Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according
to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and
over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man
in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male
and female He created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)
Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of
Us,
to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also
of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" (Genesis 3:22)
"The voice of the Lord saying 'Who will go for us?"
(Isaiah 6:8)
Jehovah's Witnesses
vehemently deny the existence of the Trinity which is why they can never acknowledge the
Divinity Of Jesus Christ and the Person and Divinity of the Holy Spirit.
They say
(correctly) that the word 'trinity' is never used in scripture. It does not have to be. It
shouts itself throughout scripture.
Scripture does not make sense without the
understanding of the Trinity. So much of God's creation shouts 'Trinity'
Indeed once
the mystery of the Godhead is thrown out one has no choice but to ignore, or
're-translate' many portions of scripture to make that theology fit. Hence, their New World
Bible Translation.
If we belong to God, then it is God who indwells us.
This simple chart, combined with scripture, shows the reality of the Trinity, the
Oneness of the Trinity - that unique 'oneness' that Jesus taught when He spoke of the
relationship with His Father. For the purpose of this exercise we will term the Father as
'One' - The Son as 'Two' and the
Spirit as 'Three' The mystery of the One -
yet three.
"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple, and
that God's Spirit lives in you"
1st Corinthians 3:16
My Father (One)
will love him and We (One & Two) will come to him and
make our home IN him. John 14:23
You are in the Spirit (Three) if the Spirit of God (One)
lives IN you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit (Three)
does not have the Spirit of Christ (Two) does not belong to
Him Romans 8:9
God (One) hath sent
forth the Spirit (Three) of his Son (Two)
INTO your hearts, crying, "Abba, Father". Galations 4:5
Baptizing them in the NAME
of the Father (One) the Son (Two)
and the Holy Spirit (Three) Matthew 28:19 *
And I (Two) will pray the Father (One)
and He will send you another Helper that He may abide with you forever - the Spirit
of Truth (Three) whom the world cannot receive, because it
neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be IN
you. John 14:16-17
*So
while Christians are baptized into the 'Name' (singular) of God
(that is the Father Son and Holy Spirit)
the Jehovah's Witnesses are baptized into a strange mixture of Jehovah + Michael the
Archangel + an impersonal force! Not only a strange baptism, but a false baptism.
Scripture makes it clear that we are made in God's image.
God is One - yet three divisible persons. Two persons invisible, one person visible.
We are one - yet three divisible persons. We are spirit person - soul person - body
person. Two persons invisible, one person visible.
There is a natural body and a spiritual
body - 1st Corinthians 15:44
We are created as a spiritual being with a soul and we
live in a body
..keep your WHOLE being, spirit, soul and body, free
from blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ - 1st Thess.5:23
Both scripture and life observation (experience) affirm that
these three persons that make up the one person are divisible
Scripture
'For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two
edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit'
Hebrews 4:12
'And do not fear those who can kill the body but not the soul. But
rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell'
Matthew 10:28
Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify
ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting
holiness out of reverence for God' 2nd Corinthians 7:1
Jesus had a human
spirit - Luke 23:46 Mark 2:8 & 8:12
John 13:21
Jesus had a human soul - Matthew 26:38 Luke 23:43 John 12:27 Acts 2:27
Isaiah 53:10Mark 14:34
Jesus had a human body (flesh
bones & blood) - Hebrews 2:14 John 1:14 John 2:21
Matthew 26:12 Luke 22:19 Luke 23: 52-56 Hebrews 10:5-10.
Life observation
One of the first things that new coven members are taught to do is
to have their soul take ungodly authority over their spirit and to 'astral project' their
human spirit. Astral
projection is also a common phenomenon among people who have been submitted to heavy or
continual trauma (as an escape mechanism) There are even articles posted on the web to
teach people how to project their human spirit. When God takes a person out of their body
in the spirit - as occurred several times in scripture (e.g. 2nd
Corinthians 12:2) - it is safe. When it is done outside
of God, immediate demonisation will occur. So the human spirit is real, can see and can hear etc.
It is recorded many many times - indeed books written about - the
phenomenon known as 'soul travel' where a person has momentarily died and has reported
that their soul left their body and 'floated above' while attached to 'a silver cord'. Ecclesiastes
12:6 says 'Remember your creator before the silver cord is
loosed' The 'soul person' can see and hear all that is
happening below around their body (usually on a hospital operating theatre or in a serious
accident) The human soul is real, can see and can hear etc
The human body of course is real, can see, can hear etc.
The mystery of the trinity of man deepens when we find that even
each divisible 'person' - that makes up the one person that we are -
appears also to be a
trinity.
The
mystery of the human spirit
With our spirit we are in communication with the spiritual
realm. God is Spirit and must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. Created by God to
communicate with Him alone - but fallen man has used his spirit to communicate with the
spiritual realm of darkness all around him here on earth. That is why God's order is spirit
->Soul->body. Our spirit hears from God, our soul obeys and our body outworks the
soul's decision. Proverbs 20:27 tells us that 'the spirit of a man
is the lamp of the Lord..'
