Today on real life radio. The Trinity is seen in Scripture by giving us what is called the essence of God or the nature. Maybe you've already jotted that down, but the nature or essence of God. And you say, well, Jack, the word Trinity doesn't appear in the Bible. That's exactly right.
The word Trinity does not appear in the Bible, but neither does the word Bible. This is real life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I'm David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's Word, the Bible. Hey, everybody, we're very excited about this special offer.
It's called Bold Stand. It's a back to school faith guide for your young one. It's going to help them take a stand for Christ, even in the public school culture. It's very, very well done. It's a pamphlet.
They can put it in their backpack or put it within the pages of any book. It's very colorful. It's in cartoon style. And I think your kids are going to love it.
So please get a copy for yourself. Bold Stand Back to School Faith Guide. Get this and more at jackhibbs.com. Yeah. On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues in his series now called The Life and Times of Jesus Christ and a message titled Christ and the Trinity.
Now this is a series about who Jesus really is, not the Jesus of popular opinion, but the Jesus of the Bible. God Himself, who stepped into our world. And that means understanding one of the most important truths in all of Scripture: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You see, the Trinity is a truth that goes beyond human reason. But it never contradicts itself.
It's a mystery once hidden and now revealed, and it sets Christianity apart from every other belief system.
So today, Pastor Jack teaches us that God is one in essence, yet three distinct persons. It sounds impossible, but once we see it in Scripture, well, it changes what we know about the God we love and who loves us. Before we get into the message, I had a chance to sit down with Pastor Jack and talk about it with him.
So let's get into that. Moving through our Life and Times of Jesus Christ series and Pastor Jack in the studio with me. Thanks for taking the time to hang with me, by the way. Thank you, David. Appreciate that.
Now, in this Christ and the Trinity message, So you make this point, Pastor Jack, that the word Trinity It's not even in the Bible. And neither is the word Bible for that matter, or rapture for that matter.
So, how do you help somebody see the three in one God on every single page of the Bible, even when the word itself isn't there, right? Yeah, this is a great, great observation, Davey, because it just screams as to how. uh limited uh our American Western world way of thinking is God doesn't speak in English. God didn't write the Bible in English. Right.
God's not an American. But those words that you just mentioned, they're actually all found in other languages of the Bible, predominantly Hebrew, Greek. and Latin. Really? And so that said God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, the word Elohim.
A lot of people are aware of the name Elohim. That is a remarkable Hebrew word because it's the singular plurality. of God. Imagine. I am is plural.
The God of the Bible is a singular plurality. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. You know, I like what C. S. Lewis said.
He said, It's impossible for us to understand this, but when we do approach our thoughts on God, we must think of Him more as a mind Than anything else.
Now, listen, without Jesus coming into this world in human flesh. That's all we've got is to think of God as a mind, a mind. A consciousness until Christ came, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus. embodied the very godhood Nature of who God is.
It's absolutely stunning. Continuing now, the life and times of Jesus Christ with Christ and the Trinity. Let's jump in.
Well, you certainly picked the right day to come here. My prayer and my heart's desire is that this message would come across as clear as is spiritually possible. I've studied so much for this message, and every time I study too much, that usually turns out to be a disaster for you. I've got so much in my head, how it's going to come out I don't exactly know. But it's important and the reason why I'm stressing this this morning is because The doctrine of the Trinity is essential to Christian faith.
It is one of those few things. Out of what is considered the creed, our Christian essentials, that sets us apart from all other belief system in the world. And in Colossians chapter 2, verse 9, as you see, it says, For in Christ, all the fullness of the Godhead, or we could insert Trinity. dwells in bodily form. And we do no harm to the text.
By saying so in that fashion, Christ and the Trinity, it is literally the study of the fellowship of the eternal Godhead. The Bible makes it clear, and we'll see this morning. that there are many passages of Scripture. That tells us that there is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Yet this doctrine is vehemently resisted at your doorstep.
with various cults that might visit your house. Or maybe brand new Christians don't quite understand it. Maybe they haven't read about it. But once they read the scripture from cover to cover, they come to the understanding.
Now, let me say something here, and I don't want you to think that I'm. Trying to set up some kind of a blanket statement that if you don't get this morning's teaching, then something's wrong with you. I'm not saying that. But I will say this. concerning the doctrine of the Trinity, as so concerning the doctrine of the church.
How is it that the church, it says, is the body of Christ? Paul the Apostle says concerning that truth, it's a mystery.
Now, that word mystery doesn't mean that it's something that you can never know. The word in Greek means a mystery that from this point, previously has been unknowable. It has been hidden. It's a truth that has always existed but has never been revealed. And Paul makes that clear in the book of Ephesians chapter five.
