One God or Three?
John 1:1 Monte T. Brown
July 20, 2008 Sunday Morning
Heart O’ the Hills
Introduction
How can there be a Trinity when the Old Testament insists there is only one God?
If the Old Testament is right, how can John assert that the Word (which later identified as Jesus) is God?
Is John applying that God became a human and walk upon this earth?
These are but a few of the long old questions that have rang out throughout history.
Scripture
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1
Prayer
Is There One God or Three?
I just put to you the question is there a conflict between the Old Testament and the New Testament, about God?
Is there one God or was John right and there is three?
This question calls for such a profound answer.
Books have been written on this subject.
We could spend months discussing this topic but let’s see what the Bible says about weather there is one God or three?
First of all the Old Testament teaches us that there is only one God, that God is one.
Deuteronomy 6:4 says; Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
Moreover, the New Testament also states that there is one God.
Look at James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and tremble!
The unity of God and the fact that there are no other gods besides him are foundational doctrines of the Bible.
Look at what these verses say about that;
Mark 12:29
Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is: Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.
John 5:44
How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?
1 Corinthians 8:4
Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.
Galatians 3:20
Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.
Ephesians 4:6
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
If all of these scriptures and they are but a few of the many scriptures in the Old Testament and the New Testament that confirms that there is but one God.
So, are the scriptures contradicting themselves?
Is there only one God?
What about the trinity?
The teaching of a Father, a Son, and a Holy Spirit?
Which one is right one God or three?
Well they are both right!
Follow along with me as I explain the trinity and one God.
God the First Person in the Trinity
It is hard for us to understand the fullness of God.
One of the best illustrations that I have ever heard that explains the trinity is that God is like water.
Water (H2O two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen) is one of the elements we know of that can be in three states.
A solid, a liquid, or a gas and still be H2O (water).
Each one of these properties look and feel totally different yet they all three are water (H2O).
That’s the way God is!
He is God, he is the Son Jesus Christ, and He is The Holy Spirit. Three in one.
The Bible does not contradict itself it confirms that God is a triune God.
Jesus Christ the Second Person in the Trinity
So was John wrong on is statement in chapter 1 verse 1?
What does the Bible say about Jesus Christ?
First verse that comes to mind is the one that everyone seems to be able to quote and that is John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Here are but a few verses that teach that Jesus is divine.
Philippians 2:6
Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
Titus 2:13
Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
Hebrews 1:3
Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Going back to our passage for this message we see that John 1:1 says In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Then on down in the 14th verse we see; And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
Holy Spirit the Third Person in the Trinity
Isaiah 63:10-11
But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit;
So He turned Himself against them as an enemy,
And He fought against them.
11Then he remembered the days of old,
Moses and his people, saying:
Where is He who brought them up out of the sea
With the shepherd of His flock?
Where is He who put His Holy Spirit within them,
Titus 3:5-6 (NCV)
5 he saved us because of his mercy. It was not because of good deeds we did to be right with him. He saved us through the washing that made us new people through the Holy Spirit. 6 God poured out richly upon us that Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ our Savior.
God himself says that the Holy Spirit is one of the three elements of the triune God.
That the Holy Spirit is a person separate from God.
The Holy Spirit is God living in us.
When we become a Christian God places the Holy Spirit in our lives.
God comes and dwells in us.
So we have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit three in one.
Conclusion
We worship a triune God the trinity is real and not just man’s doctrine, but doctrine of the Bible.
God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three in one.
Just like water that can be in three different states and still be the same. A solid, a liquid, or a gas it still is H2O water.
Weather it be the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit, it still is God.
So, what are you going to do with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit?
Do you know them today please don’t turn them away.
You Are Chosen for Salvation
2 Thessalonians 2:13 (NCV)
13 Brothers and sisters, whom the Lord loves, God chose you from the beginning to be saved.
So we must always thank God for you.
You are saved by the Spirit that makes you holy and by your faith in the truth.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
