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Trinity

BibleProject Explains How God Is Both One And Three At The Same Time

by Christa December 6, 2023

written by Christa

BibleProject explores the trinity of God in one of their video teachings. They explained how God is both one and three at the same time.

BibleProject

Tim Mackie and Jon Collins, founders of the BibleProject, have used their knowledge and skills in media arts to portray the stories of the Bible. Since 2014, they have created videos to reach more people and lead them to a deeper understanding of God.

In one of their video teaching, they explored the complex identity of God as displayed in the Bible storyline.

According to Tim, God could not be fully understood. He said, “But what if we could better understand what it is that we can’t understand?”

God is both one and three at the same time

“Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, God appears in complicated ways that don’t quite fit our categories,” he explained. And one of His ways is appearing through His attributes.

But most often, God’s attributes appear as separate characters and personified, such as wisdom (Proverbs 1 and 8) and His Word (John 1).

Tim believes that the Biblical authors portray God by personifying His attributes to show His complex identity. “They are God’s attributes and distinct from God.”

He went on to share about the Spirit of God. “The Spirit refers to God’s personal presence and energy that we can interact with here within creation,” Tim shared. The Spirit is distinct from and also God.

Then, he pointed to the character who is called the Son of Man. In the Book of Daniel, we read that a human figure, the Son of Man, gets to sit at the right hand of God’s heavenly throne. “And all humanity worships this human alongside God,” he said.

These three points lead us to Jesus.

The Gospels wrote Jesus as a human whose favorite title is the “Son of Man.” But He was also God as He went around saying and doing things that only God can do.

Tim discussed, “Jesus’ first followers talked about His identity using the language of God’s attributes. They called Jesus, the Glory of God. Or the apostle Paul called Jesus, the Wisdom of God. Or John opens his Gospel calling Jesus the “Word of God.”

Furthermore, Jesus would talk to God as a distinct person. He referred to Him as the Father. And through the Holy Spirit, Jesus experienced the eternal love of the Father.

“Jesus promised that through Him, the Spirit would go out and share the Father’s love with all humanity and with all creation,” Tim said.

How God is Both One and Three at the Same Time [Animated Explainer]

Watch this video on YouTube

December 6, 2023 0 comments

Articles Faith

Exploring the Trinity…

by Navigator Jo October 7, 2019

written by Navigator Jo

There are three of them. This is not an attempt to explain the Trinity; nobody can do that except God. It’s equivalent to expecting an ant to explain quantum physics! However, I would like to ask you this: who do you address your prayers to – Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, God, Lord or someone else? I am convinced (not least because of the profound joy in my own heart and life that grew from this revelation), that we are immeasurably enriched by being intentional in deepening our relationship with each of the three persons on the Godhead.

Love

The love I derived from my parents was very different from the love I received from my spouse and neither of those contributed to what the love of a close friend has done. So there is a fullness of love for us to discover in the love of our Father, Jesus our Bridegroom, and our constant confidant and friend, Holy Spirit. To know only the love of one is to deny ourselves the joy of reveling in the fabulous, extravagant and bottomless love that resides in each of them.

I urge you to develop a relationship with each of them, experience the unique love of each of them and discover security, stability and rest that defy description!

Invest your love and your time to nurture and deepen these three love relationships and in time you will know a level of closeness with them that you didn’t think was possible. Engaging with them relationally and “in the spirit” is a million years away from increasing the amount that we know about them!

Power of Encounter

Intellectual understanding is a very poor substitute for encounter, so don’t settle for less than all that God has for you. Each member of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, has a unique “voice” of their own. Often Father speaks through His creation, Jesus speaks through the living Word and through other people to you, and Holy Spirit speaks from within your spirit and you “know” His voice. Most of the Christian world today follows the written word as the primary means of God speaking to man. Although the Bible certainly is one of the most amazing means, there are the multiple different “voices”, of the Trinity that He is choosing to utilize in His desire to deepen His love relationship with you.

October 7, 2019 0 comments

Articles

Reading the Bible with the Holy Spirit in Your Faith Community

by Jared Laskey September 3, 2019

written by Jared Laskey

The Holy Spirit loves when you’re reading the Bible! While you’re reading, studying or listening to Scripture He is present, leading you into God’s truth as you’re encountering Jesus.

The Apostle Paul closes 2nd Corinthians (which is the fourth letter he wrote to them but only two withstood the test of time) saying, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all,” (2 Cor 13:14).

Within this Bible verse we see some incredible principles. Read it again.

And again.

Let this verse soak into you.

The Trinity At Work

Within this Bible verse we see the precious Trinity at work. We see the Father, the Son and the wonderful Holy Spirit. The Trinity is to be the model of relational community within Church. However, it tends to be that when some of us read this closing verse we tend to think individually. But this verse is showing that the corporate group, the church, may have the grace of the Lord Jesus, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit together.

Bible Study As Community Reflected by the Trinity

It is estimated that over 100 million Bibles are printed every year. And the Bible Society believes that 2.5 billion copies of the Bible were printed from 1815 to 1975. And now the YouVersion Bible app has had over 350 million installs on digital devices since 2008. Those are incredible numbers!

