Today's sermon is very simple. I will speak about only one thing. The goal of today's sermon is to remove the common
misconception on the Trinity. I want to make clear that our God is the three distinct persons always: Father, Son, and the Holy
Spirit, not three different titles or roles of one God. Our God exits always as the Three "Persons."
Modalism: Here is the most wide-spread idea. It goes like this: God is one and that one God appeared in the Old Testament (OT)
days as God; during the New Testament (NT) times, as Jesus; and, now during the church days, as the Holy Spirit. Is this correct?
Some Christians understand the Trinity in this way.
Why? Because we see this kind of similar phenomena in nature often! Like water: according to the change of temperature, a bowl of
water has three different modes. Ice, when cold; liquid, when warm; vapor, when boiled. So people think one God has three
different modes of appearance. Is this correct? This is a heresy officially condemned by the church council in AD 318. But still,
some Christians think of Trinity in this way. This analogy emphasizes the oneness of God, forfeiting the Three-ness of God's nature.
No! Our God exists as Three distinct Persons. Not one being with three masks; not one being with three different titles or roles; not
one being with three different modes of appearance. Then, what is the right understanding?
Let us consider the confession of faith, and then, the Bible passages.
Here is the Westminster Confession of Faith chapter 2,
section 3 (II.3) The Westminster Confession of Faith is one of the best statements of Christian faith. It was written, not by just a few
individuals, but by 151 church representatives; not in a few weeks, but between July 1st of 1643 and February 22nd of 1649; over 5
years and 6 months; not in a few meetings, but through 1,163 meetings. They put tremendous painstaking labor to make the
Christian truth accurate in 40 pages of brevity. In the section on the Holy Trinity, it states like this: "In the unity of the Godhead
there be Three Persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit." It clearly says,
" there be Three Persons”. Three Persons - not three appearing modes, but Three Persons. The word, "Person" means distinct fully
personal being. Each of Three Persons of God is a fully divine being- not a third being, not 90 percent being, but fully divine being.
Three Persons!!
1. Now, let us see, a few Bible passages. Genesis 1:26 God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, in our likeness,".
Did you notice this, plural "us" "our" "our"? When God created human beings, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit, the Three Persons appeared at the same time, and had divine council meeting. The Three Persons discussed together: "Let us
make … in our image, in our likeness,". Can one Person have a discussion meeting? Because they are fully Persons, they discuss
together. Here the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are talking to each other.
Genesis 11:6-7 The LORD said, "… Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand
each other." Once again, "us", the three together!!! When people were building the city of Babel, the Three Persons of God, came
down together, and scattered peoples by confusing their languages.
Psalm 110:1 The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."
Who is speaking to whom? "The Lord to the Lord". Is this a soliloquy of one individual alone? No! God the Father is speaking
to God the Son. Some of us might think: Does God, the Son, appear in the OT? Doesn't he appear only in the NT? Is it true?
Let's consider the OT passage we read while ago. Genesis 16:7-14 (especially, vv. 13-14) When Hagar fled from Abram's
house, God the Son graciously appeared to her. In this passage, he is called by the special title, "the angel of the LORD."
Scholars agree that this is God, the Son before incarnation. So, after seeing "the angel of the Lord", she named the place, Beer-lahairoi, which means, "the Well of Living One who sees me." This is the first time God the Son appeared in the OT. And it happened a
few more times in the OT.
What about the Holy Spirit? Does the Holy Spirit appear in the OT? Yes, from the first chapter of Genesis, he appears with God the
Father. Genesis 1:1-3 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and
empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God
said, "Let there be light," and there was light. Here God, the Holy Spirit is with God, the Father!
In summary, in the OT, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, were, and are, and always will be, as distinct divine beings, from the
beginning of the creation, now and forever!
2. Now in the NT. Where do the Three Persons of God appear together? There are many, but let us see simply one passage.
Matthew 3:16-17 "As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened,
and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my
Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Here all Three Persons of God appear at the same time, at one place. Jesus,
God, the Son is in the water; God, the Holy Spirit is coming down from heaven; and God, the Father is speaking in heaven.
The Three Persons together. What else do you need? The simple record of Jesus' Gospel clearly shows the Three Persons of God
are distinct divine beings.
Modern modalism - three roles of one God? Now I told you enough. So, from now on, do not think any more, that the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit are just three different modes of one God.
Nowadays, one person has several roles in the society. So, some Christians still explain the Trinity in this way: “Mr. Smith is one
person. At his work place, he is a branch manager; at home he is a father; and at the church, he is an elder. See, one person, three
roles.” Is this correct? No! No! No! This is exactly a heresy. The modern form of Modalism heresy. Can Mr. Smith be at his
work as a manager, while he is at home as a father? (Year ago, one Christian lady after 40 years of Christian faith, explained the Holy
Trinity to her daughter in this way. She taught this heretical concept to her daughter, very confidently, in front of me.)
No! Our God is not in this way. "In the unity of the Godhead there be Three Persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Spirit."
The Father is always the Father. God, the Son is always God, the Son. The Holy Spirit is always God, the Spirit. God, the Father
never became Jesus. Jesus never became the Holy Spirit. There is no time when God, the Son was not. There is no time when the
Holy Spirit was not. There is no time when God, the Father was not.
If God is just one Divine Person, was the throne in heaven vacant when God came down to the earth in Jesus? No. God is always,
always, always, the Three Persons, in the OT, in the NT, and today, and forever. They, the Three Persons, exist together, work
together, come to us together, and receive our worship together, from everlasting to everlasting. That's why in the Apostle's Creed,
we confess our faith in each Person of the Three, in three separate paragraphs.
The Apostle's Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Christ Jesus, His only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again.
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy universal Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting. Amen.
The three separate paragraphs, equally for each Person of the Three, confessing faith in each of the Three Persons of Godhead!
We do not believe a mono God, like other pagan religions. Only our Christian God is the unique, incomparable God in the Tri-unity,
Three Divine Persons. When we go to heaven, we will meet Three Persons of God. When we pray on earth, God the Spirit intercedes
within us; God the Son intercedes for us at the right hand of the Throne; God the Father hears our prayers on the Throne. The Three
are for us! So, when we worship, we are to be aware of the Three Persons of God together and individually. When we worship God,
the Three Persons of God shine their glory to us. So, we receive the glory of the Father, the glory of the Son, and the glory of the
Holy Spirit.
May the blessing and glory of the Three Persons of God be with you all, today and forever! Amen.
(Blessed God, We praise you that you are our God, unique, incomparable, the only true and living God, in Three Persons.
Lead us into a deeper fellowship with you, Father, Son and the Spirit. Come O Father, as we come near to you. Come Christ, Lord,
as we approach you. Come Holy Spirit, as we seek you. Until we enjoy the unlimited communion with you, help us to diligently
seek you, by faith, relying on your revelation in the Bible alone. In Christ Jesus, we pray, Amen.)