Why does God allow evil to take place in the world? That question has been asked innumerable times, and has led some to disbelief in an all righteous, all loving, and all powerful God. It is a question that used to rankle even my faith in God who is love. Asaph questioned God because He allows some wicked people to prosper for the moment (Psalm 73). But the psalmist came to grips with that when he remembered that, in the end, the wicked are cut off and brought to nothing. But I have also learned to see that God's patience with the wicked is a testament to His love, His mercy, and kindness.
As C.S. Lewis pointed out in his book, The Problem of Pain,, most of the suffering in the world is caused by human wickedness. And God in His love created humans with the ability to choose between good, (faithfulness to Him) and evil (unfaithfulness to Him). Otherwise we would be like robots, incapable of genuinely receiving and giving love, which only exists between persons; such as the Persons of the eternal, holy Trinity, or between God and His people.
God is love (1 John 4:8). And He created humanity in His perfect image, before the fall; (Genesis 1:26-27) for the purpose of loving and being loved by Him and each other in perfect unity (Matthew 22:37-40). But sin entered the world through one man; and death, and suffering, and disease came through sin (Romans 5:12). And so human nature became corrupt with sin. So really all suffering, not just most of it, is caused by human wickedness.
But God remains love. And though He must judge sin, yet He holds back His righteous anger for now; because as the apostle Peter, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, pointed out, God is longsuffering. That means "patient". He is not willing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). As the apostle Paul, by the same Spirit, says, "Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" (Romans 2:4). In fact, Paul is a prime example of one who violently opposed Christ and His followers; but who, by the grace of God, received forgiveness, repented, and was reconciled with God through Christ.
But God in His righteousness will judge the world. The Day of the Judgement will indeed come, in due time. And when it does, the kingdom of God, which is already at work in the world through Christ's followers, will be brought to complete fulfillment. Jesus spoke of this in His parable about the wheat and the weeds (Matthew 13:24-30). The sower (God) sowed good seeds (His people) in his field (the world), and his enemy (the devil) sowed weeds (his workers) during the night. But the sower instructed his servants (the angels) to let the wheat and the weeds grow together until harvest time to avoid destroying the wheat. He instructed them to wait till then to uproot and burn the weeds.
Of course, the workers of the devil are people whom God created, and who are in rebellion. They belong to God by creation. But they choose to follow after the rebellion of the devil so that, in that sense, they are "sons of the wicked one", just as those who trust in Christ for salvation are born-again; born of God (1 John 3:1-12). In fact, all of us are born with a fallen, sinful nature that is in rebellion against our Creator. But God in His patience is willing to hold back His righteous judgement in order to give everyone ample opportunity to repent, and be reconciled to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:1-9).
If God judged the wicked immediately, we would all be ruined, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). In our fallen nature, we don't even realize just how rancid our sin is to our immaculately holy God. And so it is only by His grace and mercy that anyone can be saved from the judgement that, in due time, will come.
Showing posts with label Trinity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trinity. Show all posts
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Arbitrary Or Absolute?
Apart from faith in the Creator/Owner of the universe, there is no rational basis for moral/spiritual laws. Some atheists claim that the survival of the species is the rational basis for morality. But on what rational ground is the survival of "rearranged pond-scum" (assuming that is what the species is) so important? Still, some atheists object, and say that in the Christian worldview God just arbitrarily decides and tells us what is good. But is God's standard really arbitrary? Or is it absolute?
Well for one thing, a person has only two options. One can either submit to God's standard of what is good; or go by another. So how can one say that God's standard is arbitrary, and their's is not? But since God is the Creator and Owner of the universe, He is the Absolute Standard/Decider of what is good. And there is a difference between arbitrary rules on the one hand, and the Absolute Standard on the other.
John the apostle, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, informs us that God is love (1 John 4:8). The triune God is the eternal First Cause or Source of love. And by "love" I mean more than some fluttery and elusive emotion. Jesus described His love in this way: "I have come that they (who trust in Me) may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). As the Scriptures also say, "All things were made through Him (Jesus), and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men" (John 1:3-4).
