FBC Daily Devotions

GOD

Read Deut. 6:4. (There will be other passages to refer to later.)

“We believe God is one and exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

The triune God (i.e. the Trinity) made up of the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit is perhaps one of the most widely accepted and yet least understood doctrines of our faith. It is not a biblical word, yet it grows out of the Scriptures, so it is a biblical teaching.

Both the Old and New Testaments affirm the unity of God. The Old Testament passage from today’s reading (Dt. 6:4) establishes the oneness of God – “The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” The New Testament shares the same view (cf. 1 Cor. 8:4-6 – “…yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live…”).

There is no debate that the Father is recognized as God. But what about Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit? I encourage you to check out the following passages that recognize Christ and the Holy Spirit as God:

Jesus Christ

• He possessed the attributes which only God possesses (Matt. 9:4; 28:18; 28:20).
• He did things only God can do (Mark 2:1-12; John 12:9; Col. 1:17; John 1:3; John 5:27)
• He is equated with God (John 1:1, where the “Word” is Jesus).

The Holy Spirit

• He is called God (Acts 5:3-4).
• He possesses attributes which only God has (1 Cor. 2:10; 6:19; John 3:5-6, 8).

The oneness and threeness of the Trinity is asserted by associating equally the three persons in the Great Commission of Matt. 28:19 (“baptize in THE NAME (singular) of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”). They are associated equally in passages like Matt. 3:16-17 and 2 Cor. 13:14.

Why is this so important? To diminish who God is, is to diminish who the three persons of the Trinity are. God is less than God without Jesus Christ. He is less than God without the Holy Spirit. He is less than God without the Father. To worship anything less than God (may I say it?) is to not worship God at all. Imagine further if Jesus Christ was not God. Who would He be but a powerful man unable to save Himself from the cross. How much greater His love for us knowing that He had the power to save Himself, but chose instead to save us. As it is, because He was God, He possessed the power to save. Imagine if the Holy Spirit wasn’t God. What power would we have living in us? There would be no power over sin in our lives. There would be no rebirth, no new creation. We would continue to be slaves to sin and slaves to the Law. The deity of the Holy Spirit ensures that we have God in us to help us live rightly in this world.

What is your concept of God? Who is the God you worship? The more one dwells on the depth of who He is, the more one will be in awe of Him. Man is so limited in his understanding of God. Perhaps the more we realize that, the easier it will be for us to put God in His rightful place on the throne.