L1.2 - Trinity: God the Father
Today, there is a daunting task before us as people as inadequate as ourselves strive to use
something as small as words to describe the great vastness of God. As we delve into God’s
nature it is as if we are jumping into an endless and mysterious ocean. It is impossible for us to
search through and explore it all in one lifetime, but the more we experience the more we want
to experience.
“Yes, God is great-beyond our knowledge! The number of his years is unsearchable” (Job 36:26)
As we launch into this short study of God it is important that we keep an expectancy that He
would reveal more of Himself to us, and humility in knowing that we can never know it all.
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
– A.W. Tozer
Our knowledge of God shapes us. Rick Warren said “God is so great, and our belief in him is so
important, that even the smallest change in our perspective on who he is and how he acts can
transform our lives. Our beliefs about God set the course of our lives”…”What you believe
about God sets your moral compass and shapes your attitude toward fortune, fame, power,
and pleasure. Trusting the truth about God strengthens us in hardship and pain; keeps us
faithful and courageous when we are outnumbered; prompts our praise and enhances our
worship; dictates our philosophy and determines our lifestyle; gives meaning and significance
to our relationships; shows us when to say yes and when to say no. Knowing God gives us the
hope to go on. It is the foundation upon which everything rests.”
“If you can understand it, it’s not God.” – Augustine
When you close your eyes and think on God, how do you picture Him? Just as an ant cannot
understand human complexities so we cannot fully comprehend the greatness of God. Does
this mean we quit searching after Him?
Three Key Truths
God is Real, God is Revealed, God is Relational
God is Real
There are many arguments for and against the existence of God. If you’ve ever taken a
philosophy class you’ve likely studied ontological arguments, teleological arguments, and
cosmological arguments. These arguments may make God seem to exist logically, but they can
also make belief in the existence of God sound complicated and confusing. The Bible,
interestingly, does not present arguments for God’s existence; it assumes it.
As we know an order exists, there must have assuredly been an orderer. When art
exists, there was certainly an artist to whom we credit the work. Everything we see can be
easily attributed to a creator, designer, artist, or orderer. What would make that different with
our world?
God is real to us, and we know this through personal experience. (1 Kings 18:24-39)
God is Revealed
God is not discovered by us, He reveals Himself to us.
1. God reveals Himself to us through Creation
Romans 1:20
2. God reveals Himself to us through His Word
2 Peter 1:20-21
3. God reveals himself to us through His Son.
John 1:18, Hebrews 1:1-2, Matthew 11:27
God is Relational
 He is near (God is immanent)(Psalm 139:7, James 4:8)
 He is intimately involved (God is both omnipresent, and omniscient) (Matthew
6:25-30, Luke 12:6-7)
God makes known his relational character through his sacrifice, compassion, guidance,
reward, and encouragement all throughout Scripture.
Trinity
To completely understand God, you would have to be God. This is a good truth to remember
when we look into the doctrine of the trinity.
God exists as Trinity
The doctrine of the trinity is never explicitly stated in Scripture, but is progressively revealed as
one studies the Word of God.
 Trinity Revealed in the OT
o Trinity
 Genesis 1:26 “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness…”
 Genesis 3:22 “Since man has become like one of Us, knowing good and
evil…”
 Genesis 11:7 “Come, let Us go down and confuse their language…”

 Isaiah 6:8 “Who should I send? Who will go for Us?”
o Christ in Trinity
 Psalm 45:4-6
 Hebrews quotes this passage applying it to Christ (Heb 1:8)
 Psalm 110:1
 Matthew 22:41-46
o Holy Spirit in Trinity
 Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me”
 Isaiah 63:10 “But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He became
they enemy and fought against them.”
 Isaiah 48:16 “And now the Lord God has sent me and His Spirit.”
Trinity Revealed in the New Testament
o Matthew 3:16-17 “After Jesus was baptized, He went up immediately from the
water. The heavens suddenly opened for Him, and He saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and coming down on Him. And there came a voice from
heaven: This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him!”
o Matthew 28:19 “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”
o 1 Cor 12:4-6 “Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are
different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the
same God activates each gift in each person.”
o 2 Cor 13:14
o 1 Peter 1:1
o Jude 20-21
Three guiding statements can be derived from the mentioned texts: God is three persons, Each
person is fully God, There is one God.
1) God is three Persons.
2) Each Person is fully God
3) There is one God.
a. Deuteronomy 6:4-5
b. 1 Kings 8:60
c. 1 Tim 2:5
d. Romans 3:30
e. 1 Corinthians 8:6
To deny one of these truths is to have an improper and unscriptural view of God.
 Modalism (God is one person appearing in different forms or modes)
 Arianism (Denies the full deity of the Son and the Holy Spirit)
o Subordinationism (Son and Sprit are same nature as Father, but are subordinate
to Him)
o Adoptionism (Jesus was born human and God adopted Jesus as His son at
baptism)

Tritheism (There are three gods and not only one)
Why is the doctrine of the Trinity important? How would these false views severely mislead us?
What is the distinct Role of the Father in the Trinity?
 Creation
o Spoke the creative words to bring the universe into being (Genesis 1:3)
 Salvation
o God planned redemption and sent the Son into the world (John 3:16, Galatians
4:4, Ephesians 1:9-10)
 Overall, the role of the Father is to plan and direct. To will and to want