June 16, 2019 - Romans 5:1-5 - “Much More Than a Symbol”

The apostle Paul calls the message he preached “foolish” (1 Corinthians 1 & 2). What he means is that human reason is offended and baffled by what he and the rest of Jesus’ ambassadors proclaimed. That is certainly the case with the most fundamental teaching of Scripture—the doctrine of God. The Bible teaches that the one true God exists as the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Each of these three Persons has a different consciousness. Each has a different personality. Each is distinct from the other. It is not as though one Person were acting in three different ways or fulfilling three different roles, however. There are three Persons. Each is fully God, doing divine things and having divine attributes. At the same time the Bible also says there is only one God. Not three gods, but one God. Logically the doctrine of the Trinity is beyond our ability to understand. The only way we could ever believe such a thing is by the working of the Holy Spirit through God’s Word. On this Festival of the Holy Trinity we recognize that we have a triune (three-in-one) God who is so great and so far above us, we cannot fully comprehend him. Yet we also rejoice that this “holy, holy, holy” Lord God is merciful and gracious, blessing us with hope and peace that will endure forever.