Well, concerning this mystery of the Trinity. There are hints of it in the Old Testament. We'll see some this morning. But it is a mystery, as the scripture speaks. Paul says this in Corinthians: that the Trinity, even though that word's not found in the Bible, we'll come across that in a moment.
The doctrine of the Trinity is a mystery. Not something unknowable, something that has been concealed, but in these last days revealed. It's important that you understand that.
Now, all of you looked at me, which means none of you wrote down. What I just said.
So, I'm going to believe that you are going to put that into memory. When somebody knocks on your door, you're going to need to be able to tell them what I'm going to explain to you. In many ways, Seems illogical. But we'll see how actually in scripture And in real logic and reason it makes Absolute sense. And so For all of us this morning, the concept of God.
Can you jot that down? The concept of God. Everybody's got their concept of God, but we could really, and the Bible could really care less about what your or my concept of God is if it deviates from the truth. The concept of God. Is his very nature, is his essence.
We're going to talk about that. The thought, the idea. God's essence, we must consider, and in doing so, looking at Scripture, come to the conclusion that the Trinity is not only essential. But is in fact clearly taught in the Bible. And by the way, it is not exclusively New Testament doctrine.
By the way, man can no longer claim ignorance concerning God and his essence or his nature, essence and nature being the same definition. In Romans chapter 1, verse 20, the Bible says, For since the creation of the world, we studied that last week. His invisible attributes are clearly seen. Being understood by the things which are made, even his eternal power and. Godhead.
Plurality, Trinity.
so that they are without excuse. The fact of the matter is People who understand In their Bible, that the Trinity exists. can only do so by revelation of the Holy Spirit himself. Let me say that again. People who understand Regarding the doctrine of the Trinity, can only come to that conclusion.
based upon the revelation of the Holy Spirit. There are those who don't have the Holy Spirit. In other words, they're not a Christian. They're not in the body of Christ. And they can't even come close to figuring out that there's the Father, there's the Son, there's the Holy Spirit.
This is a critical issue. One, and people, I got to tell you, I am shocked. To have read so much this week on this topic, to find out, as each one of these authors spoke about the Trinity. How they all agreed that churches around the world, Christian churches, either A are ignorant concerning this fact, or B very, very lightly, if at all, study this doctrine whatsoever.
So you might this morning be saying, Jack, what are we going to get into this topic for? I already know it.
Well, then you're going to be refreshed about some things. But there are many Christians, according to statistics, who don't understand this doctrine. Which to me is pathetic because it is a Christian essential. The Trinity or the triunity of God. God makes it very clear in the Bible that He demands that He be known.
He begs. To be known. In Jeremiah chapter 29, verses 11 to 13, God says, Therefore, I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me. And go and pray to me.
And I will listen to you, and you will seek me, and you will find me when you have searched for me with all of your heart.
So God desires us to search after him in John chapter 5, verse 39. Jesus says, you search the scriptures, for in them you think that you have eternal life. But these are they which do testify of me. Jesus is claiming that the Bible is written about him.
So the question about who God is. is extremely important. And what God is is extremely important, but according to biblical doctrine, it is. beyond contradiction or beyond debate. In fact, the scripture says in Galatians 4:4, but when the fullness of time had come, That means At the right time.
God sent forth who? His Son, Jesus Christ. Remember that as we go through the study. And then, before we dive into this, 1 Timothy 3:16, one of my favorite passages in the Bible. 1 Timothy 3:16 says, Beyond all question or beyond all debate, the mystery of godliness is great.
He appeared in a body. Who did? God did. In a body. He was vindicated by the Spirit.
He was seen by angels. He was preached among the nations. And he was believed on in the world. And he was received back up into glory. What a great verse that is, 1 Timothy 3.16.
Great is the mystery of godliness. The Trinity. is one great mystery. of God. The Trinity goes beyond.
Listen, the Trinity goes beyond human reason. Because our God is that great, but it does not violate human reason. Can you remember that? That the doctrine of the Trinity goes beyond human reason, but it does not contradict. Reason.
There is, in fact, the study of the Trinity goes against what is called the law of contradiction. If you read the Bible from cover to cover, you will be confirmed about the fact that we serve a God. who is comprised of three Independent Persons. How can we clearly explain it? Wow, that's the burden that's on my head this morning.
We'll try to do our best this morning. The first thing that we see this morning concerning this is regarding the essence of the Trinity. The essence of the Trinity. The Trinity is seen in Scripture by giving us what is called the essence of God or the nature. Maybe you've already jotted that down, but the nature or essence of God.