God who is love is characterized by light and life. He is the eternal First Cause of life. Jesus called Himself the life (John 14:6). He is love. And His love generates and creates life. Jesus also called Himself the light of the world, and said that whoever trusts in Him, whoever follows Him, will not walk in darkness. (John 8:12). Light is often used in the Scriptures to symbolize truth, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Darkness represents the absence of those things.
Biblically, the verb "to love" means to have a conscious (and that means personal) determination for the good of another person. God has always existed from eternity past as three distinct Persons; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He has always been love, life, and light; infinite in wisdom, purity, and blessedness. Love has always existed from eternity past in the Persons of the Trinity.
As C.S. Lewis wrote, "the living, dynamic activity of love has been going on in God forever and has created everything else" (Mere Christianity; book four, chapter four, paragraph five). And so God who is love created the universe. He owns the universe. From the astronomical to the microscopic; all matter, all space, all time belongs to God who is love.
And He created humanity in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27) for the purpose of love. Jesus Christ taught us that the first and greatest commandment is to love God with all your being. And He said that the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself". Jesus said that these two commandments summarize all the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 22:37-40). Every one of God's commandments stem from His righteous love.
Nothing that He commands is arbitrary. Every word that He speaks is purposeful. Every judgement that He pronounces; every action that He takes is for a reason. The Ten Commandments, (Exodus 20:1-17) the Sermon on the Mount, (Matthew 5-7) the Last Supper Discourse, (John 13-17) every word that our holy God speaks, and everything that He does, flows forth from His righteous love.
In the Scriptures we learn about the fruits of the Spirit as opposed to the fruits of the flesh Galatians (5:16-26). The fruits of the flesh are counter to the love of God. And the fruits of the Spirit are in harmony with the love of God. These are not arbitrary rules that God "made up" to afflict our souls. The commands of God emanate from His love for us. His desire for us is love; and that means life, light, joy, peace, and everything that is good.
However, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Sin is diametrically opposed to everything that God is. It alienates us from the light and life of our Heavenly Father. It separates us from God who is love. God does not want us to be estranged from Him. He wants us to have everlasting life, light, and love. He wants us to abide forever in His blessings of joy, and peace.
That is why God the Son took on human form and received unto Himself the wages of our sin. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). Everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ is reconciled to God. We are saved from the coming judgment. "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).
Well for one thing, a person has only two options. One can either submit to God's standard of what is good; or go by another. So how can one say that God's standard is arbitrary, and their's is not? But since God is the Creator and Owner of the universe, He is the Absolute Standard/Decider of what is good. And there is a difference between arbitrary rules on the one hand, and the Absolute Standard on the other.
John the apostle, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, informs us that God is love (1 John 4:8). The triune God is the eternal First Cause or Source of love. And by "love" I mean more than some fluttery and elusive emotion. Jesus described His love in this way: "I have come that they (who trust in Me) may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). As the Scriptures also say, "All things were made through Him (Jesus), and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men" (John 1:3-4).
God who is love is characterized by light and life. He is the eternal First Cause of life. Jesus called Himself the life (John 14:6). He is love. And His love generates and creates life. Jesus also called Himself the light of the world, and said that whoever trusts in Him, whoever follows Him, will not walk in darkness. (John 8:12). Light is often used in the Scriptures to symbolize truth, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Darkness represents the absence of those things.
Biblically, the verb "to love" means to have a conscious (and that means personal) determination for the good of another person. God has always existed from eternity past as three distinct Persons; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He has always been love, life, and light; infinite in wisdom, purity, and blessedness. Love has always existed from eternity past in the Persons of the Trinity.
As C.S. Lewis wrote, "the living, dynamic activity of love has been going on in God forever and has created everything else" (Mere Christianity; book four, chapter four, paragraph five). And so God who is love created the universe. He owns the universe. From the astronomical to the microscopic; all matter, all space, all time belongs to God who is love.
And He created humanity in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27) for the purpose of love. Jesus Christ taught us that the first and greatest commandment is to love God with all your being. And He said that the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself". Jesus said that these two commandments summarize all the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 22:37-40). Every one of God's commandments stem from His righteous love.
