Have you ever been mistaken for someone? Has someone ever had a conversation with you and the entire time they thought you were someone else? Sadly, this happens to me all too often in my life. My brother Jim is 21 years older than me. This brings great confusion to people when they see me and then, they see him. I cannot tell you how many times people have come to me asking how my father is doing, and then I inform them that I am not who they think I am.

In John chapter 20, Jesus has risen from the grave; He has made appearances to many people including some of the disciples. Thomas is one of the disciples who has great doubt that Jesus has risen from the grave because he has yet to see Him. He tells the other disciples that he will only believe if he can see Jesus and can see the scars from the crucifixion. Well, Jesus shows up and Thomas makes this amazing statement in verse 28, “Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and My God!’”

Thomas’ statement begs the questions, Is Jesus God or did Thomas mistake him for the wrong person? I believe Jesus’ response confirms clearly that Jesus is God. If Jesus was not God, do you think He would let Thomas mistakenly call Him King of kings and Lord of lords? As we keep reading the passage, Jesus asks Thomas in the next verse, “Have you believed because you have seen me?” If Jesus is not God, I do not believe He would allow Thomas to call Him God. It would be a very blasphemous statement against God.

Throughout the Bible, there is this beautiful picture of Jesus and God being separate, and being the same. For a fun little study read Daniel 7:9-10 and Revelation 1:12-16. Daniel is clearly referring to God while Revelation is clearly referring to Jesus. Compare the similarities between the two. You will be amazed at how the same characteristics that are used to describe God are the same characteristics to describe Christ Jesus.

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“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

From the earliest pages of Scripture, God reveals Himself as powerful, holy, and deeply personal. The prophets foretold of a coming King, one who would not only rule but carry divine titles. Isaiah’s prophecy is striking: a child would be born, yet this child would be called Mighty God.

The weight of this promise finds its fulfillment not just in a manger in Bethlehem but in the very opening lines of the Gospel of John. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Later, John 1:14 adds, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” John echoes the opening of Genesis but reframes it around the person of Jesus, whom he calls “the Word.” Not only was Jesus present at creation, but He is the Creator. Not only was He with God, but He is God. It is then that John gives the most staggering truth of all: this God came to live among us.

Jesus is not merely a messenger from God. He is the Message, and the Maker clothed in flesh, the invisible God made visible. His character, actions, and words are not merely reflections of divinity; they are divinity! Every time He extended compassion to the outcast, healed the broken, forgave the sinner, or rebuked hypocrisy, we see God’s heart on full display.

He is the Wonderful Counselor because His wisdom surpasses our human understanding. He is Mighty God because He calms storms, raises the dead, and He Himself conquers both sin and death. He is the Word made flesh, not a representative, but the very presence of God reaching out to humanity in love and truth.

This is the cornerstone of the Christian faith: Jesus is God. He is not just sent by God, not just like God, but He IS God. This changes everything, or at least it should! If He is God, then we cannot approach Him casually; we must worship. If He is God, we cannot ignore His words; we must obey. If He is God, we are not left to wander in darkness because He is the light that no darkness can overcome.

When you think of Jesus, do you recognize Him as God in the flesh, worthy of your full trust, reverence, surrender, and obedience?

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“I and the Father are one. The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?’ The Jews answered him, ‘It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.’” John 10:30-33

“The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” C.S. Lewis 

Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” This statement was mind-blowing for the culture Jesus lived in and for our culture today. How could a man actually be God? The crowd responded to Jesus’ claim in outrage and were ready to kill Him for this claim. How could this Jesus be a man whose heart beat, perspired when hot, cried when sad, and bled and bruised just like me? This concept is crazy, yet is crucial to understanding our walk with God. You see, Jesus came as a man to experience life as we know it. He was tempted, He grew physically and mentally, and experienced many things a boy and man would experience in that culture, but why? Why would the God of all of the universe come in the form of a man? The answer is simple; it is for you and me!  