The human spirit is mentioned some 580 times in
scripture
The mystery of
the human soul
The soul is the self conscious part of man which contacts
'the inner realm' With our soul we function effectively on earthly things by using our
emotions and intellect. The soul is all about 'ego' which means "I"
The mind = "I think" The emotions = "I feel"
The will = "I want" A man's soul cannot communicate with the spiritual
realm, but he can evaluate what his spirit is receiving from the spiritual realm and then
choose to obey or disobey. Peter writes 'Purify your souls
through obedience' 1st Peter 1:22 Even the mind is a trinity within a trinity within a trinity, being made
up of conscious mind, subconscious mind and unconscious mind. We are indeed
wonderfully and fearfully made!
The human soul is mentioned some 485 times
in scripture
The
mystery of the human body
The human body is like an incredibly complex suit of clothes
for the soul to operate on earth with, in that the body will only do what the soul decides
to do. E.g. I will drive the car, I will read this book etc. The human body
also makes its own demands through appetites, instincts and drives, such as for sleep, or
food, or through hormonal activity - for sex. John writes 'Beloved,
I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in good health even as your soul
prospers' 3rd John 1:2
A Christian who is led by
soul or body drives (which are essentially self centered) is known as a carnal Christian.
E.g Romans 8:5-8
He is either Holy completely or not at all, so calling God
'Holy Holy Holy' does not increase His Holiness. Rather it is descriptive of the
Three Persons of the Godhead. God the Father is Holy. God
the Son is Holy and God the Holy Spirit is Holy.
At Christ's baptism by John in the river Jordan we
read of the voice of God the Father from Heaven, and the Holy
Spirit descending upon Jesus.
And the Holy Spirit
descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from
heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."
(Like 3:22)
When Jesus was dying on
the cross, when He had taken the sins of the world upon Himself and was for that period of
time 'unholy' He cried out to Heaven
'"My God, My God' why have you forsaken Me?". (Note that He did not cry out 'My Gods, why have you forsaken Me?'
There are two Hebrew words for the word 'one' in scripture.
The word 'yachead'
speaks of themathematical number one. Examples of this are
"Abraham
offered up his only (yachead)
son, Isaac" - Genesis 22, 2&12 or
"They shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only (yachead)
son" - Zechariah 12:10
The other word used for 'one' is
'echad' and this word describes a
collective unity of one.Examples are
..
"These two
shall become one (echad)
flesh" - Genesis 2:24 or
"The
people gathered together as one (echad)"
- Ezra 3:1
It is this word - echad- which is used in the defining scripture
of God as ONE.
"The Lord ,our God is one (echad)"
- (Deuteronomy 6:4)
The word 'elohiym' is the
plural of the 'El' - the Hebrew word for God.
"And God (elohiym) said 'Man is becoming like one of us, to know good and
evil" - Genesis 11:6
Now, with the understanding that 'echad'
is a composite unity of one, and that 'elohiym'
is plural for God, another look at the key scripture of
Deuteronomy 4:1 shows that it clearly proclaims God's 'oneness in
plurality'.
Hear <shama`>,
O Israel <Yisra'el>:
The LORD <Yahveh>
our God <'elohiym>
is one <'echad>
LORD <Yahveh>:
Jesus instructed disciples to make disciples and to baptize them
as follows..
"in the Name (singular) of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit"
(plural) - Matthew 28: 19
Understanding that the
'Rock of Israel' was Jesus Christ (1st Corinthians 10:4) see how
scripture clearly reveals the Trinity speaking, and speaking
the same thing in unity.
"The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.
The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me: 'He who rules over men must be just,
ruling in the fear of God.
The Moon - Becomes as blood; The Son Revelation 6:12
The Stars - Multitudinous; the Holy Spirit in the saints
The Ark of Noah - Genesis
6: 14-22 The Ark was made to God's exact specifications, with 'lower, second
and upper stories'. Three separate stories making up the one ark of salvation.
First storey - The Father, foundation, beginning.
Second storey - The Son, the Door, the Way - John 10:9
Third storey - The Holy Spirit, the Window, the Illuminator - John 14:26
The Rod, the Rock, the Waters - Exodus
17: 1-8 Israel thirsted in the wilderness and God instructed Moses to smite the Rock
with the Rod and the Waters gushed forth.
The Rod - The Father God. He smote the Son on Calvary. It pleased the Father to bruise
His Son - Isaiah 53:19
The Rock - The Son, Smitten for us. They drank of the Rock which followed them - 1st
Corinthians 10:4
The Waters - The Holy Spirit - John 7:37-39. The Holy Spirit flows from the Son as
life giving waters.