Nothing that He commands is arbitrary. Every word that He speaks is purposeful. Every judgement that He pronounces; every action that He takes is for a reason. The Ten Commandments, (Exodus 20:1-17) the Sermon on the Mount, (Matthew 5-7) the Last Supper Discourse, (John 13-17) every word that our holy God speaks, and everything that He does, flows forth from His righteous love.
In the Scriptures we learn about the fruits of the Spirit as opposed to the fruits of the flesh Galatians (5:16-26). The fruits of the flesh are counter to the love of God. And the fruits of the Spirit are in harmony with the love of God. These are not arbitrary rules that God "made up" to afflict our souls. The commands of God emanate from His love for us. His desire for us is love; and that means life, light, joy, peace, and everything that is good.
However, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Sin is diametrically opposed to everything that God is. It alienates us from the light and life of our Heavenly Father. It separates us from God who is love. God does not want us to be estranged from Him. He wants us to have everlasting life, light, and love. He wants us to abide forever in His blessings of joy, and peace.
That is why God the Son took on human form and received unto Himself the wages of our sin. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). Everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ is reconciled to God. We are saved from the coming judgment. "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Kingdom Work In the Here and Now
"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20).
Now then, we are ambassador's for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:20-21).
The other week I blogged about the futility of politics. Even the best human political system will fail to set human nature aright. Only Jesus Christ can set humanity aright. But I want to make it clear that this is not an apathetic stance to take. I do not believe in standing idly by while evil prevails. I simply reject politics as the answer to the problem. Politics is not the answer to the problem of fallen humanity's sin and depravity.
At best, even a seemingly good political movement can be nothing more than a temporary and cosmetic treatment for the real ongoing condition sin in human hearts as we draw ever closer to the necessary day of God's judgment. The Great Commission that Jesus Christ gave us, His followers, is the most important work with which we must be busy. That is the Kingdom work that we are assigned to do here and now in this world.
"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen'" (Matthew 28:18-20).
Evangelism and discipleship: that's where it's at. Kingdom work is not about political campaigns. It's not about protest demonstrations on the steps of some capitol building or courthouse. Nor is it even about voting or legislating. Our King, Jesus Christ has commanded us to evangelize and disciple people in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
It is necessary for God, in due time, to pour out His righteous judgment on all the wicked who refuse to turn away from sin and be reconciled with Him. But in the meantime we must be about our Father's business. We must be doing the work of evangelizing the people of the earth; and like student-teachers, teaching them to be Christ's disciples.
We are to be going around and telling people that they are sinners and that they need Jesus to save them from their sin. We must be teaching people, by word and example, to turn away from sin and turn toward Jesus Christ to practice holiness and righteousness through the power of the Holy Spirit.
We are to be going around and telling people that they are sinners and that they need Jesus to save them from their sin. We must be teaching people, by word and example, to turn away from sin and turn toward Jesus Christ to practice holiness and righteousness through the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is the work of the Church; not the government of any worldly empire, nation, state, or city. This is the work of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. This is our Father's business, about which we must be. This is the responsibility of every believer in His salvation by grace through faith in Him who died for our sin and rose victoriously over death.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Why God is Superlatively Great
From the astronomical to the microscopic; all matter, all space, all time belongs to God. He is the Creator and Owner of every soul, and every spirit. God is the Lord and Judge of every thing, creature, every person that exists. He is the Absolute Decider of what is good. He is the Absolute Standard of goodness.
After revealing Himself to humanity through nature, and through the Old Testament prophets; the Creator of all things took on mortal human form and came personally into the world that He created (Hebrews 1:1-2). Jesus Christ is God in Person. He died on the cross for the sin of humanity, though He Himself has no sin. And He rose victoriously over death.
By accomplishing these works, Jesus made redemption; forgiveness of sin, and eternal life, accessible to every human being who places their trust in Him, and follows Him. Anyone who wants to can personally know the Creator of the universe as their Friend, Savior, and Everlasting Father.
