Would you explain the trinity?

This is a subject that has been debated by the greatest minds in Christendom for about 2,000 years. When mortal man tries to describe God, all he can do is make his best attempt. The Lord tells us, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9). If you and I could reach the stars, then maybe we could explain God. But we can’t.

The Bible does, however, tell us enough so that we don’t have to doubt. God is one unit of three persons. “God” is a family word; He consists of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In John 3:16 we see that God the Father sent God the Son in the form of a human that we might be forgiven. At Jesus’ baptism, you see these individuals again. The Father speaks from heaven saying, “This is my beloved son.” The Spirit comes down in the form of a dove upon the Son. You’ve got the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit right there.

Some people are confused because Moses says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:4). The Bible also says that “God said, Let us make man in our image” (Genesis 2:26). We need to understand the Hebrew context of oneness. Moses wrote, “A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24 NKJV). Speaking of the apostles, Jesus prayed “that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us” (John 17:21). The word “one” in the Bible doesn’t just mean one person; it can also mean one in unity, or in purpose.

Galatians 4:4–6 states: “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son … To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”

Here you have God the Father sending the Son and sending the Spirit that we might reflect God the Son. There are many different titles used in the Bible for God, but there is only one God who is united in His purpose of saving you and me. That’s the trinity.