Meet the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit

By Jean Bacon White

Then John (the Baptist) testified, “I saw the spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy spirit. I have seen and I testify that this is the son of God.’”

—John 1:32–34

This is an introduction to the Trinity presented individually although they are three in one. They are still actively at work in the world and in us. You will have your questions answered at last!

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 9, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512729252

Jean Bacon White

Jean Bacon White is a graduate of the University of Maine and Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. A retired pastor teacher, in public school, Croatian Seminary, and Church of Hope she reopened after being empty for twenty-five years. She is the mother of three, grandmother of twelve, and great-grandmother of twenty, living in Maine with her family.

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PREFACE

Where did God come from?

Doctor Shadrach Meshach Lockridge, at the Billy graham school of evangelism in 1975, explained the mystery of divine origin, this way: God came from nowhere because there was nowhere for him to come from, and coming from nowhere, he stood on nothing because there was nowhere for him to stand, and standing on nothing, he reached out where there was nothing to reach and caught something when there was nothing to catch, and hung something on nothing and told it to stay there.

People have always tried to figure out God. It seems as if science is a subject that has tried its hardest to figure out how the creator created and how to duplicate it, but the problem is that God is infinite: all powerful, all knowing and everywhere present. We lesser beings contain a finite mind and are not endowed with such prowess.

The Bible begins and ends with God and we have a clear picture of his many attributes all the way through: three in one, always one; God the father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit.

CHAPTER 1

The Attributes of God

Holiness

Holiness is complete exaltation and majesty, above creation-complete freedom from impurity.

I am the Lord who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God, therefore, be holy as I am holy. (Leviticus 11:45)

There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no rock like our God. (1 Samuel 2:2)

Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, the holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here? (1 Samuel 6:20)

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord almighty, the whole earth is full of his glory. (Isaiah 6:13)

But, just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written; be holy as I am holy. (1 Peter 1:15-16)

Who will not fear you O Lord, and bring glory to your name. For you alone are holy. (Rev. 15:4)

Omnipotent (All Powerful)

Who among the Gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you-majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? You stretched out your right hand and the earth swallowed them…by the power of your arm they will be as stone-until your people pass by, O Lord. (Exodus 15: 11-16)

Ah sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth, by your great power and your outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. (Jeremiah 32:17)

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. (Ephesians 3:20)

He parted the Red Sea to allow the Israelites to escape the Egyptians. He saved them from their enemies many times when they were outnumbered. The ten plagues did not touch God’s people. He gave Samson the strength to pull down a Pagan Temple with his bare hands. He gave them manna in the wilderness for forty years. He guided them with a cloud by day and fire by night. He came to earth, became a man and taught us all how to live forever.

Omniscient (All knowing)

The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. (Proverbs 15:3)

And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. (1 Chronicles 28:9)

O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise. You receive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem me in behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. (Psalm 139:1-6)

Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path to understanding? (Isaiah 40:14)

I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come…what I have said, that I will bring about, that I have planned, that I will do. (Isaiah 46:10-11)

…that the remnant of man may seek the Lord and all the gentiles, who have my name, says the Lord who does these things that have been known for ages. (Acts 17b-18)

Oh the depth of the riches both of wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out. (Romans 11:33)

Whenever our hearts condemn us, for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. (1 John 3:20)

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:13)

Omnipresent (Everywhere present)

Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn. If I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me. Your right hand will hold me fast. (Psalm 139:7-10)

Am I only a God nearby, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him, declares the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth, declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:23-24)

From one man he made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that man would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each of us. (Acts 17:26-28)

God’s Love (Agape in the Greek)

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying, I have loved you with an everlasting love: I have drawn you, with loving kindness. (Jeremiah 31:3)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whosoever believes in him, shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

God demonstrates his