Worship at 10:30 a.m.

What Is the Mystery of the Trinity?

Genesis 1:26; Romans 8:9-11

Faith Family,

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I continue to give thanks to our gracious God for putting you all in our lives. Your faithfulness and your enthusiasm fill my heart with joy and helps complete my hope in Christ. Every day I look forward to serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ alongside each of you and growing in our discipleship journey together. I pray as God has continued blessings us, may we continue to be a blessing to others.

Let’s continue with the Catechism teaching that is in our Sunday newsletter. This week’s question is “What is the Mystery of the Trinity?” The answer, according to the Catechism, is “God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, distinct but inseparable, eternally one in essence and power.” This is an interesting question because it just doesn’t focus on the Holy Spirit but the relationship that Holy Spirit has with the Father, and the Son. 

For centuries men and women, smarter than me, have been trying to explain the mystery but even experts fall short of totally explaining or defining the Trinity. Maybe that is why the Trinity is till mysterious and continues to generate debate.

The term “Trinity” is never used in Scripture, but is a term that was first used by Theologian Tertullian who lived around 155-220 AD. 

Augustine defines The Trinity this way: “There are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and each is God, and at the same time all are one God; and each of them is a full substance, and at the same time all are one substance. The Father is neither the Son nor the Holy Spirit; the Son is neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son. But the Father is the Father uniquely; the Son is the Son uniquely; and the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit uniquely. All three have the same eternity, the same immutability, the same majesty, and the same power.”

The Trinity represents God as a single deity (God) existing simultaneously as three distinct, but equal persons. 

The Trinity functions not as a physical object but as a definition of God’s essential nature and relational character. For example, in the Old Testament God was made known through a pillar of fire or cloud to His people when something had to happen. In the New Testament, God made Himself known through the person of Jesus Christ (The Son). After Christ ascended, God made Himself known to the people through the Holy Spirit. In The Old Testament, God visited the people; in the Gospels, God walked with the people, and in the New Testament, God lived in His people.

God was present for all and in all, but through different persons. This is the mystery. It may seem confusing, and hard to wrap our minds around, but that’s the mystery. We don’t have to. We simply have to believe that God can and does appear through the Trinity. God the Father created us; God the Son saved us; God the Holy Spirit sanctifies us. God does all the work but in three distinct persons.

How would you answer the question, “What is the mystery of the Trinity?”  Again, the simple answer is God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three distinct persons but are inseparable. We do not worship three gods, but one God. When we worship the Holy Spirit we worship God; When we sing praises to Jesus, we are singing praises to God. 

As I mentioned last week, some churches believe that God is the one true God, and created the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. But Methodists, specifically Global Methodist, believe that God did not create the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but they are all part of the One True, holy, living God. The Nicene Creed says that Jesus is begotten from God, not made from God. We, who are Methodists, believe that the Trinity is one with three distinct persons. 

May we not be confused by the mystery of the Trinity but embrace the way God shows His eternal presence and lasting love through the Trinity.

Have a blessed week!

Pastor Frank