been to church a few times and heard songs about Jesus. They had a great band and videos, and they even served Starbucks! But all they wanted to do was convert us, so we left and didn’t go back.”

As I awoke from the dream, I realized that the Holy Spirit was speaking to me about the importance of witnessing – of preaching Christ, and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23). We must not be ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of salvation to all who believe (Romans 1:16) in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6).   

Before I was saved, God had blessed me with the opportunity to teach neurology to medical students and residents. To me, this field was the most challenging in all of medicine, because no created system or being can fully understand itself, and therefore no human can completely fathom the mystery of the brain.

As fascinating and elusive as the field of neurology is, it pales in comparison with the mystery of the Gospel (Romans 16:25; Ephesians 6:19). Why would God robe Himself in human flesh (John 1:14), suffer and die to pay for our sins, and open His plan of salvation to “whosoever” would trust Him (John 3:16; Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13), and not just to His chosen people (Joel 2:32) with whom He made His initial covenant?

His design of the human brain is truly a wonder (Psalm 139:14), and He has given us the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:5). But how much greater is the awe He inspires by His freely given gift of grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), offering eternal life with Him (1 John 5:11, 13.20) to all who call on His name!

I am thankful that long before I knew Him, God transformed me from an awkward, stammering child who almost got held back in kindergarten to a well-educated, highly trained academician, public speaker, dancer, and singer. Looking back, I realized that He was equipping me to share the most important message of all time – the only Truth that matters to our eternal destiny and to that of our fellow travelers on earth.

The training He allowed me has given me entry to spheres of influence and unusual forms of ministry. I pray to be always yielded to His will to be a vessel fit for His service (Romans 9:21; 2 Timothy 2:20-21), and to realize that without Him, I am and can do nothing (John 15:5).

The dream showed me that we don’t need a large, modern venue; a sophisticated media presentation; or even specialized education or a divinity degree to share His Word. A learned, erudite speech will do no good if it goes over the heads of the listeners, any more than a complex neurology lecture is suitable for a kindergarten class.

Speaking in tongues that no one can understand does not edify the listeners, but only fills the speaker with pride (1 Corinthians 14:1-33). Speaking with fluent oratory or brilliant philosophy means nothing unless we are speaking the truth in love (1 Corinthians 13:1).

It’s not about us, or about showing off our knowledge or talents. If we get too attached to our own plan for ministry, God may humble us (Proverbs 16:18), just as I was embarrassed in the dream when I could no longer even remember how to draw the brain. Sometimes our words or artistic expressions seem beautiful and artistic, as were the sculpted seashell soaps in the dream, but they lack substance and fail to communicate.

All we have to do is to get real, and to tell others about Jesus. It is not our job to “convert” anyone, for only the Holy Spirit can convict the sinful heart of the need for a Savior Who paid our ransom price in full (1 Corinthians 3:6-7; Jeremiah 17:9; Luke 19:10; Mark 10:45; 1 Timothy 2:6).

All we need is obedience and desire to fulfill His Great Commission, to go and teach (Matthew 28:19-20). This is only possible when we yield to the power of the Holy Spirit Who enters us at the moment we are born again (John 3:3-8).

As He teaches us and as we grow in our diligent study of His Word, through His grace we will be more effective in communicating His love and truth to others, whether through language, song, dance, or other arts. But from the moment we are first saved, we can and should immediately share with others how He has changed our destiny and made us a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15).

Let us shout from the rooftops (Matthew 10:27) how He delivered us from the pit of hell (Job 33:28; Isaiah 38:17) to abundant, eternal life (John 3:16; 10:10) in heavenly places in Him (Ephesians 1:3; 2:6).

We should pray for direction on how to prepare and how to be receptive to His guidance (Proverbs 3:5-6). But we don’t need to obsess over what to say, for He will give us the right words at the right time (Luke 12:11-12) if we listen to His still, small voice (1 Kings 19:12). We don’t need to arrange for a comfortable, well-equipped auditorium, a Power Point or multimedia production, or even a piece of chalk or a clean blackboard, for He will provide all we need (Philippians 4:14-19).

Jesus taught His amazing truths from a fishing boat (Matthew 13:2-3); He wrote His Word with His finger on stone (Exodus 31:18), plaster (Daniel 5:5) and sand (John 8:6); and He used His powers of observation and allegory to construct timeless parables from everyday events and ordinary people.

