Believing That God is the Holy Trinity

Being a Christian means that I believe that God is the Holy Trinity.

Holy, because He is pure and perfect in every way.

Trinity because He is three unique Divine Persons, each with Their own unique purpose.

This is one of the great and marvelous mysteries about our God. Our belief in Him as One in three is one of the things that make us uniquely Christian and separates us from the beliefs of other religions. Our God cannot be explained completely in words, but He does show us a picture of Himself through those things that He has created. For example, just as water has three states of being: liquid, solid, and gas and an egg has three parts: shell, white, and yolk, God has three parts that form a perfect, loving, all knowing, all powerful whole. He is God the Father, our creator, provider, and protector. He is God the Son, Jesus, who took on human form to fix the broken relationship we had with God. And He is God the Holy Spirit, who lives in every believer to guide and empower us to put our faith into action.

Here’s what I shared with the dancers this past week…

Using this picture, we discussed how the parts of a tree can help us understand how God works as the Trinity.

ROOTS Imagine God the Father as the roots of a tree, from which we are nourished and held firmly together. When storms beat down on a tree, it’s the roots that keep the tree from falling. The roots supply the tree with the nutrients it needs to grow big and strong. God, the Father provides for our needs and protects and keeps us from falling when hard times come and the Enemy tries to crush our faith.

TRUNK God, the Son is like the trunk of the tree. Just like the trunk is the bridge between the roots and the branches and connects them to the roots and provides the way for the water and nutrients to pass upward from the roots to the branches, Jesus is our bridge to the Father. It is through the work of Jesus that all of the promises of God, the Father come to us.

BRANCHES Jesus said that we are the branches (See John 15:5) and our part is to abide in Him, to let God grow us upward toward Him and outward toward others. From the branches, leaves grow to provide shade from the sun and oxygen for life. Just as shade and oxygen serve the needs of others, our lives are meant to do the same.

FRUIT God, the Holy Spirit brings forth the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self- control in our lives. Just as the fruits of the tree impart food for the life of animals, insects, and humans, the fruits of the Holy Spirit showing forth in our words and actions nurture life in others.

Here’s what the Word of God says about the Holy Trinity

Genesis 1:26 (NIV) Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

John 14:23 (NIV) “Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teach ng. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.’ ”

Matthew 3:16,17 (LB) “After his baptism, as soon as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God coming down in the form of a dove. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, and I am wonderfully pleased with him.’ ”

John 14:26 (GNT) “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you.”

Matthew 28:19 (NIV) "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

Family Time

While the weather is still pleasant and the trees are not yet completely bare, take a walk or a bike ride as a family on a trail or woodland path. Enjoy the sound of nature and use the analogy of a tree to talk about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

After the Lord had given me the analogy of the tree, I was shopping on Amazon.com and came across this book. I have not read it, but it might be a great visual resource for you. It’s called Three in One, A Book About God by Lynne, M. Lepley

Resources

We Believe by the Newsboys is a great song to include in your family worship time. FIND IT HERE

The Creed by Rich Mullins is a blast from the past but such a great anthem of our faith. FIND IT HERE