The Ark of the Covenant
- Exodus 25: 10-22 & 37:6-9 The Ark of the Covenant was covered by a Mercy-Seat
with two overshadowing Cherubim. Between the Cherubim and the bold covered Mercy
Seat was the Glory of God. All three were fashioned from one piece of gold - Exodus
25:17-22 & Hebrews 9:5
One Cherub - The Father
Mercy seat - The Son, blood sprinkled
One Cherub - The Holy Spirit - Romans 3:25
The Rod of Aaron
- Numbers 17 One rod manifested in three
The Bud - The Father God - Exodus 3:4-6
The Flower - The Son, crushed, fragrance
The Almond - The Holy Spirit - Hebrews 12:29
The Burning Bush
- Exodus 3:1-6 The Burning Bush was a wonderful revelation of God
The Voice - The Father God - Exodus 3:4-6
The Bush - The Son, The Root, Branch - Isaiah 11:1-2
The Fire - The Holy Spirit - Hebrews 12:29
The God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob - Exodus 3:14-16 Only three men whom God has been pleased to
call Himself the God of: Abraham (as the Father) offered up his only begotten son, Isaac
(as Jesus), and Jacob proceeded from the Father through his son Isaac, and was the third
person of that triunity of men, the anointer of the Rock Bethel, the 'House of God'
Abraham - The Father God, Promise, Covenant
Isaac - The Sob, Only Begotten, Sacrifice
Jacob - The Holy Spirit, Anointer, Fruitfulness
The Contents of the Ark
- Hebrews 9:4 Beneath the Mercy Seat were three articles which set forth the
characteristics of God in type.
The Tables of Law - The Father God
The Golden Pot of Manna - The Son - John 6:32-36
The Rod that budded - The Holy Spirit, Life, Fruitfulness
The High Priest, Urim and
Thummin - Exodus 28 Aaron as High Priest had the Breastplate of
judgement upon him, and within the breastplate the two mysterious stones, called Urim and
Thummin, by which he received and communicated the Mind of the Lord to the Nation of
Israel.
Urim ('Lights') - The Father God - James 1:17
High Priest - The Son, Mediator, Sacrifice
Thummin ('Perfections') - The Holy Spirit
The Three Feasts of the Lord
- Leviticus 23 The three major feasts of Israel set forth the ministrations of the
Godhead
Tabernacles - The Father, Fullness, Completeness of Redemption
Passover - The Son of God, The Lamb - Exodus 12:1 & 1st Corinthians 5:7
Pentecost - The Holy Spirit - 2nd Corinthians 3
The Three coverings of the
Tabernacle - Exodus 36: 18-19
Covering of badger's skins - God the Father over all
Ram's skins dyed red - The Son, blood atonement
Goat's hair curtains - The Holy Spirit, inwrought workings and operations
The triune illustrations in
scripture go on and on - The three measures of meal - Genesis 18:3
The three loaves of bread for the friend at midnight - Luke 11:5 The
Leper's triune anointing with oil and blood applied to the right ear, right thumb, right
toe - Leviticus 14:12-29 The earthly witnesses of the water, the blood
and the word yet their witness is one - 1st John 5:7-8
'For since the creation of the world
Hisinvisible attributes are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and
Godhead,
so that they are without excuse' - (Romans 1: 20)
Examples are..
Light is manifested in three major
colours, golden
yellow, scarlet red, and heavenly blue.
Water is manifested in three forms, water, ice
and steam.
Sun is manifested in three forms, light, fire and
energy.
Space is manifested in three dimensions, breadth,
height and depth.
Matter is manifested in three forms, energy,
motion and phenomenon.
Eternity is threefold, time past, time present,
time future.
Man is a trinity, spirit, soul and body. Two
parts invisible, one part visible.
Jesus always taught Kingdom truths through the natural creation
all around Him. He used vines, sheep, shepherds, seed, weeds, fish, nets, trees,
mountains etc, so it is always interesting to look for the invisible attributes of the
Godhead in the things that have been made (Romans 1:20)
Taking water as one example from nature, let us imagine that water is God.
Then when we would see ice we would know
that the fullness of God indwells.
And when we would see steam we would know
that the fullness of God indwells.
Should we come to three separate rooms and opening each door see water in one room, ice
in the next room and steam in the third room, we would know that we had seen God in three
distinctly separate 'persons', and we would know that in all three, both individually and
corporately, we had seen the One God.
Note: This example is not saying that God simply manifests Himself in
three temporary forms. It is saying that The Father is Eternally God, The Son is
Eternally God, and the Holy Spirit is Eternally God. This is why Jesus alone could
say - to Phillip's cry of 'Show us the Father' -
The mystery of the Trinity within
The mystery of the trinity of man
The mystery of the Trinity in scripture
The mystery of the trinity in creation