 
The Samaritan woman whom Jesus met and saved at the well did not put off witnessing until she could go to Bible school or rent the town hall for a revival. She left her water bucket behind and immediately ran off to tell everyone in her village that she had found the promised Messiah -- the Living Water -- and to invite them to come meet Him (John 4:28-29). May we boldly go and do the same! 

© 2015 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

In His Image: Reflecting the Trinity

 

The Triune God created man in His image (Genesis 1:26-27), with mind, body and spirit corresponding to God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus the Son is the express image of God the Father (Hebrews 1:3). We are made in His image for His pleasure (Revelation 4:11), so it is not surprising that our three-part nature is captured in so many different facets of our being.

Our physical body consists of three main elements: the head, body, and limbs. The head is the seat of our mind, representing God the Father Who is the Originator of the divine plan. Our body contains all our vital organs needed to maintain life, corresponding to Jesus the Son, Who is the Embodiment of the plan: the Word wrapped Himself in human flesh (John 1:14) and came to earth as the perfect sacrifice to pay our sin debt through His shed blood (1 John 1:7). 

And our limbs carry out the plans we devise in our mind, much as the Holy Spirit empowers the plans of God the Father (Genesis 1:2). Our hands can build or destroy; heal or harm; steal, or work and give to those in need (Ephesians 4:28). Our feet can be beautiful if they lead us to spread the Gospel (Romans 10:15); they can reach high places if He sets us there (2 Samuel 22:34; Psalm 18:33; Habakkuk 3:19); or they can lead us into sin. Psalm 1:1 warns us not to sit, stand, or walk in places or with people who will get us into trouble.

Our brain, which is the seat of our mind and which governs our body and limbs, can be divided into three main substructures: forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain. The forebrain includes the cerebral hemispheres responsible for conscious thought; the midbrain regulates our bodily functions, emotions, and arousal; and the hindbrain controls movement. Although this is an oversimplification because the whole brain works in concert, we can see that the forebrain to a large extent governs our mind, the midbrain regulates our body, and the hindbrain controls our limbs (which carry out actions motivated by our spirit).

The indwelling Holy Spirit empowers us to glorify God in all we think, say, and do (Colossians 3:23; 1 Corinthians 10:31) for He has given us the spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7), and in Him we live, move, and have our being.( Acts 17:28).

Below the realm of conscious thought, our brain processes sensory input providing information about our environment that allows us to respond in ways that ensure our survival.  The three senses involved in a newborn’s obtaining nourishment through nursing are touch, smell, and taste. The mother stroking the baby’s cheek causes him to turn his head toward her; the scent of her skin and milk cause him to open his mouth and suck; and the taste of the milk keeps him feeding.

The same three senses continue to be highly involved in eating, which is why food seems tasteless when we have a cold, and why we often crave food with a meaty or crunchy texture. The unique body chemistry of a loved one’s scent helps us to recognize them (Genesis 27:27).

Because of connections in the brain between areas responsible for smell, emotion, and memory, a distinct aroma may release a flood of memories and emotions surrounding a particular person or event. The scent of gingerbread baking may take you back to the love and joy of a childhood Christmas. Incense or sacrifices burned during worship (Numbers 29:36; Ezra 6:10) may remind the believer of God’s love and greatness, and He even experiences the faithful as a “sweet savour” reminding Him of the sacrifice of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:15; Ephesians 5:2).

Smell, taste and touch heighten intimacy with our spouse, and even with God Himself (Song of Solomon 2:3; 3:6,4:10-11,5:5,13,16,7:8). His words are sweet as honey (Psalm 119:103; Ezekiel 3:3), and He urges us to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8).

The loving touch of the angel of the Lord comforted Elijah (1 Kings 19:5-7), the Lord Himself touched young Jeremiah’s lips to give him the words to speak (Jeremiah 1:9), and Jesus healed the blind, mute and sick with a single touch (e.g. Matthew 8:3,15; 9:29).

God gave us three special abilities with which to communicate ideas: speech, hearing and vision, using our mouth, ears, and eyes. James warns us to be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. (James 1:19). A study at UCLA showed that up to 93 percent of how we perceive what others say is based not on words, but on nonverbal cues including the tone of their voice, facial expression and gestures. 