When Jesus was under trial in front of Pilate and the High Priest, the Pharisees were pushing Pilate to sentence Jesus to death; Pilate was disturbed. He could not find fault with this man, but they wanted Him killed for one reason, He claimed to be God. This claim brought huge weight and attention from all over Jerusalem and something the religious world did not like. Pilate brought Jesus inside, away from the crowd, to have a conversation with Him. Pilate asked Jesus in John 18:37, “Then Pilate said to him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.’” Jesus came into the world as a reigning King and was born in a barn around animals. There was no pomp and circumstance to His birth, yet the Almighty God was born that day simply on a mission of truth, and that truth would set the captives free!

God stepped out of Heaven and into our earth in the form of a man. This takes faith to believe, but understanding why He did it is crucial to our walk with Christ. He did not do it to waste His time because He was bored in Heaven or that He could come down and punish this world because we had fallen so far away from how He created us. He did it so that He could spread the truth of how much He (God) loves us and desires a relationship with us. Luke 19:10 says, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost!”

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“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Philippians 2:5-8 (NKJV)

If you asked 100 people to tell you who Jesus is, you might get 100 different answers! But I tend to believe that those 100 answers would fall into just four basic categories. It is just four separate “buckets” if you will. The first bucket would hold every answer that suggested that Jesus was (as the saying goes) a “good teacher.” In other words, He was a religious man, perhaps more religious than others, who taught us about God and His ways. The second bucket would hold every answer given that suggested that Jesus was crazy. Every answer in this bucket would be some form of the idea that Jesus was a lunatic. The thought here is that Jesus was nothing special, but that He (and others) thought He was more than others are. The third bucket would contain all the answers that suggested that Jesus was a fake. These answers would all convey the idea that Jesus knew He was nothing, but pretended to be something to deceive people and lead them astray. The fourth bucket would hold every answer that said that Jesus was indeed who He claimed to be. Jesus was God. He, as God, came to live among us. Every word that came from Him was God speaking. Every work done by Him was God's work. He truly is the Way, the Truth, and the Life as He said. 

C.S. Lewis once wrote regarding the answers people might give to the question, “Who is Jesus?”: “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.”

Jesus is God. He is not “a god” among other “gods.” He is not a “lesser god.” He is not a “god-like” man who taught us about the true God. There is only one God, and He is that God. He is God, who created all things and brought them into their existence. He is God, and as such, rules over all things and has given you and I life. There was never a moment when He came to be. He has always been. Everything came to be by Him and through His power. He was not created. He created all things.

So, what exactly happened 2,000 years ago? God came down. God came as a baby born to a woman. His name was called Immanuel because it was God now dwelling among us. That baby grew up and eventually took all of our sins upon Himself and died in our place on a cross. God died for us, for our sin. God came, God died, and then God rose from the dead. Jesus is God.

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After shepherding for forty years in absolute obscurity in the Arabian wilderness, God appeared and spoke to Moses. Forty years earlier, Moses had fled Egypt as a murderer and fugitive from Egyptian justice. He now stood with a bush burning before Him, ablaze with the holy glory of God. In this literal Holy Ground moment, God reveals to Moses that He, the Lord, is going to finally free His people from Egyptian bondage and bring them to the long Promised Land. God invites Moses to be His voice to the Pharaoh and the entire nation of Israel. We know from the book of Acts, that Moses while growing up and living like a prince of Egypt, “was mighty in his words and deeds” (Acts 7:22). But that was four decades ago and in Moses’ mind, must have felt like a distant dream. Yet, here was God, calling this fugitive shepherd to return to the place of his upbringing and crime, to, through the mighty power of God, deliver the people of God from slavery. Moses trembled before the glory of God and God’s call, and asked,“If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” And God answered him, ‘I AM WHO I AM…Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you’’” (Exodus 3:13-14). And what followed this conversation was truly one of the most extraordinary sequences of events the world has ever experienced.

Centuries later, Jesus was approached by the Pharisees while He was teaching in the temple. With a great amount of bitterness and venom, they hurled insults at Jesus, even questioning the moral standing and legitimacy of His birth. As the vicious attacks built to a crescendo, Jesus speaks of Abraham. The Jewish leaders were particularly protective (and possessive) of Abraham, Moses, and King David. Jesus tells them, “Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day…He saw it and was glad.” Puzzled, the Jewish leaders responded, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Here’s the final exchange: “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple” (Acts 8:56-59).

