“In Genesis 1:26, God said ‘Let us make man…’ – who is US?”
God is one, but He is also three. He is one and three at the same time. This is the doctrine of the Trinity. There is no biblical term that actually means “trinity”. However, we do find the concept of the Trinity in Scripture. The classical Christian doctrine is usually summed up that God is three persons who share one essence or substance.
It is best to understand “person” as a thinking, willing center of consciousness. That God is three persons means that within the one divine nature are three individual centers of consciousness. Each of the persons is fully conscious of Himself as distinct from the other two and as existing in an eternal interpersonal relationship with the other two. The Bible calls these three persons the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Though they are three, these persons are nevertheless one God. Whatever the concept of the Trinity means, it does not mean that the essence of God is somehow divided into three distinct units. Also, God possesses the unity of singularity, meaning that no other God exists besides the one true God. Whatever the concept of the Trinity means, it does not mean that there are three separate Gods. Within the context of the Trinity, that God is one means that the three centers of consciousness share one and the same divine essence or being or substance.
To say that Father, Son, and Spirit are one in essence means that the totality of divine substance, the whole of “whatever it is to be God,” belongs to each of them. The main implication of this is that each is equally divine. In whatever sense the Father is divine, so also are the Son and the Holy Spirit. All the attributes of divinity belong equally to each of the three. It cannot be otherwise since they share the same essence.
There are several passages linking the three persons together in a formula-like way that emphasizes their essential equality. Of course, one is the content of the question asked prompting this document, Gen 1:26, “Let us make man in our image.” Also, the baptismal formula in Matt 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Another is the benediction in 2 Cor 13:14, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” Another is the reference to the threefold source of spiritual gifts in 1 Cor 12:4-6, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God.” See also 1 Pet 1:2, which says that the saints are chosen “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood.” All of these passages show that Christians are redemptively related not just to an abstract deity but to the three persons who are the one true and living God.
Other trinitarian texts are Rom 15:30; 1 Cor 6:11; 2 Cor 1:21-22; Gal 4:6; Eph 2:18; 3:14-17; 5:18-20; 1 Thess 5:18-19; 2 Thess 2:13; 1 John 4:13-14; Jude 20-21; Rev 1:4-5.
Dick Moser
October 5th, 2024
God is one, but He is also three. He is one and three at the same time. This is the doctrine of the Trinity. There is no biblical term that actually means “trinity”. However, we do find the concept of the Trinity in Scripture. The classical Christian doctrine is usually summed up that God is three persons who share one essence or substance.
It is best to understand “person” as a thinking, willing center of consciousness. That God is three persons means that within the one divine nature are three individual centers of consciousness. Each of the persons is fully conscious of Himself as distinct from the other two and as existing in an eternal interpersonal relationship with the other two. The Bible calls these three persons the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Though they are three, these persons are nevertheless one God. Whatever the concept of the Trinity means, it does not mean that the essence of God is somehow divided into three distinct units. Also, God possesses the unity of singularity, meaning that no other God exists besides the one true God. Whatever the concept of the Trinity means, it does not mean that there are three separate Gods. Within the context of the Trinity, that God is one means that the three centers of consciousness share one and the same divine essence or being or substance.
To say that Father, Son, and Spirit are one in essence means that the totality of divine substance, the whole of “whatever it is to be God,” belongs to each of them. The main implication of this is that each is equally divine. In whatever sense the Father is divine, so also are the Son and the Holy Spirit. All the attributes of divinity belong equally to each of the three. It cannot be otherwise since they share the same essence.
There are several passages linking the three persons together in a formula-like way that emphasizes their essential equality. Of course, one is the content of the question asked prompting this document, Gen 1:26, “Let us make man in our image.” Also, the baptismal formula in Matt 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Another is the benediction in 2 Cor 13:14, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” Another is the reference to the threefold source of spiritual gifts in 1 Cor 12:4-6, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God.” See also 1 Pet 1:2, which says that the saints are chosen “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood.” All of these passages show that Christians are redemptively related not just to an abstract deity but to the three persons who are the one true and living God.
Other trinitarian texts are Rom 15:30; 1 Cor 6:11; 2 Cor 1:21-22; Gal 4:6; Eph 2:18; 3:14-17; 5:18-20; 1 Thess 5:18-19; 2 Thess 2:13; 1 John 4:13-14; Jude 20-21; Rev 1:4-5.
Dick Moser
October 5th, 2024
