You probably have heard somewhere about the term “Trinity” in Christian circles, around your Christian colleague or in Church and you’re wondering…. What does it mean? Perhaps you even did a bible search also. So, what does the Trinity mean?

What is the Trinity? (1 John 5:7)

“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” 1 John 5:7 KJV.

The Trinity is the union of three divine persons; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit as one in one unified Godhead. The first manifestation of the Trinity is seen in the first verses of the bible at creation.

Genesis 1:1-3

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.”

This passage reveals that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were all present and active at the dawn of creation, working together in perfect harmony to bring the universe into existence. The Father initiated the creation, the Spirit prepared the canvas, and the Son (the Word) brought light and life into being.

The presence of the Word at creation is proven again in John 1:1-3. At the creation of man, Trinity was revealed again in Genesis 1:26 –

“And God said, Let US make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepethupon the earth.”

Also, at the baptism of Jesus by the river Jordan in Matt 3:16 and the Baptism of believers in the same Matt 28.19, the Trinity is also revealed.

In everything Jesus did on earth, the seal of the Godhead is seen. Many verses of scriptures testify to this.

Jesus said in John 14:9 –

“Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”

Hebrews 1:3 says the Son…is the brightness of God’s glory, and the express image of his person…

In John 5:19, Jesus said, whatever he does is what he sees the father doing.

When Jesus was leaving, he said in John 16:7 that he had to leave for the comforter who is God the Holy Spirit to come. These and many more scriptures explains the connection between the three persons of the Godhead.  

The revelation of the Trinity is explicitly seen in the orchestration of the salvation of mankind. The divine life that exist in the father was expressed to mankind by sending the Son to die on the Cross (John 3:16-18, 1:14-16) and the fullness of this reality is expressed through the fellowship of man with the Holy Ghost. (John 7:38-39)

God has to be a trinity in order for all of His attributes to be manifested, demonstrated and glorified. One of God’s attributes is Love. And if there was no Trinity, then God could not be love. Love requires someone to do the loving, someone to be loved, and a relationship between them. If God was a single person, then before the world was made, He was not love.

Repeatedly in Scripture we can see that God is ONE. The doctrine of the Trinity teaches us also that God exists eternally as three distinct Persons (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit) and yet they are all one in essence. Each Person is fully God, but they are ONE in being.

1 John 5:7

For there are three that bear witness in heaven: The Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are ONE.

Deut 6:4  

Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is ONE!

Mark 12:32  

The teacher of religious law replied,   Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only ONE God and no other.

While exactly how the Trinity is possible is beyond the scope of our imagination, we can trust God to reveal to us exactly what we need to know. It is vital for us to understand as much as we can.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. (2 Cor 13:14)