Key Thought: The doctrine of the Trinity is a Scriptural truth that God exists in three distinct persons with different functions, yet they work together as One..

[Teaching Pan for “The Triune God” January 4, 2012]

1. Have a volunteer read Deuteronomy 6:4.

A. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
B. Since this text emphasizes one God, how does this text indicate the Trinitarian teaching?
(Note: The Hebrew word for “one” used here is echod – a plural word. The word for God used here is Elohim – a plural ending used with a singular verb indicating unity in plurality – such as is used in a collective noun.)
C. Personal Application: Do you think of God more in terms of the Old Testament God or the New Testament Christ? Share.
D. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “Is the God of Justice and the God of Grace One and the same? How can they be reconciled?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Genesis 1:26,27.

A. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
B. Does the word “our” used twice here indicate that there is more than one person of the Godhead? Or is God speaking to the angels?
C. Personal Application: Does God still expect us to have dominion over the earthly creatures, and what does it mean to have dominion?
D. Case Study: One of your friends states, ”If we were made in the image of God, does that mean in His spiritual image, mental image, or physical image? Do you think we look like Him?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read John 14:13-18.

A. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
B. How does this text indicate the reality of the three separate persons on the Godhead? How does it indicate Oneness?
C. Personal Application: How does doing what we ask glorify the Father in the Son? What should we ask for that glorifies God in Jesus?.
D. Case Study: One of your neighbors states, “How can Christians say they “know” the Holy Spirit while the world can’t see Him or know Him? What proof do you have that the Holy Spirit dwells with you and is in you?” How do you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Philippians 2:6,7.

A. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
B. Does this indicate that Christ was not co-eternal and co-equal with God, or that He was?
C. Personal Application: How is taking on the form of a human being taking on the form of a servant if man was made in God’s image?
D. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Note: “Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.” MH p. 149)

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