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Opening

What stood out to you from Sunday’s message?  

 

Summary

Read John 17:1-26

For many Christians, the Trinity is like their appendix. It’s there and it must have a purpose, but we’re not sure what its function is and if it were removed we wouldn’t notice the difference. The general feeling is that the Trinity is difficult and unimportant. But while the Trinitarian nature of God is certainly not simplistic, it is more wonderful than it is difficult and its importance for creation, human living, salvation and worship can hardly be over-stated. We are made in the image of the Trinitarian God, saved by the Trinitarian God and called to experience, delight in and worship the Trinitarian God. The shape of the Christian life is entirely Trinitarian.  

 

Discussion Questions

  1. What immediately comes to mind when you imagine ‘God’?
  2. How do you feel about the Trinity? Awe, confusion, delight, embarrassment?
  3. How can we fall into a utilitarian view of God (looking to God for what he does for us), and miss out on simply enjoying him for who He is (awe, wonder, joy)?
  4. How do our relationships illustrate God’s Trinitarian nature? How does the Trinitarian Community shape our marriages, friendships and church?
  5. How is self-giving love woven into the universe? How does this explain our longings and desires?

 

Further Study

2 Corinthians 13:14: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."
A. The Nature of God
1.    God is Three Persons  
Matthew 3:16-17: "And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;  and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased"
Matthew 28:19: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"
John 14:16: "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever "
2.    Each Person is Fully God
a.    The Father is Fully God
b.    The Son is Fully God (Jn 1:1-4; 8:58; 14:9; 20:28-29; Col 2:9; 2 Pt 1:1; Titus 2:13; Rom 9:5 Col 2:9; Heb 1:3-8)
c.    The Holy Spirit is Fully God (Acts 5:3-4, I Cor 2:10-11)  
3.    There is One God
Deuteronomy 6:4: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one"
Also: Rom 3:29-30; 2 Tim 2:5; I Cor 8:6  
God’s essential oneness and Threeness means that he is in himself a triune community (what Fred Sanders calls “the happy land of the trinity”), Eg. John 17  
B. The Work of God
Trinity in Creation
-The Father creates through the Son (Col 1:15-17; Heb 1:2)
-God spoke the world into being and the Word he spoke was his Son (John 1:1-3)
-The Son continues to be involved in creation, sustaining all things by his powerful word (Hebrews 1:3)
-When God spoke the world into creation, the ruah/spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And when God gave life to mankind, he breathed the ruah/breath/spirit of life into his nostrils.  (Gen 1-2)
Trinity in Salvation (Eph 1)
-Father ordaining, predestining, choosing, adopting. He’s the grand architect of Salvation.
-The Father sends the Son who accomplishes redemption through his death and resurrection. It’s by his blood that we are saved.
-The Spirit is the downpayment of the inheritance promised us. He seals us for glory to come.  
C. Our Response
1.    Awe and Worship because we are not like God  
2.    Love and service because we are made in the image of God
I Corinthians 12:4-6: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.”
Books for Further Study 
Bruce A. Ware, Father, Son, & Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, & Relevance http://amzn.to/2duRHZc  
Fred Sanders, The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything http://amzn.to/2dD4lWt  
Tim Chester, Delighting in the Trinity: Why the Father, Son and Spirit are Good News http://amzn.to/2dD3x3N
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