• One God, Three Persons

When Jesus walked on Earth it was common for Jewish men to wear small boxes, called phylacteries, on their foreheads. They contained four Bible scriptures, including:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Deuteronomy 6:4–5 [NIV]HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® by Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved., Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society publisher: International Bible Society

It reminded them there is only one God, not several, in contrast to the religions of the people around them. We, as Christians, agree. Jesus affirmed this himself:

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. Teacher, he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life? What is written in the Law? he replied. How do you read it? He answered, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself. You have answered correctly, Jesus replied. Do this and you will live.

Luke 10:25–28 [NIV]HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® by Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved., Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society publisher: International Bible Society

And yet, Christians believe that God, who is one, includes three persons. How can this be? Why is it important? What does it mean for us personally?

Jesus left the crowds following Him to pray to God, the Father, many times. For example, the night before He was crucified, He took his three closest disciples to the garden of Gethsemane:

Then he said to them, My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me. Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.

Matthew 26:38–39[NIV]HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® by Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved., Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society publisher: International Bible Society

He prayed to God the Father the same as we may do ourselves. Yet he also identified Himself with God the Father:

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one. Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me? We are not stoning you for any good work, they replied, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.

John 10:27–33[NIV]HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® by Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved., Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society publisher: International Bible Society

This passage leaves no ambiguity. Jesus was claiming equality with God, which almost got Him stoned to death.

Near the end of Jesus' time on Earth He told His disciples:

But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
...
I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.

John 16:7; 12–15 [NIV]HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® by Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved., Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society publisher: International Bible Society

According to Jesus, the Advocate (or Holy Spirit) will only tell us what he hears from Jesus. Jesus also tells us He only does what He sees the Father doing:

Jesus gave them this answer: Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.

John 5:19–21 [NIV]HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® by Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved., Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society publisher: International Bible Society

These are difficult teachings to understand. Taken together, these teachings show us the Holy Trinity: God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus made this clear in one of His resurrection appearances:

Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Matthew 28:18–20 [NIV]HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® by Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved., Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society publisher: International Bible Society

The word name, here in English as well as in the original Greek, is singular. There is only one name, God in English, Yahweh in Hebrew, but three persons. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit form a loving, eternal relationship.

This is a central mystery in Christianity. I don't think it is possible to understand how this works any more than it is possible to truly understand the Deep Mysteries of Physics.^<1> It is telling us something about the structure of reality. C. S. Lewis puts it this way:

You may ask, if we cannot imagine a three–personal Being, what is the good of talking about Him? Well, there isn't any good talking about Him. The thing that matters is being actually drawn into that three–personal life, and that may begin any time—tonight if you like.

What I mean is this. An ordinary simple Christian kneels down to say his prayers. He is trying to get into touch with God. But, if he is a Christian he knows that what is prompting him to pray is also God: God, so to speak, inside him. But he also knows that all his real knowledge of God comes through Christ, the Man who was God—that Christ is standing beside him, helping him to pray, praying for him.

Pages 162–163 of [MereChristianity]Mere Christianity by Clive Staple Lewis, 1952 publisher: Harper Collins

The three–personal God is with each Christian, helping us with our daily lives, making each of us more Holy every day, if we let Him.

Jesus' disciple John said:

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

First John 4:7–8

Loving someone means hoping for, and working for their highest good. This can be hard, particularly for a person we dislike. Loving another person does not require that we feel affection for them. However, when we love in this active sense we often develop empathy even for the difficult people in our lives. That empathy sometimes grows into affection. By analogy, I think the relationship within the three–personal God is affectionate, as well as logical (see Is God Logical?^<2>)

Jesus taught us that the one true God is three persons. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit form a mutual bond of love, for all eternity. That is why the apostle John could say God is love. Jesus offers us a way to share in that love, not as part of God, but as individual created beings. Then we will be perfect, as God created us to be. C. S. Lewis put it this way:

What we have been told is how we men can be drawn into Christ—can become part of that wonderful present which the young Prince of the universe wants to offer to His Father—that present which is Himself and therefore us in Him. It is the only thing we were made for. And there are strange, exciting hints in the Bible that when we are drawn in, a great many other things in Nature will begin to come right. The bad dream will be over: it will be morning.

C. S. Lewis on page 199 of [MereChristianity]Mere Christianity by Clive Staple Lewis, 1952 publisher: Harper Collins

What do you think? Does contemplating the three–personal God help you engage with Him personally? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.