Remnant Dedicational Worship for Spring 2024

The Triune God (Genesis 1:1)

Rev. Myung-Sin Choi

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Introduction

I thank God for blessing us with this worship today for the remnants. What I want to share with you is regarding the Triune God. Until now, I have shared with you the concept of the Triune God but only in parts so I want to share with you solely about the Triune God. This is the message that I relayed to the pastors of the Southern Presbytery. They told me that they received a lot of grace from this message. You need to be able to share accurately who the Triune God is. I have shared with you a few Bible verse with you. Refer to the Biblical passages while you listen to the message. 

1. God Who is One

Genesis 1:1 -  We talk about the Triune God who is one. How is the Triune God one? We just read Genesis 1:1 and God created the heavens and earth in the beginning. The God in this scripture is “Elohim” which is plural. This means that the Triune God created the heavens and the earth. 

Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' ” - It was made in God’s image and we were created as spiritual beings. We are God’s image and in God’s likeness. Many theologians may say that the way that Jesus’ body was built was how Adam and Eve were made. They also say that the shape and form of Jesus was this form before the fall of mankind. “Us” is also plural. This means that Triune God made man. 

Genesis 3:22 “Then the Lord God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.' ” - Which of the Triune God are we like? Some people say that we are made in the image of the God the Son. 

Genesis 11:7 “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” - When God’s judgment came upon man through the Tower of Babel, it was the Triune God who made this judgment. This means that when God descends upon this earth or during God’s judgment, it is all part of the Triune God’s judgment and they all work at the same time. We understand that God is One so we need to look at God the Father first.  

2. God the Father

The accurate description of the God the Father is seen in Exodus 3:14 “And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.' And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” - In this verse, God is in singular: "El" or "Al." This is specifically speaking about the God the Father. He is I AM WHO I AM. 

3. God the Son

John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” - This is an accurate description of God the Son. This Word was with God. This means that there is something else and another being other than God the Father. The Word was with God from the beginning. All things were made through the Word. The fact that God the Son was with God from the beginning, this means that God the Son was with God the Father during the time of creation. 

John 1:18 “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” - This message is an important verse. God the Word was with God the Father. Where was God the Son? He was inside the bosom of the Father. He was inseparable from God the Father because He was within the bosom of the Father. 

John 8:42 “Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.’ ” - The God the Son from the bosom of the Father, this means that like a child within the mother’s womb. The God of the Son came out of the bosom of the Father to come down to Earth in human flesh. He didn’t come down by Himself but God the Father sent Him. They exist in one body but in order to save mankind, God the Father sent God the Son, and left from the bosom of the Father to come down to earth. The One who is in the bosom of the Father is also God. I thought this was so mysterious and I realized that this was how God made us. We know that God made one man, Adam. God made only one man but through that man, God made Eve. Adam and Eve are one body, they are one. Through Adam and Eve, they made children. Just like how Eve was made from Adam’s rib, their children came from Eve’s womb. This is my personal thought that God the Son was within the bosom of the Father, this is the same way for us humans when we come from our mother’s womb. Just as Jesus was human, Eve was human as well. All children from Adam and Eve were children and human beings. The One that came from God, Jesus Christ, is God. 

Psalms 2:7 “I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.' ” - These are not ordinary words, this shows that God the Son came from the God the Father. We must hold onto this. They don’t have three heads but they came from One being and they came out from One God. 

Philippians 2:6-8 “Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” - Do you understand this? He came from God’s bosom to save mankind. 

4. God the Spirit

Acts 2:17-18 “” - This was Peter quoting Joel 2:28 “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.”. Where did the Spirit God come from? God the Spirit came from the God the Father. This was what God chose to pour upon man. 

Matthew 3:16-17 “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' ” - Jesus Christ came to Earth and was baptized with the Holy Spirit. This shows the accurate description of God the Spirit. John the Baptist testified of this. 

John 1:33-34 “I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.” - God told John the Baptist when the Messiah comes, He will be baptized with the Holy Spirit that God sends. This was when John the Baptist was able to confirm that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God. We can see what Jesus did on earth. 

Acts 10:38 “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” - God the Father poured upon the God the Spirit, the Holy Spirit upon God the Son so that God’s power can continue to be manifested. Jesus was able to do all things because the power of God came upon Him. Jesus is showing how we need to do our ministry. Jesus also received the power of the Holy Spirit to do His ministry. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit to do the ministry. All things must be done with the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus died on the cross and resurrected in three days, and was given power. 

Acts 2:33 “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.” - After Jesus resurrected, all power and authority of heaven and earth came upon Him. This shows us how we need to receive the Holy Spirit. We receive the power of the Holy Spirit when we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. God exalts His Son and all power and authority was placed upon Him. 

Who is God the Spirit? The accurate description is seen in John 14:16-17 “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” - This was what Jesus Christ said Himself. Jesus said that He will acquire of God and God will give us another helper. Instead of Jesus Christ, there is another helper. That helper was obtained when Jesus acquired of God the Father. The God the Spirit was given to us when we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. This Spirit was baptized unto Jesus Christ. Without Jesus Christ, we cannot receive the power of the Holy Spirit. Only those who accept Jesus as their master can receive this Spirit. It doesn’t matter how much power or wealth you have. Only when you pray in the name of Jesus Christ then you can receive the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is given through the name of Jesus Christ. This Holy Spirit is within us by the name of the Father. That is why we call the Holy Spirit the Spirit of the Father, our Counselor. We didn’t have the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. We now have the Spirit of Christ who had victory on the cross over power and death. 

In March 1648, the Westminster Catechism was published and they wrote the confession of faith regarding the definition of the Triune God.  This is the message that we share as Christians as Reformed general assemblies. It is written, “In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost, eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son." “There be” means there is no beginning or the end. When it speaks about one substance, one power, and eternity, this means that they all share one. We have three persons - The God the Father, the God of the Son, and the God the Holy Spirit. “The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding…” means that the God the father doesn’t belong to anyone. He is neither born or neither comes out of someone else. That is an accurate description of the God of the Father. He is the only stand-alone being. “…the Son is eternally begotten of the Father…” - This means that the God the Son came from the bosom of the Father, He was born out of the Father in eternity. The God the Spirit came from the God the Father and the God the Son from eternity. Let us hold onto this. With what I shared and all of the Bible verses and what I just shared with you, always hold onto them. Don’t misinterpret this and there are some people who misinterpret this completely. There are some people who said that the God the Father is the sun and nature. Or there were some people that one man can be all three things, he can be a father, a CEO of a company, and a deacon of a church. They can hold all of these positions as one person. These are all wrong and words of heretics. Let us hold onto the truth regarding the Triune God. The God the Father, the God the Son, and the God the Spirit, we must understand this accurately and how they are One. We must not be shaken or lead into misunderstanding. We must be able to accurately share and teach who the Triune God is.