class: center, middle ## Roles of the Trinity in the Plan of God (Derived from https://ichthys.com/1Theo.htm) --- ### Summary All three members of the Trinity are referred to by common names in both the Old and New Testaments: Elohim and YHVH (the so-called tetragrammaton) in the Hebrew Old testament, and Theos in the Greek New Testament. However, each member of the Trinity also has an individual name, based upon the role they play in God's overarching plan to redeem mankind: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Aside from going over the shared names, this lesson also examines the origin, significance, and person of each of these individual names. --- #### Outline - [Roles of the Trinity in the Plan of God](#4) - [General Introduction: The Roles of the Trinity Are a Biblical Way To Get Additional Perspective](#5) - [The Names of the Trinity: Shared Names](#6) - [The Names of the Trinity: Individual Names](#7) - [The Father (the 1st Person of the Trinity)](#8) - [The Son (the 2nd Person of the Trinity)](#9) - [The Holy Spirit (the 3rd Person of the Trinity)](#10) - [Note: Analogies Are Just Analogies, and Nothing More](#11) --- ### Roles of the Trinity in the Plan of God A more valuable approach than the use of non-biblical illustrations to understand the nature of the Trinity is the examination of the function of the Trinity as described in the Bible. The scriptures have much to say about how God works in human history, and, specific to our topic, what roles the individual members of the Trinity play in that work, otherwise known as the "plan of God". --- ### General Introduction: The Roles of the Trinity Are a Biblical Way To Get Additional Perspective God has not been operating in human history on an ad hoc or reactive basis, but has been "working everything together for good" (Rom.8:28) since the moment of creation. The Plan of God will be discussed as a topic in its own right in the [part 2B](https://ichthys.com/2B-Eschato.htm) of this series ([*Eschatology*](https://ichthys.com/2B-Eschato.htm)), but it will be helpful at this point to consider the unique roles played by the individual members of the Trinity in executing that plan in time, for by so doing, we shall gain *biblical* insight into the true nature of the Trinity. No potentially-misleading illustrations necessary --- ### The Names of the Trinity: Shared Names Much can be understood about the Trinity through a consideration of the names by which they are revealed. Collectively, the Trinity refer to themselves as God. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for God, *'Elohim* (translated in the New Testament by the common Greek word for God, *theos*), is technically a plural of a word originally meaning "mighty one"; collectively then, the Trinity share this appellation, pluralized to express additional majesty. Individually considered, however, members of the Trinity in the Old Testament are referred to most commonly by the Hebrew word *Yahweh* (translated in the New Testament by the common Greek word for Lord, *kyrios*), a word that, as we have seen, calls special attention to the Lord's timeless and dynamic being (see [section I, note 1](https://ichthys.com/1Theo.htm#N_1_)). These two names, God and Lord, emphasize respectively the unity of the Trinity in its three-fold persons (*'Elohim* is plural but refers to the Trinity collectively), and the joint divine-essence of all three individual members (*Yahweh* is singular but can be used to refer to any of the Trinity's members individually). --- ### The Names of the Trinity: Individual Names With the fuller revelation of the Trinity in the New Testament following the revelation and advent of Jesus Christ (see [Part II C. for the Trinity in the Old Testament](https://ichthys.com/1Theo.htm#C.%20The%20Trinity%20in%20the%20Old%20Testament)), the names Father, Son and Holy Spirit give us an even clearer understanding of the roles of the Trinity (and therefore of the Trinity itself). Cf. the general concept of so-called *progressive revelation*. This is an excellent example of the phenomenon. --- #### The Father (the 1st Person of the Trinity) *Origin*: The term for and idea of the Fatherhood of God, a designation well known from the New Testament, is also found in the Old Testament from the Pentateuch onward. The word Father is first used for God in Deuteronomy 32:6: "Is He not your Father? The One who bought you? He is the One who made you and established you." Later in verse 18 of the same chapter, God is referred to as "the Rock who fathered you". The concept of the fatherhood of God can also be seen at Exodus 4:22, where Israel is referred to as God's "firstborn son". --- #### The Father (the 1st Person of the Trinity) *Significance*: The use of the name "Father" is clearly intended to be taken as an analogy from human experience. Like the father who sired us, He is our creator. Like a father, He is our authority figure, our trainer, disciplinarian, and teacher (Heb.12:5-11). And, not to be underestimated, He is the One who cares for us and loves us deeply, who protects us, keeps us safe, and wants only what is truly best for us (regardless of what we see as best). Being human, our earthly fathers had strengths and weaknesses, and despite their best intentions had to act on the basis of imperfect information about what was best for us. But our heavenly Father represents the perfect ideal of fatherhood. He acts toward us always in perfect love, and all He does for us is without question for our ultimate good, for whether He disciplines us or blesses us, He does so in perfect knowledge of who we are, and of all that is in our hearts. --- #### The Father (the 1st Person of the Trinity) *Person*: The Father is often referred to as the 1st person of the Trinity (i.e., the authoritative "I" person), because He speaks to us as "I", directly manifesting His ***authoritative*** will as our God, creator and ruler of the universe (e.g., Ex.3:14-15; Is.46:9-10). --- #### The Son (the 2nd Person of the Trinity) *Origin*: Along with the holy angels (Job 38:7 [not NIV]), we believers are all "sons" of God (Rom.8:14; Gal.3:26; 4:5; cf. Jn.1:12; 1Jn.3:1-2). This widespread franchise of sonship is based upon the paternal position of the Father relative to all His obedient creatures, but there is only one "*the* Son of God (our Lord, Jesus Christ)". Though Christ's incarnation was, in a veiled fashion, prophesied and foreshadowed by ritual and sacrifice, it remained in Old Testament times very much a mystery until the time of His actual first advent. Now it stands clearly revealed that *the* archetypical Son of God is our Lord Jesus Christ, and that the Old Testament parallels are types that look forward to this revelation. For example: - Adam is the son of God (Lk.3:38) -- Christ is *the* preeminent "last Adam" (1Cor.15:45; and cf. the "Son of Man [i.e., *'adam*]" of Dan.7:13-14 as well as New Testament usage) - Israel is the servant of God (Is.42:18ff) -- Christ is *the* suffering Servant who takes away the sins of the world (Is.42:1; 52:13 - 53:12) - Israel is God's son -- Christ is *the* Son (Hos.11:1 fulfilled at Matt.2:15) - Finally, though Solomon was David's direct descendant, Christ is his ultimate descendant, the Messiah, *the* Son of David who is also the Son of God (Ps.2:7-12; 110:1). --- #### The Son (the 2nd Person of the Trinity) *Significance*: Building on the idea of fatherhood as discussed above, sonship denotes the idea of a special and unbreakable relationship with the Father, one of dutiful subordination to the Father's will, but also one of special privilege, inheritance and shared authority. A son (especially a king's son) is often more accessible than a father. The role of mediator between the king and His offending subjects can only be played by someone who is on a par with both the Father-king and creature-subjects: only a Son (incarnate) can be sent on such a mission of reconciliation (cf. Matt.21:33-40). --- #### The Son (the 2nd Person of the Trinity) *Person*: The Son is often referred to as the 2nd person (i.e., the accessible "you" person), because He is ***accessible*** to us, having appeared in the flesh to forge a relationship with us on the Father's behalf (e.g., Jn.15:14-15), and having gained access to the Father for us (Jn.14:6; Eph.2:18; 3:12). --- #### The Holy Spirit (the 3rd Person of the Trinity) *Origin*: From the first chapter of the Old Testament (Gen.1:2), to the closing chapter of the New Testament (Rev.22:17), the word "spirit" is used to refer to God the Holy Spirit. The Hebrew and Greek words for "spirit", *ruach* and *pneuma* respectively, have the core meaning of "wind" or "breeze", and, again, there are important points to be garnered from the name analogy. --- #### The Holy Spirit (the 3rd Person of the Trinity) *Significance*: The wind is a potent, invisible force. Though we perceive it and experience its effects, we can neither see where it has come from or where it is going to (Jn.3:8). It can have everything from a gentle, warming influence to a powerful, chilling effect. "Wind" is thus an aptly descriptive analogy for the Holy Spirit's role in the plan of God: His invisible yet powerful support of good (Zech.4:6; 1Cor.12:3) and restraint of evil (Gen.6:3; 1Cor.12:3; 2Thes.2:5-8) in the furtherance of the plan of God must not be underestimated. --- #### The Holy Spirit (the 3rd Person of the Trinity) *Person*: The Holy Spirit is often referred to as the 3rd person of the Trinity (i.e., the unseen "he" person), because unlike the Father, He does not speak directly to us, and unlike the Son, He has not been made manifest to us; instead, like the wind, He is ***unseen*** by us, but, like the wind, that does not mean that we do not experience His power in a very personal and dynamic way (Jn.14:16-17; Gal.5:22-26). --- #### Note: Analogies Are Just Analogies, and Nothing More As should be clear from the discussion above, the names Father, Son, and Spirit are thus representative of the Trinity's individual roles in the plan of God for mankind, and have been given to help us understand the relationships and functions of the three divine personalities in that plan. The names themselves must not be pushed beyond the clearly intended analogies to our human frame of reference as outlined above. This is no small caveat, for it is largely on the basis of the title "Son" that heresies of the past have sought to deny the full and equal divinity of Christ (e.g., casting Him as subordinate in essence to the Father as hyper-Arianism does). The case of the Spirit also shows how wrong-headed such analyses based solely on these titles are, for the Spirit is not at all "inanimate" or "impersonal" even though "wind" is a fitting description of His invisible yet powerful role in our Christian lives. He acts in a very personal way towards us and towards the other members of the Trinity (Jn.3:5; 14:16-17; 14:26; 15:26; 16:8-15; Acts 5:3, 5:9; 13:2; 16:6-10; Rom.8:26; 1Cor.2:10; Rev.2:7), and as our Comforter-Encourager (Jn.14:16; 16:7). The relationship of leadership (Rom.8:4; Gal.5:16 & 18), encouragement (cf. Jn.14:16; 16:7; 2Cor.1:3-7) and empowerment (Lk.24:49; Rom.15:13) we receive from the Holy Spirit are some of the most "personal" and "animating" relationships we shall ever experience this side of heaven. <!-- Footnote List --> <div class="footnotes"> <ol> </ol> </div> --- #### Outline - [Roles of the Trinity in the Plan of God](#4) - [General Introduction: The Roles of the Trinity Are a Biblical Way To Get Additional Perspective](#5) - [The Names of the Trinity: Shared Names](#6) - [The Names of the Trinity: Individual Names](#7) - [The Father (the 1st Person of the Trinity)](#8) - [The Son (the 2nd Person of the Trinity)](#9) - [The Holy Spirit (the 3rd Person of the Trinity)](#10) - [Note: Analogies Are Just Analogies, and Nothing More](#11)