How does the doctrine of the Trinity establish for us a “definition” of the very essence of God’s eternal nature? What would that definition of God’s essence be? What is How is Trinitarian thought the result of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection? How we are to understand the relationship that exists between the One Essence and 3 Persons of the Trinity? How they are One and how they are Three?
In the doctrine of the Trinity, we are taking about a Holy Mystery – One Essence Three Persons. God’s singular essence is eternal, transcendent, infinite, undefined, and unbound. God’s essence is expressed in Three Persons. Each of the Three Persons are distinct but being homoousios – of the same substance – in nature, they are not different.
The Oneness of God means that He is complete in Himself. The Trinity is not limited or defined by anything outside of the shared Oneness of God. God is uncreated, self-referential, and self-relational. The Three Persons of the Trinity share in the same reality of Oneness. Therefore, the Trinity is defined as being One in essence expressed in Three Persons. However, this oneness does not exist merely in thought for scholarly discussion – it exists in the very Person of Jesus.
The one essence and Three Persons of the Trinity are revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Throughout His life, Jesus performed many miracles demonstrating His transcendent nature. He heals the sick, gives sight to the blind, makes the lame walk, calms a storm, and even casts demons into pigs. However, these miracles are more than simply demonstrating the transcendent nature of Jesus. By acting in obedience to the Father and through the Spirit, these miracles show Jesus’ direct connection to the Trinity. As Kinlaw points out, “God, then is one, but he is not alone. There is an otherness in the oneness, and that otherness can be described as the Word.[1]” Therefore, the full participation of the Trinity in miracles shows the singular, mutually shared essence of the Trinity.
The obedient life of Jesus reveals the Trinity. We see His Trinitarian nature through the claims of oneness with God, the testimony of others, and the ability to forgive sin. Jesus directly claims to be one with the Father. When asked, “If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly,” Jesus responds, claiming unity with the Father, by saying, “I and the Father are one.[2]” At the baptism of Jesus, others give testimony to and experience the Trinity. Luke tells us that “heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’[3]” While interacting with a woman who washed His feet, Jesus claims to forgive sins, which is only possible if He is of the same essence as God. The obedience of Jesus to the Trinitarian nature extends beyond just His life into His death and resurrection.
Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we again see all three connections to the Trinity. Luke records Jesus’ claim of being God when He tells the criminal “Today you will be with me in paradise.[4]” Mark and Matthew record the testimony of others when those who were guarding Him said “Surely He was the Son of God.[5]” Luke documents Jesus forgiving sin when He says, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.[6]” The record of the resurrection affirms these claims as well. Luke records all three when Jesus appears to His disciples. In his account, Jesus says that He is the Messiah and is going to send what His Father promised. Jesus tells the disciples that they will be witnesses to these things, and He says that “repentance of sins will be preached in his name.[7]”
While Jesus was still with the disciples, He makes them aware of the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. John records Jesus saying, “the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.[8]” In these words, we see a full picture of the Trinity. Here we see the Father sending the Holy Spirit to teach and remind the disciples of Jesus. The disciples participate in this reality by being open to the presence of the Holy Spirit. After the resurrection, the fullness of the Trinity is revealed to humanity allowing humanity to participate in the singular divine reality of the Trinity and experience the fullness of God. The Holy Spirit makes humanity aware of God’s presence, restores humanity to a relationship with God, and recreates humanity into the Imago Dei. Simply, the Holy Spirit is the divine presence in humanity, expressing the essence of God’s Oneness.
Trinitarian thought is the result of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The early believers recognized the one essence of God and the distinct presence of the Three Persons. They realize this distinction of the Three Persons, however, exists without a difference. From this realization, Trinitarian thought emerges. The Three Persons being coequals, coeternal, and interdependent leads to the understanding that all Three Persons of the Trinity are a singular divine reality. Being of the same substance and essence, all are part of the oneness of God. No Person of the Trinity is detached from the others, meaning for one to be all three must be and all Three Persons must mutually share in the life of the others.
[1] Kinlaw, Dennis F. Let’s Start With Jesus Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan by The Francis Asbury Society, 2005 p. 31
[2] Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV Biblica, Inc. 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 https://biblehub.com John 10:30
[3] Holy Bible Luke 3:22
[4] Holy Bible Luke 23:43
[5] Holy Bible Matthew 27:54
[6] Holy Bible Luke 23:34
[7] Holy Bible Luke 24:47
[8] Holy Bible John 14:26
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