Jesus definitively at this moment declares that He is God, referring back to Exodus chapter 3 and claiming for Himself the name of God. Jesus leaves no doubt for His listeners by saying, “I AM.” They knew precisely what Jesus was saying. This is proven by the fact that they were so enraged by what they viewed as a blasphemous claim that they instantly went from seething anger to a willingness to commit murder.

This event, among many others in the ministry of Christ, proves that Jesus did not simply claim to be a man deeply in tune with spiritual things, a prophet, or a moral teacher. He claimed to be the God of the Old Testament, the burning bush come in the flesh. At the risk of overstating the point, this is a major of the highest order. Followers of Jesus can never back down from this doctrine which Christ taught. Jesus Christ is God. He was not part of a group of gods nor did He become a God because of His extraordinary life. He was God, is God, and will return one day to earth to visibly demonstrate His authority as God.

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I enjoy writing devotions. I enjoy getting different topics to study and then write about that topic. I enjoy studying, learning, and writing. This is one of those devotions I did not enjoy writing as much as devotions past. Not because of the topic, the topic of Jesus is God is amazing! Ideas, stories, analogies, and truths that can be applied that flow from this fact are numerous and beyond count! The reason this devotion was not that enjoyable was that in just three words one could sum up every clever, insightful thing I could possibly say: Jesus is God. There is nothing else that needs to be said. Jesus being God is such a fundamental fact in my mind, my mind would not let me go any further. I almost wanted to just increase the size of the font and say, “Jesus is God.” Those three words would cover the whole page, and it would be my entire devotion. That is all that needs to be said about this topic.

In the first chapter of the Gospel of John, he starts his account of Jesus’ life with some poetry. I love reading the Gospel of John because Matthew, Mark, and Luke write similar styles and even use each other as sources in their accounts. Then you have John who is super poetic and full of imagery. In John 1:1, he says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In John 1:14 he continues, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” So we can use some simple deductive reasoning. By looking logically at the premises, we can draw a conclusion. Since “the Word was God” that means that God is the Word. Since the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us” means that God became flesh and dwelt among us. Finally, since Jesus was the part of the Trinity that became flesh to dwell among us, that concludes that Jesus is God. 

We have already discussed the fact that everything in the Bible is true and comes from the creator of the universe. We must make the fact that “Jesus is God” a truer statement of our lives than us telling ourselves the sun will come up the next morning. “Jesus is God” must be the truest fact in all of our lives. 

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Recently, I visited the Nation of Israel.  We went to the Western Wall and watched as many Jews came to the wall to pray to God. The Jews believe this is the closest that they can get to God’s glory. The Bible tells us in Exodus 40:34, “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” We know that the glory of the Lord fell upon the tabernacle. To this day, Jews will go to the Western Wall because this is closest they can get to what is left of the old temple. The sad part is that they have missed where the glory of God is and has gone. The glory of God came as flesh as John chapter one would go on to describe as Jesus. 

John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This verse is so simple that a child could understand it, but yet so deep we could spend months studying it. This chapter is the proclamation that God’s glory rests on His Son and that God came down in the flesh as Jesus. Three clear points are made here in verse one. First, the Word was in the beginning. This does not mean a specific period of time. The beginning could also be translated the source. This is saying that the Word was the start. The Word was before all and the source of all. John MacArthur, a biblical teacher and pastor, says, “The word of the Lord was the expression of divining power and wisdom.” The second part of this verse says, “the Word was with God.” This has stated the separation of the Word and God. MacArthur also goes on to say that this is a picture of, “2 personal beings facing one another and enjoying intelligent discourse.”

Lastly, we have the statement, “the Word was God.” If you have ever had a Jehovah’s Witness come to your door, this is one of the first places they will start. They are okay with the word being the beginning, and the word being with God, but they object to the truth that the “Word was God.” When we read John 1:14, we see who “the Word” is: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The Word (Jesus) became flesh. Jesus took up residence among us.

