Transcript The Tri-Unity of God

The Tri-Unity of God
A Biblical Understanding
Understanding the Infinite
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Before we start this series , we need to
say upfront that even with this study, we
will NOT be able to define the Infinite God!
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The finite will NEVER be able to
comprehend the Infinite! EVER!
If we did…
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God wouldn’t be God!
"But who is able to build a house for Him,
for the heavens and the highest heavens
cannot contain Him? So who am I, that I
should build a house for Him, except to
burn {incense} before Him?” 2 Chronicles 2:6
Like Defining Light
 Is
Light a
particle or
a wave?
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BOTH!
We can’t even conclude!
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The exact nature of visible light is a mystery that
has puzzled man for centuries. Greek scientists
from the ancient Pythagorean discipline
postulated that every visible object emits a
steady stream of particles, while Aristotle
concluded that light travels in a manner similar
to waves in the ocean. Even though these ideas
have undergone numerous modifications and a
significant degree of evolution over the past 20
centuries, the essence of the dispute established
by the Greek philosophers remains to this day.
Under the Microscope
Only vehicle for “seeing” or
Understanding God
 The
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Bible
The Bible gives us the only information we
have about God and His nature.
1st Revelation of God about Himself
Bereshith (Genesis 1:1) –
 In the beginning *God created the
heavens and the earth.
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* Elohim – gods – the word can be used both
for the true God as well as for the false gods.
Elohim (el-o-heem)
Strong's Number: 0430
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Noun Masculine plural
Definition
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rulers, judges
divine ones
angels
gods
(plural intensive - singular meaning)
god, goddess
godlike one
works or special possessions of God
the (true) God
God
Elohim
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The Hebrew word translated "God" is the
word El or Elohim. Elohim is the plural
form of El. The plural form is used 2607 of
the 2845 times the word "God" is used in
the Old Testament. Not only is the word for
God usually used in the plural form, but
several verses refer to God as "Us"
“Us”
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Genesis 1:26 – “Let us make man in our
image…”
Genesis 11- 5 The LORD came down to see the
city and the tower which the sons of men had
built. 6 The LORD said, "Behold, they are one
people, and they all have the same language.
And this is what they began to do, and now
nothing which they purpose to do will be
impossible for them. 7 "Come, let Us go down
and there confuse their language, so that they
will not understand one another's speech."
Isaiah 6:8
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Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying,
"Whom shall I send, and who will go for
Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
Jewish position:
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“Us” = God & the Angels – Midrash
Bereshith – page 25, 26
The SHEMA
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Deuteronomy (Devarim) 6:4
“Shema Yisrael…
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“… Adonai Elohaynu, Adonai Echad”
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The nearest thing to a Jewish Creed…
Proclaims a Monotheistic Faith…
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“Hear, O, Israel! The Lord is our God, the
Lord is ONE!”
Monotheism
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The religious conception of a single,
transcendent god. It contrasts with
polytheism (belief in many gods) and
pantheism (belief in God as synonymous
with the universe). Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam are the principal monotheistic
religions.
Distinctive between Monotheism
and Polytheism
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Belief in ONE God, vs. belief in many gods
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Issue is NOT that you worship other gods,
the issue is that you BELIEVE that there
are other gods!
Hebrews Believe there is but ONE
GOD
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Period! There ARE NO other Gods!
You are My witnesses," declares the LORD,
"And My servant whom I have chosen, So
that you may know and believe Me And
understand that I am He. Before Me there
was no God formed, And there will be none
after Me.”
-Isaiah 43:10
Isaiah 44:8
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'Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have
I not long since announced {it} to you and
declared {it?} And you are My witnesses.
Is there any God besides Me, Or is there
any {other} Rock? I know of none.' "
Isaiah 45:22
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"Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of
the earth; For I am God, and there is no
other.”
There is NO God, but ONE
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Yet, we shall see a plurality within the
Godhead.
Shema!
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The Lord is ONE!
