Pondering Biblical Explanations For The Three Person Godhead
Posted: Saturday, January 05, 2008
by Joel Hendon
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The human mind finds difficulty in understanding the three person Godhead from several viewpoints. Some of the questions which I have been asked over the years are: Which of the three is the superior? Which is the lesser, or most inferior? How can three entities be one? Were two of them created by the superior one?
Although detailed information of the Godhead is not plentiful, and in some cases absent, we can only take what is said about them and use reason to try and answer the above questions. First of all, let us determine that the word Trinity does not appear in the King James Version of the Holy Bible. And I know of no version that does use it. That is not to say that there is harm in using it unless it is given as a title, it is simply a descriptive term. The word "Godhead" does appear three times but gives little information as pertaining to answers to our questions.
Romans 1:20: "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:"
Colossians 2:9: "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."
In each instance, the writers use similar Greek words. Luke, writing in Acts, uses the word theion, which means "Divinity" or "the Deity". Paul in the Roman letter uses " theiotes " which means "Divine nature" or "divine essence". Then Paul to the Colossians uses " theotes " which also means "Deity" or "Divinity". So the terminology does little to help us understand the three separate entities of the Godhead. But it does give assurance that Jesus (who is being referred to here) was a member of that Godhead, that He was Divine and that He was Deity.
Who makes up the Godhead? The word Godhead, for Christians, has come to mean the three entities or personalities who comprise it. These are listed together in some six scriptures, I.e.,
Matthew 28:19: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: "
Let's examine that for one moment. When the phrase "in the name of" is used in this manner, it simply means do this with, or by, the authority of these three beings. So when one is scripturally baptized, it is by the authority of the entire Godhead. We have all heard the phrase, "open up in the name of the law." This means that it is an order or command authorized by the governmental powers.
1 Corinthians 12:4-6: "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all."
Here the information gives us some insight as to what the particular responsibilities were (are) for each of these beings. It indicates here, whether a permanent assignment or temporary, that the Holy Spirit is the one who was responsible for granting spiritual (miraculous) gifts to man. In this particular setting, it has reference to the gifts imparted unto the Apostles at the 1 st Pentecost after Jesus resurrection as described in Acts the second chapter. And also the gifts which they were able to pass on to all the new converts upon which the Apostles would lay their hands. He was also the one who inspired the writers of the Holy scriptures. Which is confirmed in a number of places.
2 Corinthians 13:14: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen"
Here again, Paul subtly assigns the character to each of these three beings. (1) Jesus, who gave up his position in Heaven for a physical life of hardship and persecution and then willfully died upon Calvary's cruel cross, that we, through obedient faith might be reconciled unto God. And no matter how hard we try and every good we can do, it is unworthy of salvation, but for the grace (unmerited favor) of our Lord, Jesus Christ. (2) The love of the Father, which was so great that He sacrificed His only Son for us. (3) And the communion of the Holy Spirit who was granting them knowledge to know truths which they had never heard and bringing to us the written Perfect Law of Liberty through Jesus Christ.
The question sometime is asked if the three have always existed or was one in existence and that He created the other two. This particular question is not answered in exact words in scripture but the inference and, I believe obvious, answer is that they have always existed together. Why? We do have scriptures which assure us that all were in existence prior to the creation of the world. Let us look at a few which tell us that. In the first chapter of Genesis we have several verses:
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)
"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." (Genesis 1:2)
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." (Genesis 1:26)
These three verses prove that there were more than one being in existence. They specify "God" and the "Spirit of God" And the word "us", is plural. Now let us read other verses. John chapter 1, verses 1 through 18 are concerning Jesus Christ and see what verse 3 has to say:
"All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." There are other verses which offer further proof but these are sufficient for us to be assured that all three were there. Now, let us see if all three have existed eternally. There is no inspired scripture which states or infers that either of the three entities were created or brought into being by one of the others. None. So, to try and infer that they were not eternal would be total conjecture and baseless at that. It is a fact that some have put forth that conjecture but they can certainly not confirm it's truthfulness.