The wonderful thing about the Bible is that it continually supports itself.  

“No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” John 1:18

“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” Colossians 2:9

“To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.” Romans 9:5

“To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:1

These verses amazingly describe the Father and Son aspect of the Trinity. I challenge you to read 2 Corinthians 3 to see how the Holy Spirit fits into and completes this Holy Trinity that we trust. 

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“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, ‘God with us.’” Matthew 1:23 (NKJV)

An egg. An apple. Water. What do they have in common? They have all been used to try to explain the doctrine of the Trinity to children and adults alike. The basic concept of the Trinity seems simple on its surface. It is easy to say that God is “three persons in one.” But when your five-year-old begins to ask questions, you quickly realize the answer is not so simple. Enter the humble egg as an attempted illustration of the Trinity. It is three parts: shell, white, and yolk existing as one egg. A single apple consists of three parts as well: the skin, the flesh, and the core. Water can exist in three forms, a liquid, a solid (ice), and a gas (steam). These illustrations, however helpful they might be, do not perfectly convey the Trinity (because each “thing” is a different “thing”). Like an exercise bicycle, it feels that the harder you push to understand or explain the Trinity, the more difficult it becomes. However, just because the concept of the Trinity is difficult to wrap our minds around, does not mean that we should disregard it. It is vital!

First things first, the word “Trinity” (a tri-unity - three in one) is not in the Bible. However, the concept is. The Trinity, meaning that the one true God exists in three persons, is taught throughout the Scriptures. We see the doctrine of the Trinity taught from Genesis to Revelation. To understand it, we have to keep it simple. The Bible says that there is ONE God. Deuteronomy 6:4 says, “Hear O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!” We find that not only is the Father called God, but the Son, Jesus is called God, and the Holy Spirit is called God. God is “one.”

Jesus is a good starting point. Key passages make it clear that Jesus is God. John 1:1-2 says, “In the beginning was the Word and the word was with God and was God. He was in the beginning with God.” Then verse 14 (NKJV) adds, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 10:30 (NKJV) says, “I and the Father are One.” Thomas’ confession of Him when he saw the risen Jesus is very pointed, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28, NKJV). Titus 2:13 (NKJV) says that we as His people are “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” Colossians 1:15-17 (NKJV) also shows that Jesus is God, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” There are many other passages stating Jesus is God. Jesus is called God throughout the Bible.

The Holy Spirit is also God. In Acts chapter 5, we read that Ananias and his wife Sapphira are said to have lied to the Holy Spirit. However, verse 4 (NKJV) says, “You have not lied to men but to God.” John 6:63 tells us that it is the Holy Spirit who “gives life.” That is something that only God is said to be able to do. In the Genesis account of Creation, we see the Holy Spirit hovering above the deep (waters) involved in the creation, something that only God is said to have done. The Spirit is said to be all-knowing, everywhere at once, all-powerful, and eternal. These are attributes that only God possesses.

On a technical note, in the opening words of the Bible found in Genesis 1:1, we read, “In the beginning God.” What you may not know is that in Hebrew (the original language of the Old Testament), the word “God” there is the plural form of a singular noun. It is “Gods as one” if you will. Not just “gods” making God “polytheistic” (multiple gods), it is describing right from the opening words a “plurality within the one God.” Just a few chapters later in the Genesis account, we read of God making man using the words, “Let us make man in our image.” It is incredible.

The New Testament shows us the Trinity continually. 1 John 5:7 (NKJV) says it clearly, “For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit and these three are one.” All three persons of the Trinity are seen together in the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:19 (NKJV), “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” At the baptism of Jesus, we see all three persons of the Trinity at once: “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” In Revelation 4:8, we see the angels of God crying out the threefold, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty.” They use the word “holy” three times for just one God. 

We may not be able to explain how three persons can exist as one God, but that is what the Bible teaches. Perhaps, rather than the picture of an apple or an egg, maybe we should use math? God is not 1+1+1=3, but rather 1x1x1=1.

