Pastor Jonny kicked off our brand new series this week about what we believe as Christians.
We’re going to be diving into the fundamentals of the faith. Some people might ask why we can’t just keep it super simple and just believe “Jesus saves us” and not bother to delve any deeper, but if we oversimplify the Gospel, we lose something of the awesomeness of God and the intricacies of the Christian life.
We won’t ever fully understand the eternal aspects of God and how He interplays with the temporalities of life, however we can do our best to apply ourselves and study the Bible to find out more.
It’s also good to study theology because if people get the wrong idea about God, they can slip into dangerous territory called heresy. To identify heresy, or heretical beliefs, we need to have a good grasp of the truth.
We also need to learn to get a full orbed big picture of who God is. We can’t cherry pick Scripture, otherwise we lose balance. For example, we can’t focus purely on God’s love without recognising His justice. All attributes of God are important.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be looking at Christology (the study of Jesus), soteriology (the study of how we are saved) and pneumatology (the study of the Holy Spirit). But today we are starting with the study of the Trinity.
To study theology, we must start with who God is.
Christianity, like Judaism and Islam, is a faith in one God, and so is called Monotheism.
Polytheism, on the other hand, is the belief in multiple gods, like the Romans believed and the Hindus still believe today.
Christianity stands out, however, because we don’t just believe in one God, we believe in one God revealed in three Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
This concept is called the Trinity. It’s important to understand that we aren’t talking about three gods, but one God.
People get confused as to how the Father and Jesus could both be God.
The answer is that God is one substance and three Persons.
There are various metaphors for God, but all fall down because the Trinity is totally unique and unlike anything on Earth.
An example could be an egg. One egg is made up of three parts: the shell, the white and the yolk. This metaphor falls down however, because the shell, white and yolk are different parts of an egg, whereas the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are each fully God.
Water is another example. One substance (H2O) but it can be solid, liquid or gas. But this metaphor also fails because solid, liquid or gas cannot coexist at the same time. H2O changes based on its circumstances, whereas God never changes.
Another example might be three people with their arms locked together in a circle, making them one substance, but three people. But this also fails because the three people will each have their own thoughts, ideas and agendas, whereas the Trinity is one in unity and purpose, although there are separate roles that each plays.
The Father is the Creator, in Heaven, judging and ordaining Creation.
The Son, Jesus, is prophet, priest and King. He is the redeemer, the Saviour, coming to earth, living a sinless life, dying on the cross, rising again and enabling humanity to have relationship with the Trinity.
The Holy Spirit is present in believers, bringing the power and presence of God into our lives, bringing Scripture alive to the believer and enabling the believer to walk with Jesus and grow in Christ-likeness.
We look forward to studying more in the coming weeks!