We have some scripture that strongly suggests that Jesus was eternal. John 1:1-3 says : "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." Now consider these verses. All scholars that I know of agree that these have reference to Jesus Christ and rightly so, because verse 14 adds: And the Word was made 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.
Let us now consider the question of "How can three entities be one Godhead?" Since this dilemma is beyond the human mind to fully comprehend, there enters a certain amount of conjecture which we must use reason to arrive at some type of conclusion. But consider these three beings individually to be omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. A spirit is non-physical. It does not consume physical space. Therefore, it can be, and is, anywhere (everywhere) at anytime (all times). It is not restricted by physical strengths or weaknesses, therefore it can perform any (all) acts, regardless of the power needed for that performance. If it is omniscient, it is all seeing (knowing) and this includes every singular item of any thing there is a possibility of knowing. Don't just read the past few sentences. Mull them over in your mind. We are referring to infinity in each of those cases.
If we can truly analyze the previous paragraph. It should answer any questions in our mind which have been asked above. If each of the three entities have those three infinite attributes, and they do, we can see how they would be one. There can be no differences of opinion, because each knows the most minute detail of everything. So this would eliminate the possibility of any disagreement. This would also eliminate one being superior to the others. If one is superior, in what way is He?
But to delve further into the different roles performed by these three as mentioned above, we have the question of how did they happen to have these different roles if they are one in nature and capabilities? Once again, there seems no positive way to resolve this. However, there are a few hints which offer us reason to form a hypothesis.
We know that the creation of the universe, and all that is in it, was plannedbefore it was created. Not only that, we know the plan included the creation of man with a spirit, with free moral agency and that he would be disobedient to God. So, also planned was the way (means) for man to be reconciled to God even though he would separate himself from God through sinning. This plan included a member of the Godhead that would come to earth and live a sinless life to offer Himself as a spotless sacrifice for man's sins. There would be other duties which must be performed in order for this entire physical era to proceed as was planned while maintaining the free moral agency of mankind. Not a simple chore. So how was all this decided upon and assigned to each? No one actually knows for certain. There is one verse of scripture which is somewhat controversial, that some say sheds light on this dilemma.
Acts 2:21-23 has this to say: "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:" This discourse by Peter on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus, the first sermon preached by the apostles under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit is introducing the Gospel of Christ beginning on that date to open the doors to the to His spiritual kingdom, the church. The underlined sentence above is the one which is viewed differently by many people. Some say this simply means that God (the Father) knew all of this would happen and had sent His son for that purpose. Others say that this indicates that the Godhead (three) met and determined which of the three would fulfill the task of being sent to earth in a physical state as the messiah, which one would fulfill the role undertaken by the Holy Spirit, and who would be the Father who would direct the operation.
It would seem to this writer, that the verse in consideration would would not be harmed by either of those explanations. Some, with this latter view say that Jesus therefore gave up His equality status in heaven to assume the role ("a little lower than the angels "Hebrews 2:9) of God in the flesh, and to suffer and die, to offer opportunity for salvation unto lost man. Assuming that they were all actually equal in status, then the role of Jesus could have been any of the three.
Even if we come away from this study without fully being able to understand these three spirits and their roles in the Godhead, we can of a certainty see some of the complexities, strengths and powers of unity here. Jesus, being both human and God, willingly accepted the inferior role and always made reference to the Father as superior. So whether superiority and inferiority were present or not during all eternity, we do know that Jesus lowered His status, willingly for us. Some say that this position of inferiority was a permanent move. I know of nothing to confirm that and I am quite hesitant to accept it. We know that Jesus is reigning over His kingdom which He purchased with His own blood and will do so until the day of judgement (1 Corinthians 15:24). And at that time, it will be returned to the Father. Now whether that means the three will once again become totally equal is a mystery for which I have no answer.
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