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Describing the Trinity is an extremely difficult, if not impossible, task. The word “Trinity” cannot even be found in the Bible, yet it is a crucial piece of our walk and understanding of God. We see the Trinity made up of God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit. As a child, we sang a song that described the Trinity and its components. The song closed with “three in one, three in one.” As a child, and even now, the concept of “three in one” is mind-blowing! I have always said that if someone claims to fully be able to explain the Trinity, then run because they have no idea what they are saying. I am not sure if that is a good statement, but fully understanding the Trinity means to fully understand God and His character and this is something our finite brains can never fully grasp. 

Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” This verse is something that I think every believer must understand. “I realize I cannot fully understand God, yet my faith in Him is willing to trust Him and His plan and my response is to live for Him every day.” The Bible tells us that we must have a “child-like” faith to believe in God and this is something that we as followers of Christ must cling to especially when walking through tough concepts like the Trinity. 

However, as we look at the Trinity, we see three components that make it up: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit working in unison to establish a relationship with you. 2 Corinthians 13:14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” We see the three characteristics of the Trinity described by Paul in 2 Corinthians as grace, love, and fellowship. All three pointing back to the Gospel and God’s desire for us to be saved. J. I. Packer, a world renowned theologian, describes the Trinity like this, “The Trinity is the basis of the Gospel, and the Gospel is a declaration of the Trinity in action.” The Trinity is three forms of God in action to declare the Gospel to a broken world. The grace of Jesus came to the earth to die on a cross for our sins. The love of God is perfect and true and will never stop pursuing a relationship with us. Finally, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit walks with us everyday, comforting, leading, guiding, and directing our steps. We see all three forms with different characteristics, yet acting in unison pointing us toward a relationship with God. So, just as Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, I write to you, “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2 Corinthians 13:14, NLT).

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“The name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19

At the time of Jesus, polytheism (the belief and worship of more than one god or goddess) was the major religious viewpoint. Except for the Jewish Nation, who were monotheistic (believed and worshipped one God), the belief in many gods and goddesses was essentially a globally accepted idea. The prophets of the Old Testament stood against Israel’s acceptance of other gods (Deuteronomy 6:4 says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”), while the apostles in the New Testament spoke against the predominantly Greco-Roman worship of many gods and goddesses. Jesus came and unequivocally declared Himself as God (more about that next week), but made it clear that He was doing only the will of His Father. Other than the cross of Calvary, no greater and more emotional example of this exists than in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus prayed, “My father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). Jesus had authority over sickness, disease, demons, weather, and the whole of creation, yet He willingly submitted His will to God the Father. In the same way, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, telling the disciples, “He will glorify me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you”(John 16:14). We see very plainly in Scripture God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Please understand, not three gods, but one God in three persons. We would say, the triune God. Christians are not polytheists; we are monotheists. We believe in one God, who exists in three distinct persons. The study of the Trinity is like exploring a profound mystery, and yet within the pages of the Scripture the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit are seen and more importantly, presented as one.  

In Matthew chapter 28 as Jesus is preparing His disciples for His eventual ascension into Heaven, the Lord gives to His followers what we have come to know as “The Great Commission.” Jesus charges His followers with the mission of preaching the Gospel throughout the world, and then “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (verse 19). The commission to those believers and to us is not to casually be acquainted with or even benign to the Trinitarian existence of God, but to take practical action that acknowledges the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Baptism is not necessary for salvation, but a truly saved person will be baptized, publically declaring their faith that God sent His Son to die on the cross and rise again three days later. Jesus then sent the Holy Spirit to guide and comfort us. Even as Jesus, who was baptized by John in Matthew chapter 3, comes up out of the water, the audible voice of God the Father is heard, and the Holy Spirit is seen descending like a dove on Jesus. The Trinity was present at the baptism of Jesus and is present at all future baptisms as well.

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“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” Colossians 2:9

Several years ago, my family and I went on a trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. While we were there, we decided to go to an escape room. We had a choice of which room to choose: beginner, novice, or expert. I have no idea why, but for some reason, we chose the expert room. This was silly on our part because none of us had ever been to an escape room before. The room we chose was a ship that was sinking, and we had to escape. Needless to say, we all went down with the ship. The truth is we did not understand what we were doing.