Word for ONE is “Echad”
Eshcol – cluster of grapes
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Exodus 24:3
Then they came to
the valley of Eshcol
and from there cut
down a branch with
a single [echad]
cluster of grapes…
Echad - Other Examples
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For this reason a man will leave his father and mother
and be united to his wife, and they will become one
[echad] flesh. (Genesis 2:24)
Now the whole earth used the same [echad] language
and the same [echad] words. (Genesis 11:1)
And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one [echad]
people, and they all have the same [echad] language.
And this is what they began to do, and now nothing
which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.
(Genesis 11:6)
Then we will give you our daughters and take your
daughters for ourselves. We'll settle among you and
become one [echad] people with you. (Genesis 34:16)
Echad - Other Examples
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Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the
words of the LORD and all the ordinances; and all the
people answered with one [echad] voice, and said, "All
the words which the LORD has spoken we will do!"
(Exodus 24:3)
The whole [echad] assembly numbered 42,360, (Ezra
2:64)
They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give
them singleness [echad] of heart and action, so that they
will always fear me for their own good and the good of
their children after them. (Jeremiah 32:38-39)
Another word could have been
used to express the idea of
absolute oneness …
…in the Hebrew to put this to rest – “yachid”
Yachid - Examples
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And He said, "Take now your son, your only [yachid] son,
whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and
offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the
mountains of which I will tell you." (Genesis 22:2)
And he said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the
lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear
God, since you have not withheld your son, your only
[yachid] son, from Me." (Genesis 22:12)
and said, "By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD,
because you have done this thing, and have not withheld
your son, your only [yachid] son, (Genesis 22:16)
Yachid – Other Examples
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When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, behold,
his daughter was coming out to meet him with
tambourines and with dancing. Now she was his one and
only [yachid] child; besides her he had neither son nor
daughter. (Judges 11:34)
Deliver my soul from the sword, My only [yachid] life
from the power of the dog. (Psalms 22:20)
Turn to me and be gracious to me, For I am lonely
[yachid] and afflicted. (Psalms 25:16)
Lord, how long wilt Thou look on? Rescue my soul from
their ravages, My only [yachid] life from the lions.
(Psalms 35:17)
Yachid – Other Examples
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God makes a home for the lonely [yachid]; He
leads out the prisoners into prosperity, only the
rebellious dwell in a parched land. (Psalms 68:6)
When I was a son to my father, Tender and the
only [yachid] son in the sight of my mother,
(Proverbs 4:3)
O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth And
roll in ashes; Mourn as for an only [yachid] son,
A lamentation most bitter. For suddenly the
destroyer Will come upon us. (Jeremiah 6:26)
Yachid – Other Examples
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"Then I shall turn your festivals into mourning And all
your songs into lamentation; And I will bring sackcloth on
everyone's loins And baldness on every head. And I will
make it like a time of mourning for an only [yachid] son,
And the end of it will be like a bitter day. (Amos 8:10)
"And I [YHVH] will pour out on the house of David and on
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of
supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they
have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one
mourns for an only [yachid] son, and they will weep
bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born.
(Zechariah 12:10)
Conclusion:
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If the Shema had intended to express
absolute oneness, it would have used the
Hebrew word yachid instead of echad.
However, the word yachid is never used in
reference to God (Elohim)!
Plurality in the Godhead
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Does Scripture indicate that this is true?
Genesis 19
 24
Then the LORD rained on Sodom and
Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the
LORD out of heaven, 25 and He overthrew
those cities, and all the valley,
Isaiah 48:16
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"Come near to Me, listen to this: From the
first I have not spoken in secret, From the
time it took place, I was there. And now
the Lord GOD has sent Me, and His
Spirit."
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Who is speaking? God!
God The Father
Do you thus repay the LORD, O foolish
and unwise people? Is not He your Father
who has bought you? He has made you
and established you. (Deuteronomy 32:6)
 "He will cry to Me, 'Thou art my Father, My
God, and the rock of my salvation.'
(Psalms 89:26)
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The Father
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For Thou art our Father, though Abraham does
not know us, And Israel does not recognize us.
