DISCIPLESHIP SERIES - The Relationship of the Trinity: Jesus Christ

The word TRINITY and the concept behind it is familiar to most Christians. However after MANY years of being a follower of Christ, God showed me something deeper about the Trinity. This truth may open the door for you to deeper understanding and clarity to the concept of the Trinity as it can be a difficult concept to comprehend.

At first I was hesitant to go here because it's a big topic with potential for deep study, but then He honed it to something specific. The relationship of the Trinity which is now bringing about this post.

Who is the Trinity?

As a reminder, we as Christians rely on the authority of Scriptures. An authority that God Himself imparts into the Scriptures which are living active and breathing into our faith. To read more about this authority go HERE.

There are many Scriptures that reference the Trinity, but the first mention of the Trinity is recorded in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). One of them reads in Luke 3:22:

...the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

Here all three members of the Trinity: The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit are being mentioned together.

The breakdown of this would be:

• The Father- "A voice came down from Heaven"
• The Son- "You are my beloved Son"
• The Holy Spirit- "Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove.."

Now something that trips many people up and even Christians have difficulty explaining is the concept of the Trinity. Here it seems there are three distinct entities being mentioned, but yet how could all three of these be one God?

Some religions believe that Christians believe the Trinity to be three separate gods which they call polytheism. Poly means "many" and theism means "belief in the existence of gods or the one true God".

Very quickly I will touch on a diagram that helps explain how the Trinity is built and then we will break into the parts of the Trinity individually. Today's lesson focusing on Jesus Christ. Later in the series I will bring in more details as we learn more about each part. 

The diagram below represents the three parts of the Trinity. As not to confuse you I am not mentioning the names at once. I will fill them in as we learn about each one. 

As you can see I have marked three points of a triangle and traced it out so you can see the shape. The triangle represents God as one triangle, one God. Each point is the elements of the triangle. All separate elements yet all the same triangle. This is not saying that each person is the same as each corner. Each corner is a unique corner. 

The outlines are strictly so you can see the shape being formed. The inside lines marked by orange are showing the connection of each person being part of the center word "GOD". This diagram shows how the Trinity operates. 

Person #1 is God, Person #2 is God, and Person #3 is God yet each is their own person in their own role. Person #1 operates as the top with #2 and #3 directing upwards to #1. #3 has its own element of rank operating underneath #2. The significance of rank and numbers in the Trinity is as important as I've shown here. 

Naturally we would start with Person #1, however Person #2 ties together the other two so I want to start there.

Who is Jesus Christ In the Trinity?

There is a fancy word theologians (those who study the Word of God and the Christian faith) use to describe the study of different parts of the Bible. One of them is the word Christology which means "The study of Christ". There are so many things to study about Christ but we will just focus on the aspect of the Trinity in this lesson. 

Below I have filled in Person #2:

Jesus Christ as Savior

Jesus Christ who is the Son of God came to the earth in the form of man to rescue us from our sin state.

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. -Isaiah 9:6 

Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross. -Philippians 2:7-8 

This state of sin entered the world when Adam and Eve sinned in Genesis 3. I am using the New Living Translation:

“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.  At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

Notice something unique about Jesus in light of the Trinity.


"Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
-Philippians 2:7-8


I like this additional version of the same Scripture coming from the New King James version:

...who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

What is this saying? 

Jesus Christ as being equal with God, in the form of God gave this up to become in our likeness of a human with everything about human nature as His nature. He had to resist the same sins we are called to resist, and what is remarkable is He never sinned. Otherwise He would be ineffective in God's plan of Redemption. 

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.  -Hebrews 4:15

Jesus Christ the Son of God

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
-1 John 4:15-16  

Here we clearly see that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only way to be saved and redeemed from our sin is through Him. Jesus Christ as God's Son while also being God seems like a contradictory statement, but as you will learn further on there is a distinction and explanation to how this is.

What's powerful is the principalities of darkness, evil, the demonic realm (think of anything we cheer on superheroes to defeat) even know who Jesus is.
Consider this passage in Matthew 8:

When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

Even our greatest enemy and his devious fallen angels Satan and demons KNOW that Jesus is the Son of God yet they spend every moment of every day trying to convince the world otherwise in deception.

You have now seen some of Jesus' attributes to the Trinity. He is a separate being as Son, yet still God. The only way this could happen is supernatural. It's beyond anything on this earth that is possible and beyond the concepts of our own brain. This is where faith steps in. We are people of having to see to believe, yet what does God the Son say?

Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Believing in Jesus Christ as the sinless Savior in God's plan of redemption IS the most important part of Jesus Christ. He has a role that is crucial to the Christian faith and we are offered a unique relationship with Jesus Christ as just one part of the three parts of the Trinity.

As I write this and dig deeper, I realize so quickly how we just touched the surface of who Jesus is and the depth of His significance. We didn't even cover everything that I could have or I would have written a whole book!

The overall theme of this lesson: JESUS CHRIST IS GOD.

Pharisees seethed over this reality and He was crucified for claiming it. Today the world pushes against Jesus and religions desperately try to dethrone Him and downplay Him as just a prophet, a good person, our friend and buddy. 

 To admit Jesus is God brings a terrifying reality, a vulnerable place that exposes their sin and shows them a need for a Savior. Maybe this is something you have been wrestling with yourself. My message to you is in redemption is freedom, in redemption is peace, and in redemption is a future beyond this earth. A life into eternal fellowship with God as the Trinity.

I do not know who God is leading to read these lessons, but in obedience, may God bless you as you open yourselves to seeking TRUTH.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. -Matthew 7:7

Stay tuned for the next in the series. In the meantime, if you haven't read these lessons yet, you can find them below:

THE FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH AND BIBLICAL AUTHORITY 

THE SOWING OF THE WORD

BIBLICAL STUDY: METHODS AND APPLICATION

With love and compassion,