Yet God also intends for us to use our words wisely, refraining from “corrupt communication” and to speak only “that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29). All verbal communication, spoken or written, is based on sentences composed of subject, verb, and object. To compare different things using adjectives, language uses three degrees of qualities – for example, good, better, and best.

To be in God’s will, the main focus of our communication should be to bring others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and to encourage believers to live for Him. Before He ascended into Heaven, our risen Lord commanded us to go (spread the Gospel), teach (instruct others in His Word), and baptize all nations (facilitate their obedience to God’s will; Matthew 28:19-20).

Because the unsaved will be born again only through faith (Romans 10:17), they must hear God’s Word; evangelists must preach the Word; and believers must send forth preachers to lost people (Romans 10:14-15), Salvation has three parts: the lost hear the Word, they trust it in their heart, and they speak aloud their confession of faith (Romans 10:9-10), in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the only way to Heaven (1 Corinthians 15).

May we use our mind, body and spirit to glorify God in all we think, say and do!

© 2012 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

Feed Them!

 

Photo by User:Mattes 2015

Imagine that a couple you recently met invite you and your spouse to spend the evening at their home. You accept, looking forward to getting to know them better. Assuming this is a dinner invitation, you and your spouse eat an early and light lunch on the appointed day. You both dress nicely, arrange for a sitter for your children, and purchase a lovely bouquet of flowers for your hosts.

When you arrive, they greet you warmly, ask you inside, hang up your coats, thank you for the flowers and arrange them in a vase. They give you a tour of their house and invite you to sit down in their cozy living room.

But they don’t offer you anything to eat or drink! After an hour or so of pleasant conversation, you start to feel very hungry and a little light-headed, and you’re embarrassed because your spouse’s stomach is growling loudly!

Suddenly your hosts stand up, thank you for coming, and tell you how much they enjoyed your visit. Seeing this as a clear signal that it’s time to leave, you awkwardly scramble to your feet, thank them for a pleasant evening, and make your way to the door. Once in the car, you and your spouse exchange puzzled looks and rush to the nearest fast-food restaurant!

Despite your hosts’ kind invitation and hospitality, they neglected to feed you! This scenario seems ludicrous, but it may hold a warning for our Christian life. Once we are saved by trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), it is our blessing, privilege and responsibility to lead others to Him.

Like the woman at the well (John 4:28-29;39), many of us take the first step, telling others of how Christ changed our life and of how they too can be saved. But once someone makes a profession of faith, do we feed them by teaching them God’s Word as Jesus commanded in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19), encouraging them to read their Bible, discipling them, or at least inviting them to church?

Once a newly saved person goes to church, what sort of welcome will they receive? Many churches offer new visitors a warm greeting at the door, a good seat suggested by an usher, and perhaps a tour of the church facilities. But will those in attendance be fed with the milk and meat of God’s Word (1 Corinthians 3:2; Hebrews 5:12), or will they hear a “feel good” message laden with platitudes but without substance? Will the church rely on Biblical preaching to encourage faithful attendance, or on worldly entertainment, giveaways, and a fancy coffee bar?

When someone prays the Sinner’s Prayer in our presence, whether one-on-one, at church, through street preaching, or at a revival or evangelical outreach, what happens next?  Is there follow up with individual mentoring and discipleship, or at least referral to a local Bible-believing church?

Evangelist Paul Washer once explained his heart for new converts and his fear that the seed of God’s Word sowed in their heart might not take root (Matthew 13:18-23). Whenever possible, he spends hours, often spread out over days, listening to a newly saved person’s questions and answering them from God’s Word.

Jesus not only saves us (Acts 4:12), but He keeps us, sustaining us (Psalm 3:5; 55:22) with spiritual as well as physical food (Psalm 37:25; Matthew 6:11, 25-26). After preaching to the masses, He fed them with the miracles of the loaves and fishes, so that their satisfied bodies could absorb further spiritual truth (Matthew 14:19).

When Jesus raised a young girl from physical death, He did not immediately rush off to resume His busy schedule, but first made sure she was given something to eat (Mark 5:41-43). After His resurrection and during His third appearance to His disciples in His resurrected body, He provided a haul of fish and cooked a delicious meal for them before He showed His forgiveness and continued plans for Peter (John 21:5-22).