Most of us have a Bible or digital copy of it and can read it for ourselves. But in the Early Church, few copies of the apostolic letters and gospels were around. So they read the Bible aloud as a gathering and people memorized them together. And they would eat together, discussing and interpreting what was read to them as a community.

Just like the Trinity is a community, Bible study is to be a community endeavor. I personally love reading, listening and studying Scripture on my own. But we miss something if we’re not blending our faith community with the aid of the Holy Spirit in studying and interpreting. The Apostolic church were accomplishing this together in Acts 15 and we can do the same today having God, Scripture and our Community of faith. Just like they were reading, studying, discussing and interpreting Scripture together, in our Bible study we should consider what our leaders, church and affiliations believe.

Bible Verse of the Day: 7 Powerful Benefits

If you’re doing a personal or group study of Scripture, you can ask the question, “How does my church community believe or practice what I read?” You can even relate historical events in your denomination or councils or creeds to what you’re studying. And you can talk to your leaders, small groups and others seeing if you agree or disagree with various understanding and interpretation. This is all done in a safe and loving atmosphere of community. If you don’t know how to begin Bible studying as I’ve mentioned, check out my resource the Spirit Empowered Journal in the US and UK.

Holy Spirit Empowerment

When studying personally or corporately, the precious Holy Spirit is with you. He is revealing the deep truths of God’s word to all of you while engaging your heart, mind and church community in your study. He loves to be empowering you with His anointing. And may the grace of the Lord Jesus, the love of the Father and the fellowship of the Spirit be upon all of you.

You may also like to read the first article in this ‘Reading the Bible with the Holy Spirit,’ series: Reading the Bible with the Holy Spirit as Your Companion

teenage

September 3, 2019 0 comments

Articles Faith Video

Trinity Releases An Anthem Of Love, Bringing A Voice Of Unity Across The Airwaves

by Jennifer Alden April 21, 2019

written by Jennifer Alden

Tune in for this “music around the world” experience, with the Award-winning, Netherlands-based, eclectic band Trinity, announcing the release of their third North American single, ‘Anthem Of Love’.

Trinity is a faith-based band that mixes musical styles from all over the world creating a magnetic sound that relates to all who hear it. From Peruvian folk to African rhythms, they blend various genres into an eclectic music experience that is unifying and uplifting to the soul.

They are called Trinity as a reminder that we are made in God’s image and as God is a loving community, we are designed in the same way. The band is passionate about sharing God’s love through music.

Trinity

The band was formed by three Dutch brothers Elbert, Johan and Niek Smelt along with Dutch-raised Bert Bos. The brothers were raised as missionary kids in Lima, Peru and as musicians they infuse South American and Irish folk with African beats and pop grooves to create a unique, “world beat” musical experience.

“I strongly believe that this world needs more people who’re willing to be bridges; persons who have learned to let go and embrace something new at the same time,” says Elbert (lead vocals, flutes, saxophone) in an interview with Parade.com.

World Youth Day

“We’ve danced to ‘Anthem Of Love’ with people from all over the globe at many festivals. One of the most memorable times is definitely at World Youth Day in Panama,” Elbert shares. “Playing for so many believers from all over the world made us realize how we can only experience God’s love in unity.”

“Because every person reflects a different aspect of God’s love. Just like sunlight is composed of many rays of colors: together all these colors become light,” Elbert continues.

The band performed for the first time at the 2019 World Youth Day, an event for young people organized by the Catholic Church that reportedly drew over 600,000 people to Panama City, Panama.

Anthem Of Love

The new single’s “vibe, rhythm and Spanish-lyrics” takes the band back to their days growing up in South America.

Produced by Grammy-nominated, multiple Dove Award-winning Ian Eskelin and Barry Weeks, ‘Anthem Of Love’ is the third single from the band’s album, The In Between, slated to release July 12 in North America.

The new single follows Trinity’s widely acclaimed ‘Wherever We Go’ and ‘Alive Again’ tracks, the latter song being played live by the band in radio studios across America last summer for audiences based in New York City to Washington, DC to Los Angeles.

“We’re pleased to call ourselves craftsmen of heavenly parties, and we’re experts at making people’s feet move,” adds Niek (Drums, percussion). “Not with huge beats and technology, but with a unique acoustic approach that will disarm and free any crowd.”

For more information visit www.bandtrinity.com.

April 21, 2019 2 comments

Faith

Immersion – God’s Perfect Communion

by GOD TV May 25, 2018

written by GOD TV

Repentance – Actioning Sincerity

For some Christians this weekend will mark another event in the spiritual calendar called Trinity Sunday. Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost. It celebrates the three persons of the Holy Trinity – God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

So let’s just go back in time for a moment to the Day of Pentecost. Following their ‘Pentecostal’ experience, the disciples were now fully equipped, to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. The Great Commission had been activated! For the thousands gathered in Jerusalem that day for Shavuot and whose lives had been touched so dramatically, it was one moment in time that would never be forgotten. During his address to the crowd, Peter told them who Jesus of Nazareth was – that He was the promised Messiah. He also imparted that because Jesus had been exalted to the right hand of God, He had received the promised Holy Spirit from His Father. Peter also confirmed that the outpouring of this gift that they had just witnessed in Jerusalem, was originating from Jesus (Acts 2: 33).

