“The Wonder of the Trinity” (Eph. 1:1-14)
- Brad Evangelista
- Nov 13, 2011
- Series: Ephesians
Intro: God has revealed himself in Scripture as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity is a difficult subject but one that Christians should marvel at with joy.
The Triune God
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who know, love, and glorify one another. This one true and living God is infinitely perfect both in his love and in his holiness. He is the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, and is therefore worthy to receive all glory and adoration. Immortal and eternal, he perfectly and exhaustively knows the end from the beginning, sustains and sovereignly rules over all things, and providentially brings about his eternal good purposes to redeem a people for himself and restore his fallen creation, to the praise of his glorious grace.
I. THE TRINITY
1. There is one God.
- Deut 6:4, James 2:19, 1 Timothy 2:5
2. God is three persons.
- John 14:26, 1 Peter 1:2, Jude 20-21
3. Each person is fully and equally God.
a. The Father is God
b. The Son is God—John 1:1, Hebrews 1:3, Romans 9:5
c. The Spirit is God—Acts 5:3-4
II. THE TRINITY IN SALVATION
Ephesians 1:1-14
- The Father plans
- The Son accomplishes
- The Spirit applies.
III. WHAT SHOULD OUR RESPONSE BE TO THE TRINITY?
1. It should cause us to worship!
- Salvation wasn’t God rescuing us from a stubbed toe! He saved us!
- Seeing a picture of something incredibly beautiful brings satisfaction.
- We are drawn to beauty because it satisfies. And all these earthly pictures of beauty are just shadows of the true reality of beauty—God!
2. It should cause us to long for and prioritize community.
- As God’s image bearers we are hard-wired for Community.
- “The very fact that God, though singular in nature, is plural in person, indicates that we should not view ourselves as isolated individuals who happen to exist in close proximity to others, but as interconnected interdependent relational persons in community.” [Bruce Ware].
3. It should cause us to better understand authority and submission.
- Jesus, the perfect human, displays submission to the Father’s authority.
- When we submit to God appointed (albeit imperfect) authority, we point to Christ . We entrust ourselves to God.
- To not want to submit to God established authority is to not want to be like Christ.
- Submitting to God leads to joy! God is not interested in our begrudging submission!
4. It should give us great confidence and assurance.
- It should put steel in the spine of a weak and weary soul.
- The Father chose, The Son accomplished, The Spirit applied. Salvation is not ours to lose!
- Phil 1:6
- 2 Timothy 1:12
