God is One; God is Three

Bible Story Podcast
Bible Story Podcast
God is One; God is Three
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Today we will be talkin gabout how God is one and how God is three. This is what is called the Trinity and it’s a bit of a crazy concept.

Bible Story Podcast
Bible Story Podcast
God is One; God is Three
Loading
/

God is One; God is Three

Today we will be talkin gabout how God is one and how God is three. This is what is called the Trinity and it’s a bit of a crazy concept.

Bradon: Hey Jon, Imagine if there were three of you and three of me. How much fun would that be!

Jon: I think all of our introverted friends would be overwhelmed with all of us! That’s too much, Bradon and Jon. One of each is perfect. 

Bradon: Coming Up on the Bible Story Podcast, we will be talking about the Trinity. God is one, and God is Three

Discussion Episode
Matthew 3:13-17

About the Story

Bradon: Before we jump in, I have to say that it is definitely a good thing there is only one of each of us! I think we would just end up fighting with ourselves too much! At least I would. 

Jon: Yep, I would too, but within the Trinity, we see perfect community!

Bradon: Such a crazy concept, but it is entirely accurate, and today, we will look at a story that illustrates this.

Jon: Let me give a bit of information on the Trinity. God is both one and three. When we describe God as three, we are talking about the Trinity. God is three individuals, God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Yet because they are perfectly connected, they are at the same time one. It is one God, and that one God is three!

Bradon: So obviously, this is a crazy concept that is hard to wrap our heads around. Honestly, we have nothing on earth that can illustrate this perfectly, making it a difficult concept to understand. But together with God’s help, we will hopefully gain a better understanding of the Trinity. 

Jon: Now, let’s eat some humble pie before we begin. Let’s all acknowledge right here and now that we are all just humans. What human can fully understand God? 

Bradon: No one, which means we may never on this earth fully understand God! He is just too big, too grand, too beyond us. 

Jon: But with God’s help, he will reveal himself to us as he chooses. 

Bradon: And as we choose. It’s a two-way street. God needs to reveal himself to us, but we also need to be ready to learn!

Jon: We find today’s story in Matthew Chapter 3 Verses 13 to 17.

Application

Jon: This story is pretty short, but there is a lot to unpack when talking about the Trinity. 

Bradon: We can address many questions, but we will tackle just two of them.

Jon: The first is, why is God making things complicated? Can’t he just exist as one person and make things simpler for us all? Why is the Trinity necessary?

Bradon: First of all, I have no idea if God can just choose to be a Triune God (meaning three) or just one individual, but I don’t think he relates to us as Triune God to discourage or complicate things. I think it is just the opposite; in many ways understanding God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit, helps us understand the intricacies and detail of God much better than if we only understood him to be one. 

Jon: Jesus, God the son, in Matthew 28:19 says, ‘Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.’

Bradon: So if Jesus is describing God as three, it is both how he wants us to understand God, and it is true of God.

Jon: You had said that each one helps us understand God more fully; it gives us insight into God a bit more. I think we also relate differently to each one, as we saw in this story! So maybe let’s highlight just a few of the unique qualities of each individual of the Trinity. 

Bradon: That Sounds Good! Let’s start with God the Father. The Father is in heaven and receives worship from all who are in heaven. 

Jon: He also was there at the beginning of creation, and we consider him the Creator.

Bradon: He is the one set apart, holy, and we cannot approach God the Father without Grace. 

Jon: One other thing God the Father designed us to be in a relationship with him so we can fully enjoy one another!

Bradon: Ok, we could say a lot more, but let’s move on to God the Son. The person, Jesus, is God the Son. He is the physical presence of God. 

Jon: While God the Son took on an earthly form, he gave up his rights as God so he could be fully human, and all Jesus’ work was done in obedience to God the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet, just because he gave up his rights as God does not mean he stopped being God. 

Bradon: Listen to how Paul describes Jesus in Philippians 2:6-11

‘Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’

Jon: One last thing John 1 describes Jesus as the Word and everything was created through him at the very beginning, during creation. I think this is really cool!

Ok, on to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our helper, advocate, gives gifts like healing, preaching, prophecy, leadership, generosity, or speaking in other languages.

Bradon: The Holy Spirit prays on our behalf when we feel overwhelmed and don’t know what to pray. 

Jon: The Holy Spirit lives within us and reminds us of what God teaches, and he comes upon us, giving us the power to do God’s work! 

Bradon: The book of Genesis describes the Spirit of God hovering over the waters when God created all that is in our world. 

Jon: So God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit were all present during creation! That is so cool!

Bradon: Ok, very quickly, we will talk about the second question regarding the Trinity, which is this. Even though the Trinity is a weird concept of a God who is three and one, God created us in their image.

Jon: Right, not just in the image of God the Father or God the Son but created in the image of the Triune God. So the question is, how do we reflect being created in the image of the Trinity! Bradon, would you read Genesis 1:26?

Bradon: Sure, 

‘Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”’

Jon: Ok, read that first sentence again and notice how God speaks of himself in the plural.

Bradon: ‘Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.”’

Jon: So to answer the question, God is a relationship. Relationship is within his very existence. We reflect this in the sense that God created us to be in a relationship with him and others.

Bradon: We also reflect God in that we are all unique. Each individual of the Trinity is unique, and we are too!

Jon: Finally, I think that God is the model for community and relationship. In our story today, we saw God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit all participating in the baptism of Jesus. They were all in perfect unison, yet all had their unique roles. At our best, we reflect this type of community and relationship.

Bradon: We covered a lot today. It’s been great.

By Jon Drebert

A little about me: I decided to follow Jesus at a very early age while my mom made cookies and I ate cookie dough. I have an awesome family. My wife and I have three amazing kids. I serve as the Executive Director of Covenant Bay Bible Camp at Pigeon Lake, AB. Outdoor activities, music, sports, and learning are some of my favourite things to do.

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