The Trinity is the technical word given to the fact that Christians worship One God who has revealed Himself in Three Persons: Father, Son and Spirit. It’s very difficult for us to understand that God is One and yet is also seen in three distinct persons; perhaps the closest mathematical way of describing this is not to think of each person in terms of addition (1+1+1=3) but to understand that 1x1x1=1. The Bible describes God in this way in both the Old and New Testaments, and our image and understanding of God is vital to our beliefs and actions. If we understand God as being faithful, we can respond to life’s challenges with hope and confidence; if we understand God as gracious, we too will become gracious in how we act towards others. Where our image of God diverges from the Biblical account, we start to go down wrong paths, living according to our own ideas and goals.
The Christmas story reveals God in three persons to us. The angel who appeared to Mary (Luke 1:26-38) talks of God the Father, the Son (Jesus) who would be born to Mary and the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon her to make this possible. Other accounts (such as the baptism of Jesus and the transfiguration of Jesus) also point to the three persons of the Godhead being seen. The Father is shown to be the Creator, the source of life, but we also see the Spirit of God ‘hovering’ over the waters in the Genesis account of creation and are told (John 1:1-5) that Jesus is the Word through whom everything was made. This is not simply seen in the New Testament, but the Old Testament also points to the Father-heart of God (see Ps 2:7, Is 9:6) and we see God’s Spirit on different people there as well, empowering people to build the Tabernacle, for example, as well as coming on people with the gift of prophecy. The Holy Spirit is our counsellor and advocate; the Son is our Saviour who shared in our humanity so we can be redeemed.
The Great Commission given to the disciples (Matt 28:18-20) reminds us once again of the role of the Trinity in our evangelism: we are to go and make disciples of all nations, teaching and baptising people in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit. We need to hold firmly to a Biblical understanding of the Trinity if we are to fulfil this commission and live as God wants us to.