The concept of the Trinity is difficult to understand as well. There is really no way to perfectly understand the Trinity with our human minds. The word Trinity is not found in the Bible, but its truth is. The Bible teaches that there is one God. Deuteronomy 6:4 says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” Yet, the Bible also teaches that God exists in three coequal and co-eternal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The members of the Trinity are three individual persons and are all God. The Father is God (John 6:27), the Son is God (Colossians 2:9), and the Holy Spirit is God (1 Corinthians 3:16).

Some teach a polytheistic view of the Trinity. They say the three persons of the Trinity are three separate gods. This view is not compatible with the Bible. A name frequently used for God in the Hebrew language is Elohim, which is a plural word. In Genesis 1:26, 3:22, 11:7, and Isaiah 6:8, the plural pronoun “us” is used when God is speaking of Himself.

Some teach a modalistic view of the Trinity, which teaches that there is one God who changes to one of the three modes of the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit. This is not compatible with the Bible either. In Matthew 3:16-17, all three persons of the Trinity are present. When Jesus the Son came up from the water, after being baptized, the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove, and God the Father spoke audibly.

The Trinity is one of the most challenging doctrines of the Bible to understand. Why is it important? Through the Trinity, we gain an understanding of who God is and how He works. The Trinity helps us understand God’s loving nature. Love did not begin at creation. God existed eternally in a relationship between Father, Son, and Spirit, bound in perfect love. God the Father demonstrates this love by sending God the Son (John 3:16). God the Son demonstrates love by stepping down from Heaven to pay the price for our sins with His life (Philippians 2:6-8). God the Holy Spirit demonstrates love by indwelling, empowering, convicting, guiding, comforting, and interceding for every believer who has faith in Jesus (John 14:26).

The Trinity gives believers the example and the ability to love like God. John 13:34 says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

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When I was new to the parenting game, figuring out holiday traditions was one of the more enjoyable conversations I had with my wife. One Easter, my wife and I decided that we would get our boys gifts that would have to fit into three categories: something fun, something to wear, and something to read. We agreed that we wanted to make sure any books we purchased had some “Jesus merit” to them. While wandering around a Christian bookstore, my wife found cute books about the ark, Bible sight words, and other colorful age-appropriate books for my, at the time, infant son and year-and-a-half son. What did I find you ask? I somehow found a children’s book about one of the hardest topics to explain. Yes, I found a children’s book that helps explain the Holy Trinity! My wife thought I was insane for getting this book because our sons would not be able to understand the complexity of the Trinity. However, in due time, I know I will need to teach my sons one of the most complex and necessary theological concepts.

The very difficult part of understanding the Trinity is there are only a handful of moments when God is fully present in all three persons. One of the easiest moments to see the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit present is when Jesus is baptized. Matthew 3:16-17 says, “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’” At this moment we see Jesus, the Son, being baptized. We read the God, the Father, saying that Jesus was “my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Lastly, we see the Spirit of God descending like a dove. The account in Matthew might be the easiest story to see Father, Son, and Spirit all interacting with each other. 

We have to understand that God operates in three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit. We also must look at God as one, Father, Son and Spirit are God. We must also know that each person of the Trinity has a different role. All three are all God, but all three “operate” differently. Run that through a few mental filters and when your brain starts to hurt you will be where you need to be when it comes to understanding the Trinity! Many people brush aside complex theology and leave it to a Pastor or scholars, but understanding the Trinity is so important!

When you look at any relationship you have, there are different complexities to it. I am a son of my father and a father to my son. I never treat my son as my father, and my father never treats my son like his son. It is important to understand that how we operate about others brings closeness. Way back in my young adult days I was given the opportunity to preach. At that time, I lived in complex theology, and I wrote a sermon titled “A Shallow View of the Trinitarian Godhead, Creates a Shallow Doxological Response.” I look back on that and realize I was a bit of a showoff. I should have simply titled this message “Not Knowing All Three Members of the Trinity Personally, Can Affect the Way You Worship God.” This is why Matthew chapter 3 is so important. It is a perfect story to see all three members of the Trinity at work at the same time. At some point, I will have to teach my sons about God as Trinity, and this will be a tough task. I am welcoming the struggle because knowing them all personally will help the way my boys worship.

