Trinity Sunday, Romans 5:1-5 & John 16:12-15. June 15th 2025.
Trinity Sunday. When I was on sabbatical, I spent a week in Cairo and had the opportunity to spend time with many Christians. On the Sunday I visited the service of the Archdeacon in a poorer area of the city. It was in Arabic. The Anglican archdeacon Emad welcomed me and occasionally would slip into English to say the main theme of what he was preaching on. He was preaching on the Trinity.
To be honest, when we come to this theme, I never saw the need to focus on the Trinity but rather chose many times just to focus on one person within the unity.
Yet I realised I was wrong. This was more than an intellectual exercise. For Coptic Christians in Egypt, Muslims would say we worship 3 gods etc etc, what this archdeacon was doing was equipping his small church for mission, to be able to talk with neighbours to respond to them when they were challenged or even accused.
Trinity. As Romans reminds us – the entire Trinity is involved in salvation – being saved and that salvation being worked out – peace with God – through the cross of Jesus the Son – and by the Spirit, God’s love is poured into the depths of who we are. While in John 16, the Spirit speaks what he hears from Jesus, he takes from what is Jesus and Jesus says all that belongs to the Father is mine…
We encounter these Trinitarian references in many places of the NT…
And if you have friends, work colleagues from other religions, then this is a topic over which it is important to have a good understanding. What we see is, that this is not, as eg Dan Brown’s book Da Vinci code claimed, that Trinity was an idea the church came up only at Nicea 300 years after Jesus… no, while the term TRINITY is not found in Scripture – the truths about God being Trinitarian can be found in many places.
So in the coming minutes, we will look at a few – there is a danger of too much – but I hope this will give you a feel. The coming minutes will be mostly scripture with a few comments – and a lot of slides…
There is only one God.
When we begin we look to Deuteronomy – 6:4
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 . These words help form the start of the Shema is – Shema is repeated twice each day by a Jew.
There is a story from 1945. Rabbi Eliezer Silver was involved in the search for thousands of displaced Jewish children across Europe. They had been hidden form the Nazis on farms, or in convents or in monasteries, and now Rabbi Silver sought to return them to their families.
The rabbi had heard of a monastery in southern France which had taken in Jewish Children. Yet the priest in charge could not help – he believed all the children were Christians. And Rabbi Silver had no records.
He examined the names of the children – but their family names however could be Jewish or Gentile.
He asked if he could visit the wards where the children were. He entered and he began to sing the Shema. A number of faces lit up, and some tiny voices joined in with his words… these children remembered these Hebrew words from bedtime prayers and hearing their parents recite this in the morning or evening…
Jesus used these same words when he was asked what is the greatest commandment. Mark 12: ‘’Hear O Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: love your neighbour as yourself – there is no other commandment greater than these.’’
Jesus – who knows the intimately the God head, affirms that the Lord our God is one…
In the OT there are indications of plurality in the Godhead. SLIDE
The Angel of the Lord – Genesis 16:11-13 – identified with God.
11 The angel of the LORD also said to her: “… you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. …
13 She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me, ” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Genesis 16:11-13
As Judges 13 draws out, to have seen the Angel of the Lord is to have seen God, yet the angel is distinct…
The Spirit of God – Genesis 1:2 – the Spirit was hovering over the waters – suggesting the agent of creation and yet in other places, God is the Creator…
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.’’ Genesis 1:1-3
NT Trinitarian references.
Matthew 28:18-19
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Matthew 28:18-19
Baptizing in the name of the Father Son and of the Holy Spirit – what we will see and do next Sunday. In the name of the Father, Son and of the Holy Spirit – we begin most of our services with this statement. Here – the unity of the three person is reflection in that singular name – in the name of … Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We sang ‘’praise Father Son and Holy Ghost.’’
This Trinitarian vision is reflected eg 2 Cor 13 – 14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14
The unity of these three persons.
We see how the Son is fully united with the Son – 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one John 10:29-30
Or John 14:
Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority.
Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; John 14:9-11
The Spirit identified with God.
1 Cor 3:16 16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 1 Corinthians 3:16
The temple is the place where God dwells. Yet we are God’s temple because God’s Spirit dwells within us… so who is the Spirit being identified with…
However. The three persons are distinct from one another.
Jesus addresses the father directly – 25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. Matthew 11:25-26
Another example could be Jesus prayer in john 17.
The Father speaks to the Son from heaven.
At his baptism – 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17
The Spirit speaks to the Father on behalf of the believers – Romans 8:26-27 – 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. Romans 8:26-27
Other example of differences between the persons…
John 16:7 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you John 16:7
John 14 – 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth John 14:16-17
One replaces, one is sent, separate persons…
What about the relationship between the Father and the Son?
Jesus is God’s unique son. John 1:14 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 The GK for one and only or only begotten – the GK means ‘’the only one of its kind, unique.’’
The Relationship between the Father and the Son is unique. 27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Matthew 11:27
No one knows Jesus says…
The Father Loves the Son. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. John 3:35
The Father shares his divine life with the Son – 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, Colossians 2:9
The Father delegates his authority to the Son – 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. John 5:27
Rev 2:26-27 26 To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations — 27 that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’ —just as I have received authority from my Father Revelation 2:26-27.
The Father and Son indwell each other.
10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority.
Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; John 14:10-11
And John 14:20 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you John 14:20 And I am in you…
In those words in John 14:20 point to the presence of the Spirit within each and every Christian.
So what is the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the other two persons.
The Spirit is the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of Christ.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you… Romans 8:9-10
The Spirit of his Son – 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” Galatians 4:6
The Spirit’s unique relationship with God – Matthew 10:19-20 – 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say,
20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Matthew 10:19-20.
A promise of how the Spirit of the Father will help us witness.
The Spirit’s unique relationship with the Son
John 1:33 – 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. (John 1:33)
Jesus is the Spirit baptizer…
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. John 14:16-17 – the Son is involved in sending the Spirit …
Conclusions
The scriptures point us to – one God, yet three persons; and both the Son and the Spirit are affirmed as being divine…
We have only briefly explored what the bible is saying about the relationship between the three persons; there are many references exploring the equality of these three persons and the mission of the persons.
Our exploration reminds us also that as we celebrate the gift of God’s Spirit, this is more than power, the Holy Spirit is God’s very presence within us – God’s Empowering Presence could be another name for the Holy Spirit.
And as we will sing later, King of Kings, our Trinitarian faith is about the Plan of the Father, the Work of the Son, and the Presence of the Spirit….
Shall we pray:
Praise the Father
Praise the Son
Praise the Spirit three in one
God of Glory
Majesty
Praise forever to the King of kings
Amen.