In the Complete Jewish Bible, it states that the people were ‘stung in their hearts’ upon hearing Peter’s words. They asked him what they should do. Peter instructed them in Acts 2:38 with the following words,“Turn from sin, return to God, and each of you be immersed on the authority of Yeshua the Messiah into forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh!

Immersion – completely submerged to Jesus’ authority

Now this is very important, so don’t miss it! Everyone had gathered in Jerusalem for Shavuot, a Jewish festival, therefore, they were all Jews. Without getting too complicated, the word ‘baptism’ in Hebrew is the word Tevilah meaning ‘immersion’. In Judaism water immersion is designed to remove ritual impurity. It is carried out in a mikvah. Mikvah which means a gathering of waters. The word first appears in Genesis 1:10. However, the water had to be ‘living water’ i.e. water that was flowing or running, it flowed into a pool or man made pool. Not only was it considered a physical cleansing but a spiritual one as well.

When John the Baptist immersed those in the Jordan he brought an additional message. True ‘cleansing’ in the spirit could not occur unless man REPENTED. Symbolic spiritual cleansing was not what God required. He required man to be branded in his heart for Him. For the first time this traditional ritual was being transformed or connected to the spirit of man, his own accountability for sin through the redemptive power of the coming Messiah. The Baptist stated that the one that would come after him – Jesus – would baptize or immerse with the Holy Spirit.

Are you thirsty enough?

The process of salvation is a miraculous multi-layered experience. Repentance and forgiveness of sin is only the beginning of God’s divine plan of restoration. Therefore, let’s go back again to the Day of Pentecost – it’s so important. Baptism/Immersion of the Holy Spirit enables us and equips us to take others on the journey too. The gifts are never for self – always for others and edification of the Church.

We need the Holy Spirit so much. If we tried to accomplish what God needs us to do in our lives and for His kingdom in our own strength – we wouldn’t get very far and the Kingdom would be pretty small, right? Jesus gave the Great Commission to us all. Whatever the capacity. We are here to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth – period. The time is NOW!

Spiritual Immersion It’s not a good idea to loiter around with your gifts in a satchel either, Remember, you have a big responsibility. You are passing on a spiritual inheritance that is priceless.

Baptism of the Holy Spirit only needs to occur once in the believer’s lifetime. From then on it is like a tap that is never turned off. I’ll leave you with some of Jesus precious words…

“…Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” (John 7:37-39)

How thirsty are you today?

This article was written by Karin McBride-Chenoweth, an award-winning writer, editor and publisher of Christian and secular works in Europe and the USA. Originally from Northern Ireland, Karin now lives in the USA.

May 25, 2018 0 comments

Faith

The Resurrection of Jesus: Who Exactly Raised Him from the Dead?

by Jared Laskey March 31, 2018

written by Jared Laskey

This weekend, Christians around the world are celebrating Easter, which is the time of year that we pause and reflect on the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Even though we deserved the punishment due to our sin, as Scripture reveals, Jesus took our place and forgave our sins from the Cross. He was buried in a tomb and then the unexplainable happened—He rose from the dead!

On the third day after the crucifixion, Matthew 28:1-2 says, “At the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And then there was a great earthquake. For the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it.”

Then, in verse 5, the angel says, “Do not be afraid. For I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.” Then the angel instructed them (v. 7) to tell the disciples that Jesus rose from the dead. They departed quickly, “with fear and great joy” (v. 8) to tell the amazing news, and they encountered the Risen Christ!

There were probably many thoughts running through the minds of these ladies who were sent from the tomb to go tell the disciples the great news, as they were overcome with excitement and emotion. A question that has been asked through the centuries is “Who raised Jesus from dead?” And the Bible gives us these answers.

Scripture shows that:

God the Father raised Jesus from the dead. The Apostle Paul said in Romans 6:4, “Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Also, our personal salvation hinges on confessing with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead” (Rom. 10:9).
God the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. Romans 8:11 says, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit that lives in you.”
God the Son raised Himself from the dead. In the Gospel of John, 10:17-18, Jesus told His disciples, “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I received this command from My Father.”

These were incredible and miraculous events that has shaped the course of history since. No other event or person in history has affected the world like Jesus and the events surrounding His birth, life, death and resurrection.

The participation of the Trinity in the resurrection of Jesus is truly miraculous and awe-inspiring. It reveals the unity of God, and how each person of the Trinity works together, being equal in divine perfection and attribute. They complemented one another’s roles in raising Jesus from the dead. And this is part of what we celebrate this weekend. Please reflect on this truth and marvel in its mystery as together we celebrate our Lord and Saviour.

This article was written by Jared Laskey of Fireborn Ministries. Jarred leads Destiny Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia and lives to see Jesus awaken this generation to the power of the Holy Spirit. He is also the co-author of Veronica’s Hero.

March 31, 2018 0 comments