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“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10

Firmly, Awana stands. I grew up as a “church kid.” Every Wednesday night, I was a part of a program called Awana, an acronym for, Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed. The program focuses on Scripture memorization; currently, we have this program available for each of The River Church locations. Ephesians 2:8-10 is one of the passages I memorized in Awana that I have never forgotten. I am guilty; however, of skipping right over these verses because I have heard it so many times. We are never done learning, though, and fortunately, I continue to glean truth from passages I have heard over and over. We could spend hours on this particular passage, but I want to focus on four key words for this study.

The first word is “grace.” Yes, you have probably heard the definition of grace as “unmerited favor,” but what does that mean? Paul effectively explains the word grace in Ephesians 2:5. He says that “even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved...” In other words, when you had nothing, He gave everything. Romans 5:8 states, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” To sin means to reject His ways, and to reject Him. I believe this verse should pull at all believers. Jesus died on the cross even when we were the ones spitting in his face. That, my friends, is grace.

The second word is “faith.” Yes, it is by grace that we are saved, but Paul also makes a reference to faith in verse 8 (KJV), “for by grace are ye saved through faith.” Faith is our response to salvation and our action. In chapter 1 verse 13, it says we hear the word of truth, and then we believe. Faith is also a gift of God, like grace (verse 8). It's all His gift to us; grace, faith, and salvation. Therefore, we cannot boast of faith because it is only through God's grace that we have faith. Tony Merida, in Christ Centered Exposition, says, “Faith is the instrument by which we lay hold of Christ.” 

The third word is “boast.” When we “get grace,” we can understand that boasting about our part in salvation and faith is laughable. Paul says it well in the first chapter of his first letter to Corinthians when he says, “So that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’” (1 Corinthians 1:29-31). Church, let us boast in the Lord. Let us boast about Him at our work, with our family, and in our neighborhood.  

The final word is “works.” Scripture clearly says we are not saved because of good works, but rather as followers of Christ, we are created to do good works. Ephesians 4:24 puts it this way, “Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Again, we do not do good works to be saved, but I believe the reverse is the truth we need to understand. If good works are not evident in our lives and we have no desire to follow Him and to live for him, then where is the salvation?  Salvation takes us to good works.

What an amazing passage! I challenge you to memorize this passage and make it part of your life.

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A few years ago, I stopped by my bank on the way home from work to make a deposit. I cannot remember exactly what for, but I am not a huge fan of going to the bank. However, I now love all of the mobile banking apps out there. Sorry, you are not reading to hear about my banking preferences. So, as I walk out of the bank, I hear this lady yelling at me attempting to get my attention. For some reason, I was off of my game that day, I pride myself in being a pretty street smart person, and for some reason, I walked up to a stranger’s car in a bank parking lot. Yes, not the smartest move I have ever made. As I approached her car, she did something I would never have expected; she began spraying me with cologne. I noticed she had hundreds of bottles in her car and it felt like her goal was to spray me with every one of them! I was caught off guard and was ready to walk away until she said the magic word, well at least the words that caught my attention, “I am running a DEAL today!” This was like magic to my ears; I love a good deal. She said that the bottles normally sell for $75, but today she was selling them for $20. I thought to myself, “How can I pass up on such a good deal?” So, we narrowed down to the best smelling one, and I handed over $20 to a lady in a bank parking lot, and she handed me the merchandise.  

Now, I live about 5 minutes from my bank, and so I thought I would surprise my wife with my new smell. I knew she would be so excited about how good of a deal I got and also that I had some semblance of thought on personal smell. So, I sprayed myself a good dozen times on the ride home to the point my car, myself, and probably those cars around me could recognize how good I smelt! I arrived home and walked in with my chest held high in an attempt to impress my wife. She just looked at me in confusion and asked what I was doing. I moved closer sticking my chest out further hoping she would ask about my smell, and to my amazement, she never did. At this point I was frustrated, so I skipped her asking me and told her the story of my amazing deal and how I thought she would be so impressed with me, but to my dismay, she was not. She just looked at me with a crooked face dissecting what I had just done. She said to me, “I think I recognize that bottle.” I responded, “Of course you do, you have seen it at one of your fancy stores!” But she said, “No” and then a light went on, “I know where I have seen that bottle. You can buy it at the dollar store!” At that moment, I realized I had been taken in a bad deal. I was taken for $19 when I thought I had gained so much. 

