We find plentiful evidence for the three persons of the Godhead provided throughout the inspired Holy Scripture, in particular by Jesus and the apostles.
Some people claim that the Godhead comprises no person but Jesus. They support this primarily by citing Isaiah 9:6, where Isaiah calls Him “Everlasting Father.” However, Isaiah included this term in his list of names for the Savior because it was absolutely necessary in order to comprehensively represent the spirit and character of Jesus. He is not only Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, and Prince of Peace; He is also an eternally protective, caring, and fatherly figure to His disciples. Christ will be with them all days, even to the end of the age, and will be with them in all eternity (see Matthew 28:20). He never lets them lack for anything and provides for them abundantly. Yes, the term “Everlasting Father” is indispensable to fully express who He is to His disciples. However, this does not prove that there is no other person in the Godhead.
The creation of the world was the work of multiple persons of the Godhead.
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness’” (Genesis 1:26). It cannot be a mere coincidence of divine inspiration that the word “Us” was used here, referencing the multiple persons of the Creator. Here, in the first chapter of the Bible, we are already taught that the Godhead comprises multiple persons. The Hebrew source text refers to God here with the word “Elohim,” the plural of “Eloha,” which means “God.” This passage, therefore, refers to the Godhead in the absolute sense.
In Colossians 1:16, Paul, too, confirms that God created the world through Christ: “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.”
Jesus Taught the Plurality of Persons Within the Godhead
While Jesus was on earth, He prayed to His Father in heaven; He Himself was therefore not His Father. However, in a mysterious way, the Father lived in Jesus. Nonetheless, the Father was in heaven above; otherwise, the words that Jesus spoke to Mary immediately following His resurrection would not have made any sense: “I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God” (John 20:17). How would Jesus have been able to make such a statement if His Father could not be distinguished from His own person? Should a reader really still have doubts concerning this question, the following words of the Savior should serve to remove them: “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father” (John 16:28). This statement clarified the issue for the disciples, and they answered Him immediately: “See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God” (John 16:29-30).
The Father Bearing Witness to His Son
“You are My Son, today I have begotten You” (Hebrews 1:5). Here, the Father is speaking to the Son, the second person of the Godhood. Jesus silenced the Jews who were arguing about whether Christ had been the Son of God throughout eternity. “While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, ‘What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?’ They said to Him, ‘The Son of David.’ He said to them, ‘How then does David in the Spirit call Him “Lord,” saying: “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool’”? If David then calls Him “Lord,” how is He his Son?’” (Matthew 22:41-45)
“So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God” (Mark 16:19).
Testimony About the Person of the Holy Spirit
A person is a being in possession of intelligence, will, and existence. The Holy Spirit can be considered to be a person because He has these characteristics. This is clear from the pronouns used in the Bible: He refers to Himself as “I” in Acts 13:2, and when others speak about Him, they use the words “He” or “Him” (see John 14:26).
The person of the Holy Spirit is spoken of in connection with the Father and the Son. In the baptismal formula, we are prompted to acknowledge Him, as well as the Father and the Son. “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” (Matthew 28:19). We see the same thing in the apostolic benediction in 2 Corinthians 13:14: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” Here, we find the Holy Spirit being connected to the other persons of the Godhead as one of several people. Together with the Father and the Son, He is earnestly asked by Paul to have fellowship with the Corinthians, something only a person could do.
The Mystery of the Trinity
Some facts are incomprehensible for our human intellect. There are even things within the universe that we cannot explain. For example, we do not question the existence of electricity nor many aspects of modern technology. A number of things really do remain a mystery to us.
The apostle Paul makes reference to this in his letter to Timothy: “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16). In the same way, the Holy Trinity is a mystery that is revealed and proclaimed to us in the Holy Scriptures.
Through it, we recognize God’s greatness and majesty as well as His incomprehensibility and know that we will leave this piecemeal knowledge behind only in Glory to comprehend everything face to face.
But for now, dear reader, we can already know this: “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).
Be the first to comment