Thou, O LORD, art our Father, Our Redeemer
from of old is Thy name. (Isaiah 63:16)
But now, O LORD, Thou art our Father, We are
the clay, and Thou our potter; And all of us are
the work of Thy hand. (Isaiah 64:8)
"Have you not just now called to Me, 'My Father,
Thou art the friend of my youth? (Jeremiah 3:4)
My Father
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"Then I said, 'How I would set you among
My sons, And give you a pleasant land,
The most beautiful inheritance of the
nations!' And I said, 'You shall call Me, My
Father, And not turn away from following
Me.' (Jeremiah 3:19)
Son & Father?
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For a child will be born to us, a son will be
given to us; And the government will rest
on His shoulders; And His name will be
called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah
9:6)
The Son
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Do homage to the Son, lest He become
angry, and you perish in the way, For His
wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed
are all who take refuge in Him! (Psalms
2:12)
God’s Son
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Who has ascended into heaven and
descended? Who has gathered the wind in
His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in
His garment? Who has established all the
ends of the earth? What is His name or
His Son's name? Surely you know!
(Proverbs 30:4)
Son of Man
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"I kept looking in the night visions, And behold,
with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man
was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of
Days And was presented before Him. "And to
Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations, and men of every
language Might serve Him. His dominion is an
everlasting dominion Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one Which will not be
destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14)
God the Spirit
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The Holy Spirit, is also found extensively
in the Old Testament.
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Genesis 1:2; Genesis 6:3; Exodus 31:3;
Exodus 35:31; Numbers 11:17; Numbers
11:25, 26, 29; Numbers 24:2; Numbers
27:18; Judges 3:10; Judges 6:34
God the Spirit
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Judges 11:29; Judges 13:25; Judges 14:6,
19; Judges 15:14; 1 Samuel 10:6, 10; 1
Samuel 11:6; 1 Samuel 16:13, 14; 1
Samuel 19:20, 23; 2 Samuel 23:2; 1 Kings
18:12; 1 Kings 22:24; 2 Kings 2:16; 1
Chronicles 12:18; 2 Chronicles 15:1; 2
Chronicles 18:23; 2 Chronicles 20:14; 2
Chronicles 24:20; Nehemiah 9:20, 30
God the Spirit
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Job 33:4; Psalms 51:11; Psalms 104:30;
Psalms 106:33; Psalms 139:7; Psalms
143:10; Isaiah 11:2; Isaiah 30:1; Isaiah
32:15; Isaiah 34:16; Isaiah 40:13; Isaiah
42:1; Isaiah 44:3; Isaiah 48:16; Isaiah
59:21; Isaiah 61:1; Isaiah 63:10; Isaiah
63:11, 14; Ezekiel 2:2; Ezekiel 3:12, 14,
24; Ezekiel 8:3; Ezekiel 11:1, 5, 24
God the Spirit
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Ezekiel 36:27; Ezekiel 37:1, 14; Ezekiel
39:29; Ezekiel 43:5; Joel 2:28, 29; Micah
2:7; Micah 3:8; Haggai 2:5; Zechariah 4:6;
Zechariah 7:12; Zechariah 12:10; Malachi
2:15
TANAKH
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The Older Testament (TANAKH) does
reveal the concept of God being one God,
consisting of three persons. How can God
simultaneously exist as both singular and
plural? It is a logical impossibility if God
were restricted to the three dimensions of
space and one dimension of time of our
physical universe.
B’rit Chadasha – Newer Testament
John 1
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In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was
God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3
All things came into being through Him,
and apart from Him nothing came into
being that has come into being.
 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt
among us, and we saw His glory, glory as
of the only begotten from the Father, full of
grace and truth.
Hebrews 1
 1
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in
the prophets in many portions and in many
ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in
His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things,
through whom also He made the world. 3 And He
is the radiance of His glory and the exact
representation of His nature, and upholds all
things by the word of His power. When He had
made purification of sins, He sat down at the
right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having
become as much better than the angels, as He
has inherited a more excellent name than they.