This is an embarrassing story, but one that shows how a bad deal can work. However, Jesus Christ has offered us the best deal of all, the grace of God. Salvation comes by grace and grace alone. It is not something we can earn by doing good things or deserve by living a “good” life. Simply putting our faith in Jesus Christ and trusting in His perfect plan, we too can have eternal life. He does not ask much of us because He already has done the heavy lifting on the cross. He conquered death, Hell, and the grave; His grace covers all of our sins. 

We are told a powerful promise in 1 John 5:11-13, “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” Grace is a free gift; it is the best deal we could ever take. If you have never received this gift, make today the day. If you have the best deal of all time, make sure you appreciate the work done by Jesus and realize His grace is enough to cover all of your sins: past, present, and future.

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Do you remember the first time you read or heard the verse John 3:16? What did you think the first time you read that passage? For some, it was the day they confessed Christ as their Lord and Savior. For others, it started a time of questioning and digging deeper into the incredible book, God’s Word. Yet, for some, it is simply a feel-good passage that is nice and can sell merchandise well.

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” As we read this passage, there is no question as to how one receives eternal life; it is solely through belief in Jesus Christ. This is the same belief that Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4: “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” It is all about Jesus’ death for our sins, His burial, and His glorious Resurrection! So, as we talk about the major theological topic of eternal life and Heaven, we understand that there is only one way, through one person, that this is gifted to humanity. It is solely through belief and confession in Jesus Christ.

One of the most beautiful parts of this whole passage is at the very beginning, “For God so loved the world.” The Creator of the entire universe loves us. He loved His creation, made in His own image, so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to die for a broken and lost world that could never deserve the gift of eternal life.

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“For by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight.” Romans 3:20

One of the important truths of the Scripture that we must understand is there has only ever been and only ever will be one means of salvation. For some this may be a radical thought that differs substantially from what you have been taught. Nonetheless, it is true. Throughout the whole of human history, one method of salvation has been given.

Some have, in error, taught that obedience to the Law of Moses was how the saints of the Old Testament were saved and reached the glory of Heaven. Romans 3:20, clearly teaches, “By works of the law no human being will be justified.” Clearly, Abraham, Moses, David, and every other ancient saint was not justified, redeemed, or saved because of their adherence to the Mosaic Law. This principle continues today; no person regardless of the depth of their personal devotion can restore a right relationship with the God of the universe simply by following the letter of the law. Just a few verses later, Paul writes, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We are unable to obey the law (James 2:10). So, if the law does not provide a means of salvation, what is the law’s purpose? God has given us the law because “through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). God’s Law was given to Moses on Mount Sinai with the sole purpose of revealing how far from God’s holiness and perfection we truly are.

That understanding leads us to the great and rather depressing reality that we cannot save or rescue ourselves from God’s wrath that is on us. The principle question of this portion of Romans chapter 3 is, “How can we be made right before God?” The Scripture says, “the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law…the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”

God in His marvelous grace, sent Jesus to pay the price for our sin on the cross of Calvary. He was buried but rose again on the third day. It is through Christ’s atoning work on the cross that the gift of salvation is offered to mankind. We receive that gift, “through faith.” We believe in what Jesus did as the only means to rescue us from the deserved punishment from God that we were facing.

Back to the original point, God’s Word gives only one way of restoring a right standing before a Holy God, “by grace you have been saved through faith.” Abraham, Moses, David, and the saints prior to the cross looked forward in faith (see Hebrews chapter 11) to the cross, while we look back in faith to the work of Christ on the cross. Salvation has always ever been and always ever will be by grace through faith.

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