"Getting to know Him"
"I am the Lord, and there is no other. apart from Me there is no other God." Isaiah 45:5
Is there really just one God, but He has many different names? Does the Christian, Jew and Muslim all pray to the same God? Does it really matter what a person believes about God, as long as he is sincere? This is sort of like saying it doesn't matter who you believe your father might be, that he might have many different names, or a person could just choose one and be sincere about it.
No, God says through Isaiah, there is just one God - Him. So, what does He reveal about Himself in the Bible? The teaching is summarized in the word Triune. Triune is not found in the Bible - it is a word created from Latin to illustrate the teaching. Tri in Latin means three (tricycle=3 wheels). Una in Latin means one (unicycle=1 wheel). The term was created to reflect that fact that God is three persons, yet only one God.
TRIUNE
TRI = 3 Une=1
3 persons 1 God
Consider these passages:
"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Matthew 28:19 THREE persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
"Now concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing and that there is no other God but one." I Corinthians 8:4 There are not three Gods, but ONE. (see also above - Isaiah 45:5)
Quite a mystery, but the "three in one" structure is not uncommon:
Clover has three individual leaves. but is still one stem of clover
Water has two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen, yet is still one molecule of water. Take away one of the atoms and it is no longer water.
A human has body, soul and spirit, but is still one human.
Many more examples could be listed.
John reveals another fact about how it is possible for God to be Triune.
"God is a spirit..." John 4:24a
In "Who Is God?" (2) we will be considering what the work of each person of the Triune God might be. How would you describe the work of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Make a few notes and lets study it together.
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