James warned us that if we see someone who is hungry, it is not enough to tell them to be fed, but we must provide food for them (James 2:15-18). While he was referring to acts of charity – the works by which we prove our faith to others – his admonition also has spiritual applications.

When Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him, Peter answered “yes” three times (once for each time he had denied his Lord). And what were Jesus Christ’s last instructions for Peter? If you love me, feed My sheep (repeated twice), and feed my lambs (John 21:15-17).

If we love our Savior, may we make sure to feed His flock, both physically and spiritually!

© 2024 Laurie Collett      

Search and Rescue

 

I had a dream that I am on a search-and-rescue planning team. Our mission is to determine how best to help people who are adrift in the ocean, like after the Titanic disaster.  We decide that the best shape for life preservers to throw to them while they are awaiting rescue boats is triangle-shaped, rather than circle-shaped.

Our reasoning is that each triangle-shaped float can support three people, one holding on to each point, and that each person holding onto the float with one hand can also hold another person’s hand on another float, thereby interconnecting with many people. This would form a raft or net of people that could support one another emotionally and even physically by improving their stability, so that they would be less likely to be submerged and drown while waiting for rescue.

It would also improve their visibility and audibility, if all yelled for help in unison, when a boat or helicopter appeared.

In contrast, a circle-shaped float would be practical only for supporting a single person, and those holding it would be more likely to drift away from the others, get discouraged, go under, and drown.

When I awoke and considered the meaning of the dream, I realized that “search and rescue” was an appropriate analogy for missions evangelism, which has been the theme of our church’s Missions Conference going on at present. Jesus Christ came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10), and so should we.

Each of us who is saved by trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6) is a missionary, appointed by Jesus Christ Himself to fulfill the Great Commission:

Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Sharing the Gospel with every living creature (Mark 16:15) is not solely the responsibility of the pastors, missionaries and evangelists.

Only the Holy Spirit working in a person’s heart can save that soul, or rescue them completely from drowning in a sea of sin, and set their feet on the firm Rock that is Our Savior (Luke 6:48; Matthew 16:18). In the dream, salvation was represented by the rescue boats.

In our work of sharing the Gospel, we may not be the one who ultimately hears a sinner’s profession of faith, but we will be rewarded for any part we play in leading that soul to the Lord (1 Corinthians 3:6-7; 1 Thessalonians 2:19).. We are like rescuers tossing life preservers to the drifting, keeping them alive and encouraged until their heart is ready to confess their sin and invite Jesus inside.

The triangle-shaped float in the dream I believe represents the Trinity of God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit – three sides of the same eternal Godhead (Luke 3:21-22). Unlike the circle, which is self-contained and has no potential points of attachment to anyone else, resulting in isolation and self-absorption, the triangle has points that allow interconnections with many others.

If our witness to a lost soul does not immediately result in their salvation, we could encourage their conversion by helping to place them in a Christian community – a Bible-believing church, shelter, or fellowship group where the Gospel seeds we have sown are likely to be watered and the tender shoots nurtured so that salvation can be fully rooted in their heart.

Even once a person is saved, being in a network of believers is vitally important to foster their spiritual growth in Christ and to enable them to share the Good News with others. There are many New Testament examples of one person accepting Christ as Lord and Savior, followed by their household receiving salvation (Acts 16:30-33; Luke 19:1-9; John 4:53). Fellowship and service in a local church, uplifting and strengthening one another, is an essential part of our Christian walk (Hebrews 10:25).

The three points of the triangle may also represent Jesus’ saying that where two or three are gathered in His Name, He is in their midst (Matthew 18:20), and that by two or three witnesses, every word is established (Matthew 18:16). Each believer is not an island, but a member of the church, or body of Christ, each with our unique function, mission, and purpose. Each of us is intended to reach out to others using our unique talents and sphere of influence (1 Corinthians 12:17).

In the search-and-rescue mission that Christ has given to each believer, may we faithfully offer lifesaving help to the perishing and bring them into a supportive network of Christians until the Trinity accomplishes their eternal salvation! May we connect with and support fellow believers through the life raft of our church!

© 2022 Laurie Collett