Jesus said that the first and greatest commandment is "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength (Dueteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37-38). God is love in three Persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (1 John 4:8). The reason that we as human beings even have a concept of love and of goodness is that we were created by, and in the image of God who is love (Genesis 1:26-27).
Anyone who truly loves, as we were created to love, will love God who is love. And Jesus Christ is God in Person. Therefore anyone who truly loves will love Jesus Christ. "Let loving hearts enthrone Him". But as fallen human beings, all of us have sinned, and have not loved God who is love, and who created us in His image for the purpose of love.
"But", Paul the apostle wrote, "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). John the apostle wrote, "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins...We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:10 & 19).
I stated that God is the Absolute Decider of what is good; the Absolute Standard by which goodness is measured. Some wicked people accuse God of being wicked because He judges sin. By accusing God of evil, these evil people manifest (show, reveal, demonstrate) their own evil, wicked, fallen nature. God is God. People are not. God is the One who decides what is right and what is wrong. He is the One who decides what is good and what is evil.
Because He is good, He judges and condemns sin. But also, because He is good, God has provided salvation from sin through His Son, Jesus Christ. No one has to be condemned for their sin. As I stated before, anyone who wants to can be redeemed. All one has to do is trust in the salvation that is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1-2). Those who do, receive His Holy Spirit who is now begun to work in them to reform them, conforming them to holiness, to righteousness.
After revealing Himself to humanity through nature, and through the Old Testament prophets; the Creator of all things took on mortal human form and came personally into the world that He created (Hebrews 1:1-2). Jesus Christ is God in Person. He died on the cross for the sin of humanity, though He Himself has no sin. And He rose victoriously over death.
By accomplishing these works, Jesus made redemption; forgiveness of sin, and eternal life, accessible to every human being who places their trust in Him, and follows Him. Anyone who wants to can personally know the Creator of the universe as their Friend, Savior, and Everlasting Father.
Jesus said that the first and greatest commandment is "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength (Dueteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37-38). God is love in three Persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (1 John 4:8). The reason that we as human beings even have a concept of love and of goodness is that we were created by, and in the image of God who is love (Genesis 1:26-27).
Anyone who truly loves, as we were created to love, will love God who is love. And Jesus Christ is God in Person. Therefore anyone who truly loves will love Jesus Christ. "Let loving hearts enthrone Him". But as fallen human beings, all of us have sinned, and have not loved God who is love, and who created us in His image for the purpose of love.
"But", Paul the apostle wrote, "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). John the apostle wrote, "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins...We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:10 & 19).
I stated that God is the Absolute Decider of what is good; the Absolute Standard by which goodness is measured. Some wicked people accuse God of being wicked because He judges sin. By accusing God of evil, these evil people manifest (show, reveal, demonstrate) their own evil, wicked, fallen nature. God is God. People are not. God is the One who decides what is right and what is wrong. He is the One who decides what is good and what is evil.
Because He is good, He judges and condemns sin. But also, because He is good, God has provided salvation from sin through His Son, Jesus Christ. No one has to be condemned for their sin. As I stated before, anyone who wants to can be redeemed. All one has to do is trust in the salvation that is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1-2). Those who do, receive His Holy Spirit who is now begun to work in them to reform them, conforming them to holiness, to righteousness.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Rethinking Reality
Last month, I wrote a post titled Subjective/Objective Reality. In it, I made the point that subjectivity is equally an important part of reality as objectivity is. My position in that post was that moral and spiritual laws are subjective because they can not be seen with the eye, touched with the hand, or examined under a microscope. Yet, as I maintained, moral and spiritual laws are real since they proceed from the mind of God who is absolute.
I now, however, take pause to reconsider, whether or not right and wrong are indeed subjective after all. The reason for this second thought is that, as I have said before and say again, God is love. The reason that we as human beings even have a concept of love; the reason that it is an essential part of the human being, is that we are created by and in the image of God who is love. Love is not just an idea. Love is not even confined to being an action. Love is Persons. God is love (Genesis 1:26-27, 1 John 4:8).