Hebrews 1
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But of the Son He says, "YOUR THRONE, O
GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE
RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF
HIS KINGDOM.
9 "YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND
HATED LAWLESSNESS; THEREFORE GOD,
YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE
OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR
COMPANIONS."
Colossians 1
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For He rescued us from the domain of
darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of
His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all
creation. 16 For by Him all things were created,
both in the heavens and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers
or authorities--all things have been created
through Him and for Him.
Colossians 1
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He is before all things, and in Him all things
hold together. 18 He is also head of the body, the
church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, so that He Himself will come to
have first place in everything. 19 For it was the
Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to
dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all
things to Himself, having made peace through
the blood of His cross; through Him, I say,
whether things on earth or things in heaven.
Philippians 2
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Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in
Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of
God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be
grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a
bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled
Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even
death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly
exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is
above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus
EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven
and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every
tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father.
“Seeing God”
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Genesis 18:3; 28:13; 32:31; Exodus 24:911; Joshua 5:14-15; Judges 6:17-23; 13:822
No one has seen Father
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John 6:46 - "Not that anyone has seen the
Father, except the One who is from God;
He has seen the Father.”
John 5:37
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"And the Father who sent Me, He has
testified of Me. You have neither heard His
voice at any time nor seen His form.
John 14:7
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"If you had known Me, you would have
known My Father also; from now on you
know Him, and have seen Him."
John 14:9
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Jesus *said to him, "Have I been so long
with you, and {yet} you have not come to
know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me
has seen the Father; how {can} you say,
'Show us the Father'?
John 8
 58
Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to
you, before Abraham was born, I am." 59
Therefore they picked up stones to throw
at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out
of the temple.
John 10
 30
"I and the Father are one." 31 The
Jews picked up stones again to stone Him.
32 Jesus answered them, "I showed you
many good works from the Father; for
which of them are you stoning Me?" 33 The
Jews answered Him, "For a good work we
do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and
because You, being a man, make Yourself
out to be God."
Blasphemy – Leviticus 24:11, 16
 11
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The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed
the Name and cursed. So they brought him to
Moses. (Now his mother's name was Shelomith,
the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.)
16 `Moreover, the one who blasphemes the
name of the LORD shall surely be put to death;
all the congregation shall certainly stone him.
The alien as well as the native, when he
blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.
No One has seen God at Any Time
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1 John 4:12 - No one has seen God at any time;
if we love one another, God abides in us, and
His love is perfected in us.”
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CE 90 – 60 years AFTER
Yeshua crucified!
Mikvah of Yeshua – Matthew 3
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Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan
coming to John, to be baptized by him. 14 But
John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to
be baptized by You, and do You come to me?" 15
But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this
time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all
righteousness." Then he permitted Him. 16 After
being baptized, Jesus (2nd Person) came up
immediately from the water; and behold, the
heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of
God (3rd Person) descending as a dove and
lighting on Him, 17 and behold, a voice out of the
heavens (1st Person) said, "This is My beloved
Son, in whom I am well-pleased."
Acts 7:56 - Stephen
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…and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens
opened up and the Son of Man (2nd
Person) standing at the right hand of God
(1st Person)."
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Where’s the Spirit (3rd Person) ?
In the Body of Messiah – John 16
5
"But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and
none of you asks Me, `Where are You going?' 6
"But because I have said these things to you,
sorrow has filled your heart. 7 "But I tell you the
truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I
do not go away, the Helper will not come to you;
but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 "And He, when
He comes, will convict the world concerning sin
and righteousness and judgment; 9 concerning sin,
because they do not believe in Me; 10 and
concerning righteousness, because I go to the
Father and you no longer see Me; 11 and
concerning judgment, because the ruler of this
world has been judged.
Acts 1:5-8
 5
for John baptized with water, but you will be
baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from
now." 6 So when they had come together, they
were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time
You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He
said to them, "It is not for you to know times or
epochs which the Father has fixed by His own
authority; 8 but you will receive power when the
Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be
My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest
part of the earth."