Friday: Further Thought – The Father, the Son, and the Spirit
Daily Lesson for Friday 13th of December 2024
Read Ellen G. White, “ ‘Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled,’ ” Pages 662–680, in The Desire of Ages; “Additional Note on [John] Chapter 1,” The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, Pages 911–919.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
In assessing who Jesus is, His opponents judged by human standards “ ‘according to the flesh’ ” (John 8:15, NKJV). This is probably even worse than judging “by mere appearances” (John 7:24, NIV). Here they resorted to the criteria of the flesh, of fallen humanity in a fallen world, without the compelling control of the Spirit (see John 3:3-7). They saw His “flesh,” as it were, but never contemplated the possibility that He could be the Word made flesh (John 1:14). To regard Christ by such limited criteria is to weigh Him from a worldly point of view (2 Corinthians 5:16).
“The Comforter is called ‘the Spirit of truth.’ His work is to define and maintain the truth. He first dwells in the heart as the Spirit of truth, and thus He becomes the Comforter. There is comfort and peace in the truth, but no real peace or comfort can be found in falsehood. It is through false theories and traditions that Satan gains his power over the mind. By directing men to false standards, he misshapes the character. Through the Scriptures the Holy Spirit speaks to the mind, and impresses truth upon the heart. Thus He exposes error, and expels it from the soul. It is by the Spirit of truth, working through the word of God, that Christ subdues His chosen people to Himself.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 671.
Discussion Questions
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When I was growing up, shortwave radio was still a major force in world wide communication. We listened to the BBC News in New Zealand, This was not a relay broadcast but a direct broadcast from London. We also listened to the Christian Shortwave radio HCJB broadcasting from Quito, Ecuador.
Such long range broadcasts were made possible through the work of Marconi, Maxwell and others. My interest in science led me to read about how the technology of long-range broadcasting developed. The notion that radio could be broadcast over the horizon, and ultimately around the world was an exciting one. The early pioneers knew little of how over-the-horizon radio transmission worked and some of their ideas were almost whacky. They did not understand the role and mechanism of the ionosphere, but at the same time they experimented with the transmission and ultimately those experiments gave us both a successful communication technology and a better understanding of the physics of the ionosphere in the upper atmosphere.
This week, we have discussed the nature of the Godhead. True to form, we have had the usual arguments about it that have been going on for at least two millennia. In the short history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, we have also argued about it, often acrimoniously.
I suggest that there are no brownie points in winning the argument, when we lose sight of our Christianity in the process. I know what I believe about the Godhead, but I am mindful that there are those with whom I disagree but still respect because they have an experimental knowledge of God.
Like the early radio pioneers, who did not understand the theory but were adventurous enough to experiment, we Christians should put aside our insistence on the correct theory of God and develop a practical relationship. We can learn from the Unitarians, the Modalists, the Trinitarians, and so on when we share in the practical aspects of experimental Christianity.
There is a corollary to this. Our pictures of God are minuscule. There is so much more to learn. Whatever picture we have of the Godhead now, will be like comparing a grainy black-and-white photograph, to a full 3D model, when we get to share eternity with God and one another. There is no examination question at the gate of heaven asking which picture of the Godhead, we believe. There is only one question, "Do you know the guy who died for you?"
I have to break my word once and comment. I agree whole hardedly with the notion that we need to continue to have a relationship with Our Father as the one who graciously gave His Son to save humanity, if we so choose out of love. Each member of the Godhead went and goes out of their way to redeem us. Christ exemplified our Father. The Holy Spirit as our comforter, instructor, and nudger into Truth as we digest the Scriptures, the Word of God. Yes our priority is have that relationship daily. I must admit I am guilty of trying to convince of the Trinity.
I do believe we can present the Godhead/Trinity conviction we have, and the individuality of the Godhead to people. And I do agree we cannot change minds of their conviction, that is the work of the Holy Spirit. Yes we are to spend the majority of our time with a relationship with Him who willingly laid down His life for us. We will soon learn more of that.
As for radio, we have an oldy but goody that is not dead yet. We can put our imagination in high gear and still not come close to what our God-Trio has in store for us in regards to communication. Some day soon. We are committed to being ready.
Your word acrimoniously hits us hard. Bless your heart. Sometimes we need it to make us sweet. Just like the Manuka honey from New Zealand makes my blood sweet, we as Seventh-day-Adventist need to have a sweetness permiating through our veins.
Trinity doctrine teaches that; there is One God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) three co-eternal and co-equal persons and each of them is a God whole and entire.
