John1:1: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and God was the Word.
Genesis1:1-3: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

I saw a thread last week asking if God is a Trinity. I observed in the thread so many, obviously following the thoughts of the author, asking how there can be three Gods. It is my aim to explain in this short passage, the doctrine of Trinity and help the reader to reach an understanding of the attribute of God as it concerns the Trinity doctrine and its implication for the Christian.

From the beginning of the first chapter in the Old Testament, it is obvious that God “alone” did not carry out the work of creation, which is actually the first introduction of God in the Bible. Verse 2 introduces his Spirit which moved upon the face of the waters while verse 3 introduced the first attribute which God shares with the living man he later created in verse 25 and 26, which is the Word. The word which God spoke created the heaven and the earth and all that is in the earth. But one distinct thing about creation is the fact that man did not become a living soul until God breathed into his nostrils his own breath in Gen2:7. Thus, by this narration of creation, it is easy to spot three distinct beings which carried out the full works of creation. A Supreme God, his Word and his Spirit or breath. It is important to note that man whom is God’s crowning creation shares the benefit of this attribute with God. There is the physical man which God formed with his word. There is the soul of man from which comes the thoughts and feelings which are expressed by the physical man Proverbs 23:7. There is the spirit of man which is what directs his thoughts and actions Job 32:8. Let us go back to creation in Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:” It is intriguing to see here that God made man, not in his singular image, but in the image AND likeness of the plurality of “those” He carried out the work of creation with. It is thus important to note that the image and likeness of man is not a singular attribute of God alone, but an aggregation of attributes of his maker.

Now that I have established the existence of three layers or if you will realm of existence of Man, it is time to interrogate the existence of God in Trinitarian form and if it is different from that of man or it is likewise.

As already established, the concept in the Old Testament of God is a unitary God, who speaks to and meets with people through his angels and chosen prophets. But does God share the physical attributes of man? This question is important as if it is so, it implies that He could also have the existential attributes of man as laid out previously. The first indication of the existence of a physical attribute of man in God was in Exodus 33 when Moses requested to see God’s glory. Below was God’s response to Moses from verse 20-23: “And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.”

From the above, it is clear that there are certain attributes of God present in the physical man, and the existence of man in three different realms is one of such. God thus also exists in three different realms: The God in heaven who is the God of all gods and is God the Father, God in human form on earth who is God the Son, and God the Spirit.

The New Testament highlights and gives more information about this unique relationship. At the birth of Jesus as explained in Luke 1:26-35, the archangel Gabriel was sent by God to Mary. She made known to Mary that she shall give birth to Jesus who shall be called the “Son of God” v35. Not only that, she explained the mode of conception to be through the overshadowing of the Spirit and Power of God upon Mary. It is thus obvious to see the interrelationship of the workings of God, His son Jesus and His Spirit in the coming to the world of Jesus Christ. Also, at the baptism of Jesus Christ, it was recorded in same Luke 3:22 “And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased”.

Jesus Christ throughout His ministry on earth, made clear to his disciples that he came from God, and out of God most especially in John3:16. It is in same John 14 that Jesus espoused fully the relationship between him and the Father, and also introduced the Holy Spirit to his disciples as the Spirit of truth in v17. But before that, he had established himself as the way, truth and life in v6. Thus, he established the Spirit who is the come from the Father (v26) as his very own Spirit.

This chapter perfectly shows that the trinity is made up of three distinct persons who are interrelated in a unique bond of sharing the same Spirit and the same human form all belonging to the same Father of all creation. This is the concept of Trinity.
In essence, the Christian is to accept the Fatherhood of God and Sonship of Jesus through the Spirit of God. Every Christian thus needs to understand the specific role each personality plays in the life of a Christian: God the Father as the Source of all things, Jesus as the advocate and the Holy Spirit as the Comforter, and the Spirit of the Trinity.

Ok