If you’ve ever used a Keurig before, you know that in order to brew a cup of coffee, you need to add water to the machine. Once the water level runs low, a light turns on beside an image of a drop of water to indicate that more water needs to be added before the next cup can be brewed. If you’re like me, you’ll brew a cup of coffee, and if the light turns on after your cup is made… you’ll pretend you don’t see it and walk away innocently for the next person to have to fill it up. It’s easy to walk away in (fake) ignorance and avoid the situation.
Often times in my faith, I’ll take this approach for theological matters that seem too controversial, and I don’t get a direct, clear answer for. However, God invites us to fully dive-in and immerse ourselves in these topics. Why?
“Ask and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be answered for you.” Matthew 7:7
What if we redirected our mindset away from pursuing easy answers and shifted it to a deeper study of who God is? Well, for starters, we’d probably look a little less like deer in the headlights when hard questions arise, and our hearts might not race quite as fast when students hit us with a question we don’t know the answer to. After all, we’re not given every answer; if we had every answer, we’d be God! What He does give, however, are glimpses of His character and His nature.
So, let’s dive into a topic that might make some cringe at its vastness: the Trinity.
Upon a simple Google search, one can define the word trinity as “the Christian Godhead as one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” For those who have grown up in the church, this might be a familiar definition, but for those who are new to the term, this idea can seem contradictory. This is understandable as there isn’t a simple, earthly visual that fully captures the theology of the Trinity… and, in addition to this… we don’t have the Trinity in our eyesight to see and tangibly understand. So, if you’re tempted to use an earthly example to compare the trinity, be cautious to avoid (accidental) heresy.
For example: many have used the physical forms of water to describe the Trinity; water can be liquid, ice, or vapor, but all have the same chemical formula: H2O. However, this is NOT accurate of the Trinity as it implies that God can morph into different forms, leaving one to become the other. This is called theomorphism.
In reality, the Trinity seeks to describe that God is one Godhead in three, distinct persons… not three personalities, forms, or physical beings… but persons. So, who are these persons?
God the Father
God the Son (Jesus Christ)
God the Holy Spirit
While there are numbers listed beside each person, this is NOT to say that one person is greater than the other. While each person of the Trinity is unique, they are equal in power.; the three persons have a shared deity. This means that God the Father who created the heavens and the earth is equally as powerful as Jesus Christ who rose from the dead who is equally as powerful as the Holy Spirit that lives inside professing believers today!
There is no “ranking” the persons of the Trinity, for all are equally God. None have preceded the other, and none exist without the other. It makes for the perfect example of loving fellowship. After all, we can see the Trinity in the first chapter of the Bible:
The word “Elohim” (God) is used in Genesis 1:1: “God created.” What’s special about this is that Elohim is a plural noun, and created is a singular verb. This subject/verb disagreement happens throughout the Bible, but it seeks to prove that there is one, singular God in three, distinct persons.
Alright… ready for your Greek word of the day? Perichoresis. (you are given full permission to brag about this word in your next conversation)
Perichoresis refers to the eternal, mutual indwelling of the three persons of God. Often being compared to a dance, this term seeks to describe the coherent, in-step nature of the Trinity. God the Father cannot exist without the fellowship of the Son, who cannot exist without the fellowship of the Spirit, who cannot exist without the fellowship of the Father. Jesus says this Himself in John 14:10-11: “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”
However, perichoresis does not seek to simply highlight the distinctiveness of each member, but rather, it seeks to show the unity of the persons into one Godhead. This unity is the perfect example of love; after all, love cannot be solitary. While we, as humans, can love and be loving, the Trinity is the proof that God is love. If God was not three in one, this claim could not be made!
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born from God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8
Explaining the Trinity to a believer is a call to dig into the Word and look for the distinctiveness yet cohesiveness of God. It can be challenging, and we have to surrender the desire for an easy answer. After all, can we really expect God, the One who created the earth, numbered the stars, and knows the count of hairs on our head, to be explained in a simple 5 minute read of a blog?
Explaining the Trinity to a non-believer, however, is a beautiful opportunity to present the gospel. Just as God the Father needs the Son who needs the Holy Spirit, we too are in need of a love that will never run out or tire. This is the story of the gospel, and it is the story that changes lives.
Ask Him to reveal Himself to you as you are tackling this subject and know that we are not meant to have all the answers; He desires a heart that is seeking after Him! After all, what else is worth more of our time, our research, and our worship?
Anna Fly was born and raised in Nashville, TN and graduated with a degree in strategic marketing from Western Kentucky University. Anna currently serves as the Girls’ Ministry Associate at Prestonwood Baptist Church North alongside an amazing student ministry team. Anna is a loyal Survivor watcher, a runner when she feels like it, and Andy’s frozen custard enthusiast (ask her about her go-to order).
Did you know Lifeway Students has a Bible study all about the Trinity?! Check it out here!