One of the most striking things that Jesus revealed about God is that God is a relationship between a Father, His Son, and Their Spirit. This might sound odd at first but with a little digging it reveals an abundance of beauty, intimacy, and joy. Let’s first lay a quick foundation for faith in the Trinity.
The Trinity in the Bible
The Bible makes clear the relationship between the Father, Son, and Spirit. Throughout the Scriptures there is a real and dynamic conversation and friendship between the Three. Jesus’ famous prayer to the Father in John 17 reveals great mysteries. One of them is the love that the Father had for the Son before the world began: “You loved Me before the foundation of the world,” the Son spoke out to His Father.[1]
Another Scriptural example is the great affirmation the Father gives His Son at His baptism. A voice from heaven said, “This is My Beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.”[2] These verses have to be taken at face value. God, who is one in purpose and love, is diverse in His Personhood.
Jesus spoke of the Spirit as a Person as well. He called Him the “Helper.” The Gospel of John reads, “If I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And when He comes He will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment.”[3]
There are far more examples of the Three Persons of the Trinity working together in the Bible: The Father sent the Son.[4] The Spirit searches the depths of Father and the Spirit hears from the Son.[5] The Son praises the Father and sees the Father doing things.[6] The list can go on and on. The main point here is that the Father, Son, and Spirit live in relationship with one another.
The early Christians accepted the truth that God the Father had sent God the Son to save the world and Their Spirit was at work among them. Paul finished his second letter to the Corinthians with this: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”
Next, let’s take a quick look at the Nicene Creed.
The Nicene Creed
One of the most significant documents in all of church history was the Nicene Creed of 325 A.D. It was established by a Council of church leaders and written to guard the church against false teachings. It affirmed not only what was in the Scriptures, but also what Christians continued to believe after the original Apostles were martyred.
Polycarp, a disciple of the Apostle John wrote, “O Lord God Almighty… I bless you and glorify you through the eternal and heavenly high priest Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, through whom be glory to you, with Him and the Holy Spirit, both now and forever.” Ignatius of Antioch wrote, “In Christ Jesus our Lord, by whom and with whom be glory and power to the Father with the Holy Spirit forever.”
This led to the famous Nicene Creed of 325. The creed lays out the one God in three Persons with great clarity. It starts off with an affirmation of the Father: “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.” The creed then continues with a statement about the Son: “And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.”
And then of course a description of the Person of the Holy Spirit: “And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.”
There are innumerable examples through church history of the saints’ belief in the Trinity. Athanasius, Augustine, Martin Luther, and John Calvin are among those who championed the Father, Son, and Spirit. So far, we’re just scratching the surface. Let’s begin to take a deeper look at how the three Persons of God relate to one another.
The Image of God
When we hear the phrase “the image of God” we most likely think of ourselves – humans. But one of the foundations of understanding the Trinity is that Christ, the Son, is the original image of God. Paul says it blatantly in 2 Corinthians 4:4 and Colossians 1:15. “Christ, who is the image of God,” he writes.[7] The Son, you see, is the reflection or self-image that the Father has of Himself.
Jonathan Edwards explained this beautifully when he said, “God perpetually and eternally has a most perfect idea of Himself, as it were an exact image and representation of Himself ever before Him and in actual view.”[8] The Son was in the beginning with God, as God’s own Word[9], reflection, and exact imprint.[10] The Son is both a distinct Person from the Father and yet a direct extension of the Father as His perfect reflection.
Think of it like this: The Son is the “selfie” of God. God sees Himself and that image He has of Himself is His Son. From all eternity He was perfectly beholding the reflection of His own beauty in His Son. Jonathan Edwards continues, “And this Person is the second Person of the Trinity, the Only Begotten and dearly Beloved Son of God; He is the eternal, necessary, perfect, substantial, and personal idea which God hath of Himself; and that it is so seems to me to be abundantly confirmed by the Word of God.”[11]
John Piper adds this: “Since the Son is the image of God and the radiance of God and the form of God, equal with God, and indeed is God, therefore God’s delight in the Son is delight in Himself.”[12] And that delight is where the Spirit comes into play. The love, peace, and joy that we experience in the Spirit is the same experience that the Father and the Son have towards each other.
“You loved me before the foundation of the world”[13] is the Son’s eternal statement towards the Father. There’s never been a time when that hasn’t been true. The Father has always loved the Son. “This is my Beloved Son with whom I am well pleased” has been true forever. And we also know that the love we personally experience comes through the Holy Spirit. “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”[14]
The Spirit was “hovering” over the waters in the beginning. In the same way, the Spirit is the movement, hovering, and act of love from the Father to the Son and vice versa. Edwards continues his examination of the Trinity: “An infinitely holy and sacred energy arises between the Father and Son in mutually loving and delighting in each other, for their love and joy is mutual… and there proceeds the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, the Deity in act.”[15]
In conclusion, the Father has a perfect reflection of Himself. This reflection is the living Person of the Son. The Father, being the awesome living God He is, delights in His own glory and beauty in the Person of His Son. The energy, the movement, the love and delight that is expressed between the two is the Holy Spirit in each of them.
Ladies and Gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts; you’re discovering the infinite world of love, peace, and joy that exists in the most perfect relationship in the universe. It is from this Holy Trinity that the universe was birthed.
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[1] John 17:24
[2] Matthew 3:17
[3] John 16:7-8, Italics added
[4] John 3:16
[5] 1 Corinthians 2:10; John 16:13
[6]Luke 10:21; John 5:19
[7] 2 Corinthians 4:4
[8] Edwards, Jonathan, An Unpublished Essay on the Trinity
[9] John 1:1-2
[10] Hebrews 1:3
[11] Edwards, Jonathan, An Unpublished Essay on the Trinity
[12] Piper, John, The Pleasures of God, 38
[13] John 17:24
[14] Romans 5:5
[15] Edwards, Jonathan, An Unpublished Essay on the Trinity