The Triune God: Understanding The Importance Of The Trinity

Understanding the importance of the Trinity defines our attitude/focus of worship, which deepens our knowledge of the Holy. "Desiring God," by John Piper says, "the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever." (Piper, pg. 84)  Enjoying God and the presence of God is the life of a joyful heart, which is the life David had pursued.  Knowing God is like a child's fondness of wanting to know, learn and to be like his father.  The child pursues his father out of a love that is automatic because it brings joy.  The fascination of learning from this big influential hero is built in the heart of curiosity and admiration.  God has revealed himself to man similar to a father that demonstrates his love and attention to a child.  As a father who provides shelter, food, clothing, love and care to his child, God had created a world for man to exist, giving him the necessities of life and companionship.  In Genesis chapter 1, God exists out of a self-evident fact and has revealed Himself to creation.  The Bible has no need to persuade its readers but to assume authority and power to God as the Creator.

God the Father: the first person of the Godhead. God alone is unoriginated, or unbegotten, without beginning.  The biblical information on the origin of God is limited.  Scripture revealed to man that there was a beginning who is God (Genesis. 1:1) and in the beginning was the Word (John 1:1). Preceding Genesis, God left His traces of majesty and authorship on creation – things that were made and things that were not made. He enabled man to know His power through creation, the truthfulness and fullness of his Word, the nature of his provision, care and fellowship with man, and His just conscience of love towards man and hatred towards sin. Scripture articulates how God invisibly revealed himself to man defining His visible traces and personhood. "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse" (Romans 1:18).  He is sovereign and all-powerful.  Man is surpassed by the knowledge, power of God. Even though we see his signature on creation and comprehend the fulfilled prophecy of His word, God and His power can never be contained, limited exhausted or fully understood. His identity remains a mystery, as He proclaimed to Moses in Exodus. 3:14, "I AM WHO I AM."  His name is Yahweh, which means God Who Saves. He came to save man because He enjoys man.  Because of this joy, it is necessary for God to reveal himself to man, so that man can know him personally. In knowing God personally through worship and obedience, we experience His joy and pleasure. In the book, "Desiring God," Piper commented on the happiness found in God, stating: "But children cannot enjoy the fellowship of their father if he is unhappy.  Therefore the foundation…is the happiness of God," (Piper, pg. 35).

God the Son: Jesus Christ, he is the Word in John 1:1 that was made flesh.  God brought Jesus into the world for man to know God personally. Jesus is the fulfilled prophecy of the Old Testament and is inseparable from the Father and the Spirit (Col.2:9).  We are also told that Christ (as it is implied) was present during Creation. "The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old," (Prov. 8:22). "Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; and I was daily His delight," (v. 30).  How striking it is to envision Christ looking over God's shoulder as he created man.  Buddy Owens in his book, "The Way of a Worshiper," said, if God was asked what He was making as he formed man, He would say that he is making a temple. "Your body is God's house," (Owens, pg. 76).  Therefore, Christ was in the beginning with God as He made man and surely we will be with Him in the end.  Just as God formed the outer parts of man, His desire is to use Christ to shape the inner image of man.  Therefore, because of God's creation and Christ's image we glorify God with his temple – our bodies!

We have the permission and access to the throne because man is made right with God through Christ (Hebrews 4:16).  A dichotomy is placed between Testaments.  In the Old Testament, God tells man Who He is and there is no other (Isaiah 46:9).  In the New Testament, Jesus points His identity as from the Father (John 5:19-23). The people tell of Jesus proclaimed where he came from and identified himself as the fulfillment of prophecy. The world responded to the Messiah, calling him the Christ. The disciples were asked by Jesus, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" (Matthew 16:13).  Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (v.16). Jesus was long awaited for by the people to deliver them from sin and oppression.

God - the first and foremost statement and question to life.  If the statement is unfounded then His sovereignty and existence is denied.  The question is do we see God as God – the creator, mediator and center of life, or is God recognized as a single, omnipotent and omniscient entity?  The truth is that God is the triune, omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent being. How a person recognizes God determines that individual's perception of God's authority, theology and worthiness of worship. Throughout humanity, God has not been the first and foremost priority to man.  In a reflection of Christianity, worshipping God has not been a prioritized value. Reasons for man to acknowledge God's sovereignty and attributes have been reduced and stifled through worldly filters and preoccupations. God's significance and meaning in our lives reflect themselves in our recognition and response towards Him. In acknowledging God's supremacy is to ascribe the significance of the Trinity. When we worship God, do we respond to Him only as the Creator, only as the Savior or only as the Counselor? One important comprehension man can attain, is the very thought of who God is - we think of the Name itself, God.  How is one to define, express and worship the full Triune identity of God? What are some ways we can effectively communicate God's overall dominion in worship?