I.e 1.GOD THE Father
2.GOD THE Son
3.GOD THE Holy Spirit.
Precisely, three gods making up ONE God. Really!!!!
Is this doctrine really biblical? Not at all. It is purely paganistic way of explaining the nature of the prince/leader of the fallen angels.
Seth, I do not know of any pagan religion that teaches anything like the trinity. Hyslop tried to make a case for it in his book, "The Two Babylsons" but it is an invention and a distortion of the the facts. If you have evidence for the assertion that the Godhead doctrine is pagan in origin, you need to provide the evidence and not just make an assertion.
Hello, Seth, welcome to our blog!
Like Maurice, I am not aware of any pagan religion that teaches anything similar to the biblical teaching of our Triune God (sometimes called the Trinity).
However, what you have described in your comment is known as "Tritheism" (three gods) and is known as an anti-trinitarian teaching. It does not describe the Trinity or Triune God teaching. And, yes, there are definitely pagan religions that have three gods or more, and "the prince/leader of the fallen angels" is the author of all such teachings.
By contrast, the Bible teaches that there is but one God, existing as three co-equal, co-eternal Persons - God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. To understand that, we would have to be equal with God. We can only accept it by faith.
Scripture says there is one God who is made up of three distinct Persons:
(1) There is one God (Deut 6:4; Isa 43:10; 1 Cor 8:4; cf. 1 Tim 2:5)
(2) Three Persons; God the Father (John 6:27; Rom 1:7; 1 Pet 1:2), God the Son (John 1:1-3; John 8:58; Col 1:16-17; Tit 2:13; Heb 1:2), and God the Holy Spirit (John 14:16; Acts 5:3-4; 1 Cor 3:16; Eph. 4:30).
All three Persons of the Trinity are distinct from each other (Matt 28:19; Rom 15:30; 2 Cor 13:14).
One person put it this way, "I can't explain it any more than I can explain how a photon or electron can be both a wave and a particle, have two different spins and move in opposite directions at the same time. That doesn't mean it's not so, just that I don't get it."
All we can do is humbly accept what the Bible teaches and try to figure out why this is true. 1 John 4:8 tells us that "God is love." Not that God "loves" or that God is "loving," but that God is love. So try this thought experiment: How many persons does it take to demonstrate self-sacrificing love? Can one person demonstrate self-sacrificing love? Can two persons demonstrate self-renouncing love? (Have you ever seen two people obsessively absorbed in each other?) But as soon as you introduce a third person, all three have to share. I suggest that the minimum number of persons needed to demonstrate self-renouncing love is three. And that is one evidence that God must exist as three Persons.
We sometimes think of the three Persons in one God as 1+1+1, but that gives us three Gods (Tritheism) If we want to think mathematically, we have to think 1x1x1=1
1 Corinthians 10:4, 9-10 tells us that the God who led Israel through the desert was Christ. Thus all we know of God is what Christ has revealed - before His incarnation and during His life on earth.
The post on which you are commenting is on a week-long study of the Trinity. To gain a fuller picture, I invite you to go back and read the posts for each day and the comments that follow each post, beginning with "Sabbath: The Father, the Son, and the Spirit." (You can go directly from one lesson to the next by following the links under the end of lesson, like Sunday–> https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-11-the-heavenly-father/
I believe you will also find a little gem on the subject in the middle of the vide by Ty Gibson on "Adventism as World View."
And the video "Our Unique Three-in-One God is completely focused on helping us understand some things about our Triune God.
Hello Seth! Without going into an extensive Bible study I feel the need to clarify the record.
I grew up Catholic, went to Catholic elementary schools, was an Altar boy, and even wanted to become a Catholic priest at one time. I know most, though not all of what Catholic theology teaches. Having said that I can tell you that the "Trinity" that Seventh-day Adventism teaches is vastly different from the Trinity doctrine of Catholicism. I prefer to use the Biblical word of the Godhead instead of the trinity, a word which comes from Latin, and carries a lot of baggage.
How is the Godhead different from the "Trinity?"
1) the Godhead is composed of three persons that comprise one God. This is different from three Gods in a significant way. The word Elohim is plural form of the persons of God, not gods, which is comprised of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus said to the disciples to baptize in the name of these three individuals in Matthew 28:19. Why would Jesus say this if he was wrong? He wouldn't. He knew exactly what He was saying and why, because He being part of it, He understood the nature of the Godhead.