Now God is Spirit (John 4:24). But I'm not entirely certain that that means He is non-objective as a Being or Entity. Perhaps we may conclude that a spirit, and also the Spirit, is another kind of objectivity though transcendent over and apart from the natural universe. We are spirits who have bodies, and we are persons. And God is Spirit, and Personal. And God is love. And love is the fulfillment of the Law of God (Romans 13:8-10).
I conclude then that God, from eternity past and forever, is a kind of love in three Persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is, that the subjective idea of love actually comes from the objective Persons of God who is love. And we being made in His image are in the image of love, though because of sin, the image of God in us is distorted. That is, God who is love has made us to have the subjective concept of love, which comes from Him and leads to Him. As an old Christmas carol says "Let loving hearts enthrone Him". If we do not love Him, then we do not love, even if we claim to.
And furthermore, Jesus, being the Son of God, also became a flesh and blood human to die for our sins which alienate us from God. So being God incarnate, He is perfect love, from eternity past with the Father, incarnate also as a flesh and blood human. And so it might be said that in God, and also in humanity (since we are created in the image of God) that which would otherwise be subjective, is found instead to be objective.
However, until one comes to be reconciled with God through Christ, one can not personally know God who is love. And as stated above, God is Spirit. And whoever would worship Him must do so in spirit. As the apostle Paul, through the Holy Spirit, pointed out; the carnal, or natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit. The natural man can not receive the things of the Spirit because they are spiritually discerned (2 Corinthians 5:18-21, 1 Corinthians 2:14).
I now, however, take pause to reconsider, whether or not right and wrong are indeed subjective after all. The reason for this second thought is that, as I have said before and say again, God is love. The reason that we as human beings even have a concept of love; the reason that it is an essential part of the human being, is that we are created by and in the image of God who is love. Love is not just an idea. Love is not even confined to being an action. Love is Persons. God is love (Genesis 1:26-27, 1 John 4:8).
Now God is Spirit (John 4:24). But I'm not entirely certain that that means He is non-objective as a Being or Entity. Perhaps we may conclude that a spirit, and also the Spirit, is another kind of objectivity though transcendent over and apart from the natural universe. We are spirits who have bodies, and we are persons. And God is Spirit, and Personal. And God is love. And love is the fulfillment of the Law of God (Romans 13:8-10).
I conclude then that God, from eternity past and forever, is a kind of love in three Persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is, that the subjective idea of love actually comes from the objective Persons of God who is love. And we being made in His image are in the image of love, though because of sin, the image of God in us is distorted. That is, God who is love has made us to have the subjective concept of love, which comes from Him and leads to Him. As an old Christmas carol says "Let loving hearts enthrone Him". If we do not love Him, then we do not love, even if we claim to.
And furthermore, Jesus, being the Son of God, also became a flesh and blood human to die for our sins which alienate us from God. So being God incarnate, He is perfect love, from eternity past with the Father, incarnate also as a flesh and blood human. And so it might be said that in God, and also in humanity (since we are created in the image of God) that which would otherwise be subjective, is found instead to be objective.
However, until one comes to be reconciled with God through Christ, one can not personally know God who is love. And as stated above, God is Spirit. And whoever would worship Him must do so in spirit. As the apostle Paul, through the Holy Spirit, pointed out; the carnal, or natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit. The natural man can not receive the things of the Spirit because they are spiritually discerned (2 Corinthians 5:18-21, 1 Corinthians 2:14).
Thursday, July 11, 2013
The Triune God
The word "Trinity" never appears anywhere in the Old or New Testament. However, the concept is there; beginning right in the very first chapter of the Bible. On the sixth day of Creation, God says "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness" (Genesis 1:26, emphasis added).
It is clear that by "Us" and "Our", God is referring to Himself alone, and not to Himself and the angels. It is clear because in verse 27 the text continues, "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them".
So right from the start, we read of God referring to Himself in plural form; even though the Scriptures very clearly teaches that there is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 45:5, 1 Timothy 2:5).
