May 23 One God

John 16:12-15 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.”
 
AT times people trying to discredit the Bible will ask, “The Bible does not use the word ‘trinity’ to describe God. How, then, can you believe in God as one in three, a Holy Trinity?” Here is one place you can go to answer the question.
   As we know from John, Jesus is very clear many times that he is in complete union with the Father. He affirms this again with, “All that belongs to the Father is mine.” He confirms all the words, the miracles and signs the disciples have seen in Jesus are a revelation of the Holy Lord God Almighty.
   Then he confirms the Helper, the Holy Spirit, will be the same. He will be a new teacher, empowering the disciples to knowledge they cannot grasp now. He will transform their thinking and experiences to help them see the wonder of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension. Through the disciples, Jesus’ name will be glorified – he will be praised among the nations. The Good Teacher is preparing his top students for more to come, even as he is going away.
   It is as if a good, knowledgeable teacher who has helped his students learn much is leaving his classroom for an administrative job in the school. He affirms to his students that he is going to help the entire school have more knowledge. Then he assures the students a new teacher will come to help them learn in the same way he did. The new teacher will have the same knowledge he has had. She will say only what is true. The students can trust the new teacher as they have trusted him because she has the same knowledge source he does.
   This, then, is where you can come to point to the Triune God. Jesus is clear about working together with the Father and Spirit to accomplish God’s will on earth as it is in heaven. Father to Son to Spirit, God is three persons in one mysterious relationship. They are not three gods because they are of the same nature. No person of the godhead is different than another. The three persons work in perfect unity in different roles to dispense God’s will on his world.
   Recall again, John’s purpose to write this gospel is to focus on Jesus as the divine God. Here is one more way he does so. This was difficult, even impossible for the disciples to understand that day. But they would see the truth of Jesus’ words as they watched the Spirit empower their ministries, transforming the world.
 
Prayer: Holy God, you are perfect in every way. I praise your name and lift high my mind to receive the truth that comes from the Father, Son and Spirit. Amen.