2)The Trinity doctrine teaches that the Son of God had a beginning. This is only partially correct. The body that the preincarnate Word assumed had a beginning, being conceived of the Holy Spirit in, and born of a virgin. John 1 clearly states that in the beginning the Word was, and was with God, and was God. It doesn't say the Word was a god as Jehovah's Witnesses try to assert. John 1:14 states then that the Word became flesh. In other words He changed His form from Spirit to human. We know Him as Yeshua (hebrew) or more commonly as Jesus (greek).
3) I believe that the word begotten (monogenes) is misinterpreted by Anti-trinitarians. I believe that the proper interpretation is "most unique" or "most exalted." This is what the Incarnated Word became in the person of Jesus. He was fully God and fully man, yet chose to live His life as a human being fully dependent upon the heavenly Father.
Please see my other remarks on the subject of the Godhead.
Many Anti-trinitarian Seventh-day Adventist would be surprised to learn that Ellen White actually used the word "trinity" in her writings, in support of the concept of a triune God. Check it out. It will blow your mind.
Pr. David Asscherick does an excellent 5 part series called "The Unknown God." I watched all five parts yesterday and last night and was blessed.
We need to be very careful not to walk into a trap set by the devil to cause us to blaspheme the Holy Spirit by diminishing His position and role. The devil doesn't counterfeit a counterfeit but a genuine article. We must follow the admonition of 2 Tim. 2:15.
Remember this one thing, God is Grander, Better, and more Glorious than our feeble finite minds can comprehend.
Shalom my friend!
Here's the link
https://youtu.be/vfuqTwCMojo?si=hCyXfFFHFZ2z-FEg
My understanding of Ellen White's use of the word "Trinity" is that she used it once in "Evangelism" p616.4 where she says: "the Trinity - the eternal heavenly digitaries - God, and Christ, and the Holy Spirit ..."
It is used a second time with an entirely different meaning in a letter from Cooranbong in 1898 to W C Gage.
Clearly that has nothing to do with the Holy Trinity.
There is a third reference that shows up in the index but it is an introductory paragraph to her writings in Adventist Bible Commentary.
I would observe that her reluctance to use the word "Trinity" in her writings stems from fact that there was a lot of baggage associated with the word in peoples minds at the time. She preferred to use the description used in the first reference above. It would be an exercise for someone to do a search for that expression and similar.
As Vinnie Strickland pointed out, Ellen White mentioned "the heavenly Trio" in the same way we might use the word "Trinity." She wrote:
My King James Version, regarding John 17:15, does not include the word "one" where it says "...evil one," mine just says, "...keep them from the evil." Evil is not only "The evil one," evil can be just simply within ourselves. Evil also is what is all around us in the world even without "The evil one." And "The Holy Spirit" can keep us safe from "All Evil" within ourselves, all around us, and including "The evil one."
I grew up without understanding the importance of knowing Jesus Christ as my Savior. Although we prayed in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I didn’t grasp their unity or significance. Basic tenets of Christianity, introduced through the Protestant Catechism in elementary school, felt distant. I couldn’t understand Jesus’ relationship with my heavenly Father, and, like a jealous sibling, I didn’t want Him around.
This began to change when, at 28, I started studying the Bible, exploring topics about life and my spiritual relationship with God. I realized that faith in God is more than simply believing He exists—it reshaped my worldview. As I studied, I came to understand the unity of God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Each plays a unique yet equally vital role in bringing salvation to mankind. Together, they reveal the Father’s Will, which is expressed through their perfect love.
Understanding this Love transformed my life completely. Its truth touched every part of me, causing me to be 'born again'. I no longer excluded Jesus from my relationship with my heavenly Father. Instead, I began to see Him in everything I do. I now understand who He is, who His Father is, and how their Love is expressed through the Holy Spirit.
Assured by their love and inspired by the Holy Spirit, I am convinced that my heavenly Father hears my prayers in Jesus’ name. Their name, after all, is Love.
A relationship takes time. How much time am I spending with the Master?
Praise God for seeing us safely through another challenging yet, victorious year! This week’s lesson has been a blessing; underscoring heaven’s matchless pursuit of God’s children.
Jesus, God Incarnate, acknowledged the headship of God the Father, while He poured into His disciples, prior to their dispersal. As parents and leaders, we can do nothing except we are empowered by the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, immutable and eternal, yet sweet, Holy Spirit. May God help us to embrace the gift of His all-encompassing power, grace and salvation.
Thank you for this opportunity to share and discuss.