The Holy Trinity (2024)
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John 3:1-15
John 3:1-15
ALSO MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND
My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we rejoice this day as we give thanks to God for the freedoms that have been guaranteed by God through the work and labor of those that went forth to fight for these rights and laid down their lives. We are free to gather together around Word and Sacrament and praise the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is a blessing that Christians long for, not just in the past, but even today. There are Christians who risk their lives to go to Church who are taxed heavily for not embracing the religion of the state. It is appropriate to give thanks for the godly work of soldiers that were called by God to protect these rights. They went into dangerous situations and didn’t come back home, but rather laid down their lives that we can enjoy these freedoms. We should let their families that we are grateful for those sacrifices which cost them dear family members.
Because of their sacrifice, we get to speak joyfully about who our God is, and what He has done for us for our salvation. This is one of the mysteries of the faith as we don’t understand how it all happens, but belief in it is necessary for our salvation. For we cannot reject the trinity and be saved. It is a core teaching of the faith of Christians and separates us from other religions that people think believe the same as we do.
One God, Three Persons
The Trinity is a mystery.
Many have attempted to explain it, but it eludes our ability to adequately describe. You people who try to describe the Trinity using nature, however, it always falls short. Because we as people are 1 person, 1 being, but God is Triune, 3 Persons, One divine being. Attempts have been used to explain it like an apple, that you have the flesh, the skin and the seeds, and that all makes an apple. Well if you ask for an apple and I only give you the seeds. You’ll say, “This is nice, but can I please have an apple.”
It is a fundamental belief of Christianity.
By that I mean one that is necessary for us to believe as is spelled out in the Athanasian Creed. It is a core and foundational doctrine upon which our faith is built. For it reveals to us who God is in the flesh.
If you deny the trinity, you aren’t Christian.
That’s how important this is. It is why there were great debates that went for decades as they worked to make sure that they understood what the Scriptures were teaching because it runs contrary to the wisdom of the world. There have been many different attempts to explain it away, and to rationalize it, and make it acceptable to our thoughts, but they fail.
Why is it Important?
To deny the Trinity is to worship another god.
We have the command that we are to have no other gods. That is why this is so important for us to understand and get right. This does not mean that we understand everything about who God is, but rather we believe what God has revealed through His Word. For that is what Faith does, it clings to God’s Word, and to reject the trinity is to reject the true God. Consider for a moment
If you reject the Trinity, then Jesus cannot be the son.
Nor can there be a Father to whom we pray? If you reject the trinity then, who does Jesus pray to in the garden of Gethesemane, what is that voice that speaks from heaven on the day of Jesus’ baptism and says this is my son, and again on the mount of transfiguration? When Jesus says I go to the your father, and my father, if there is no father, then he is either lying or he goes nowhere.
If Jesus is not God, there is no forgiveness.
There is no hope of salvation for then He was not sent by the father, nor does the son satisfy the wrath of the Father on our account. There were no one into whose hands Jesus might commit his spirit.
How are we to explain it?
This is the challenge and where many heresies have cropped up over the years, and are still around today. For there are those who deny the trinity, and claim to be christian, but both of those things can’t be true. You are lying in one or the other. All we can do is confess what the Scriptures teach, a tri-unity 3 persons of one substance, which we don’t understand, but trust God’s Word.
The Works of the Holy Trinity
They work together as one.
This is important for us as we seek to understand not only who God is, but also what God has done, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for all of creation, and the great love that God has for us.
They are united in purpose.
When they go about their works it isn’t that one is operating alone, but all are present, active, and involved in different capacities as they are united together by love for what is being done.
Their works are for good.
When we see the Cross, we can see the good that is there, but we also are reminded that God is just and He does bring Evil to judgment. This is also good for it is right and proper for evil to not go unpunished. It can be hard for we must all confess that we are sinners and as such are deserving of God’s temporal and eternal punishment, but we call upon his mercy. Let us look at 3 works of the Trinity
Creation
We think of the Father.
The Scriptures teach that God made the heavens and the earth and all things therein. That is why we are creatures, for we are created by God and placed here. at the end of each day, God saw that it was good. The father didn’t do this alone,
All things were created through Jesus.
For when the Father created all things he did it through the word which became flesh and dwelt among us. So all things have been created through Jesus who is the Word.
Hovering over the waters was the spirit.
Who is present to give life to mankind. For when God shaped us from the earth, and he breathed into us that we might have life and that was the spirit that brought mankind to life. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit active in the creation and it was good.
Redemption
It was the Son who died for us.
Who became flesh that he might shed his blood upon the Cross for sinners, who afflicted him painful and mocked him as he hung there gasping for breath. Why was Jesus there?
The Father sent the Son out of love.
The verse we have today, that God so loved the world, that He sent his only begotten son, testifies to the trinity and how they work together for our salvation.
It was by the spirit that Jesus was conceived.
In the womb of Mary that Jesus had no earthly father, but that He might be born of our flesh and blood and take upon himself our humanity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit worked together in love for our redemption.
Sanctification
The Spirit sanctifies our hearts.
That is he comes in and brings us to life as He washes away our sins by the blood of Christ. He gives to us the spirit of sonship, that we might cry out Abba Father, but how does the Spirit come?
He proceeds from the father and son.
For that is why Christ ascended into heaven, and He sent from them that the Father might adopt us as His children, and that Jesus might call us brothers and sisters.
He creates faith which points us to Jesus.
The Spirit creates and sustains this faith inside of us, for He is the one that inspired the prophets and the Apostles that we might be pointed to the Word that became flesh and was sent by the Father that we might believe and be Holy in God’s sight. All three persons of the Trinity active in love for that the fallen creation might be redeemed and sanctified.
This is why my brothers and sisters in Christ, we cannot deny any of the persons, for it is not just to deny one part of Christian teaching. For they are all active in our creation, redemption, and sanctification, and if you reject even one person, you reject everything the Scriptures teach. For the Trinity is not limited to the New Testament but is active throughout all of the Scriptures.
It is a mystery how this all works, and one we will not fully understand this side of heaven, and even in heaven it might be still beyond our understanding, but thankfully God has revealed to us, who He is, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that these three persons desire that you be in the heavenly Kingdom. So do not reject this vital teaching for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have worked together in love to Create you, Redeem you, and Sanctify you that You might be forgiven, and live forever. In jesus name. Amen.