God speaks the same way at the Tower of Babel, saying "Come, let Us go down there and confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech" (Genesis 11:7, emphasis added).
Much later, when God first appeared in a vision to the prophet Isaiah, He asked "Whom shall I send, and who shall go for Us?" (Isaiah 6:8, emphasis added).
And the Psalmist, David wrote "The LORD said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.'" (Psalm 110:1).
Jesus referenced this passage when He asked "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? For David himself said by the Holy Spirit: 'The LORD said to My Lord, Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool. Therefore David himself calls Him 'Lord', how is He then his Son?" (Mark 12:35).
Jesus was challenging His listeners to understand that He, the Messiah, is more than just the Son of David. He is the Son of God.
Jesus is sometimes referred to as both the Root and the Branch of Jesse. Jesse was the name of David's father. This title, given to Jesus, is based on a couple of verses in the 11th chapter of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 11:10 says "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious". Isaiah 11:1 says "There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots" (also see Revelation 22:16).
As the song from the O.C. Supertones' first album says "Jesus came from Jesse, but Jesse came from Jesus." Jesus is both the Root and the Branch of Jesse. This is a Christological concept. And Christology is, of course, tied in with the doctrine of the Trinity. Jesus in not only the Son of Man through David's line. He is also the Son of God from whom David's line originated.
And whereas the Old Testament gives compelling hints of the Trinitarian doctrine, the New Testament abounds with it. Take just for example the Great Commission, given by Jesus as He sent out His apostles before He ascended to the Father. He said "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" (Matthew 28:19; also see Matthew 3:16-17, John 1:1, John 1:14).
God is love (1 John 4:8). And love has existed between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit from eternity past. As C.S. Lewis pointed out in Mere Christianity; what we mean by saying "God is love" is "that the living, dynamic activity of love has been going on in God forever and has created everything else" (book 4, chapter 4, paragraph 5).
It is clear that by "Us" and "Our", God is referring to Himself alone, and not to Himself and the angels. It is clear because in verse 27 the text continues, "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them".
So right from the start, we read of God referring to Himself in plural form; even though the Scriptures very clearly teaches that there is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 45:5, 1 Timothy 2:5).
God speaks the same way at the Tower of Babel, saying "Come, let Us go down there and confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech" (Genesis 11:7, emphasis added).
Much later, when God first appeared in a vision to the prophet Isaiah, He asked "Whom shall I send, and who shall go for Us?" (Isaiah 6:8, emphasis added).
And the Psalmist, David wrote "The LORD said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.'" (Psalm 110:1).
Jesus referenced this passage when He asked "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? For David himself said by the Holy Spirit: 'The LORD said to My Lord, Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool. Therefore David himself calls Him 'Lord', how is He then his Son?" (Mark 12:35).
Jesus was challenging His listeners to understand that He, the Messiah, is more than just the Son of David. He is the Son of God.
Jesus is sometimes referred to as both the Root and the Branch of Jesse. Jesse was the name of David's father. This title, given to Jesus, is based on a couple of verses in the 11th chapter of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 11:10 says "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious". Isaiah 11:1 says "There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots" (also see Revelation 22:16).
As the song from the O.C. Supertones' first album says "Jesus came from Jesse, but Jesse came from Jesus." Jesus is both the Root and the Branch of Jesse. This is a Christological concept. And Christology is, of course, tied in with the doctrine of the Trinity. Jesus in not only the Son of Man through David's line. He is also the Son of God from whom David's line originated.
And whereas the Old Testament gives compelling hints of the Trinitarian doctrine, the New Testament abounds with it. Take just for example the Great Commission, given by Jesus as He sent out His apostles before He ascended to the Father. He said "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" (Matthew 28:19; also see Matthew 3:16-17, John 1:1, John 1:14).
God is love (1 John 4:8). And love has existed between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit from eternity past. As C.S. Lewis pointed out in Mere Christianity; what we mean by saying "God is love" is "that the living, dynamic activity of love has been going on in God forever and has created everything else" (book 4, chapter 4, paragraph 5).
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