And you say, well, Jack, the word Trinity doesn't appear in the Bible. That's exactly right. The word Trinity does not appear in the Bible, but neither does the word Bible. By the way, neither does the word rapture, at least in English, it appears in the Latin version of the Bible, rapture, but you won't find it in English, yet it's an actual doctrinal fact.
Well, the Bible doesn't mention the word Bible. But we know it's a fact. It's sitting in your lap right now. The doctrine of the Trinity, extremely important, yet the Trinity... is maintained in Scripture that God has been revealed to us in three distinct Persons.
Listen, yet in one essence, you're confusing me. Just listen carefully. God. Has revealed himself to mankind via three persons. Actual personalities.
Don't make the mistake in thinking that persons and personalities are only describing that of a human. I always love to say this. You know what I'm going to say, some of you who have been around here a while. God is is not A human. It was a big deal for Jesus to come to earth and become one.
We've got this thing in our mind that God is some huge human. He's 49 feet tall. No, he's not.
Well I mean I don't know how t tall he is, but He's not a big human. You're listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. To learn more about this ministry or to catch up on some previous episodes, go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. And now, let's get back to today's message.
Once again, here's Pastor Jack. The cults would have us believe that Jesus or God is a glorified human. He's not at all. He is a person. The Bible speaks of him in the personal pronoun and the singular in Greek and in Hebrew.
He is a person, and yet as the word in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, the word there for God is Elohim. Anytime you look at the Hebrew word or scriptures and you come to I am on the end, it is plurality. God is singular. Don't ask me to explain it. Nobody can.
God says of himself, he is one God, and he has a plurality about him. Do we believe in three gods as Judeo-Christian belief? I say Judeo-Christian because Judeo-Christian belief is so close and parallel regarding this issue. Do we believe in three gods? The Bible says no.
We are not polytheistic. To be a polytheist is to believe in many gods. Maybe you're a Mormon. You are a polytheist. And you're proud about that.
You believe in many gods. Maybe you're Hindu. Maybe you're a Buddhist. And you believe in many gods.
Well, the Bible says: no, there are not many gods, there's but one God. In Galatians chapter 1, verse 26. Galatians 1, or sorry, Genesis 1.26 says, Then God said, let us. Plural. Make man in our Now we were not made in the image of angels.
You might say, well, maybe he was talking to an angel that was standing nearby. Oh, no, no. He's talking about God. Bringing forth mankind in his own image. That is, we are.
free moral agencies. We pick and choose. You picked and choose what you wore this morning. As you can tell, I did, and nobody dressed me. When my house is asleep, I grab what's hanging or what looks most ironed.
That's the way I figure. If God wants me to wear it, it looks like it's been ironed. And so I put it on.
Well, listen, we are free moral agents. God has given that ability to us. We have a little bit of sovereignty, if I can put it that way. Today, you're going to choose what you're going to have for breakfast after service. It's not pre-programmed or pre-packaged.
It may be pre-packaged, but not in the mind of God. He knows all things, but you are going to go pick. You're going to pick up a menu, maybe, and you're going to look and you're going to pick. You have that ability. But the very important thing is that we realize as we look to the study this morning that the essence of the Trinity.
When we say essence, we also mean nature. And we see here that That there's a monotheism of the Trinity. What is that?
Well, you know what mono means, don't you? It means singular. Theism is God or the study of God, the study of the singular God. We believe in one God. The Bible tells us in Deuteronomy 6:4.
The Shema, if you know this in Hebrew in Israel, they'll Shout the Shema. And it is this, Deuteronomy 6.4. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Yet, in that very declaration, and the Hebrew scholars are caught up in a conundrum over this, they can't understand it, and that is, Hero Israel. God, singular yet in a plurality, is one.
Deuteronomy 6.4, what a great scripture that is. God is one. Yet there's already in that portion of scripture, as it was in Genesis, the hint of the plurality. But yet there's one God. In 1 Corinthians 8, verse 6, If I go fast, that's because I'm excited and I also want you out of here on time today.
I terribly violated your Time yesterday, and I was beating myself up all week about that. And I gotta tell you something. I came to this conclusion. I don't think it was God because it was too carnal. It was my thought.
I thought, no, wait a minute. We stayed 20 minutes over service last time in all three services. And some of you said, whoa, following in the footsteps of Hal Lindsay, are you? Because how far he went over, 70 minutes that guy talked. I timed him, loved every minute of it.
I don't know about you, but I have nothing better going on that day. And you know, when I go over. I'm sorry about that, but the thing is, what else do we have to do? We're looking at the Word of God. We spend maybe all week, at least me, I watched 40 hours of news probably in a week.
For crying out loud, if we go over ten minutes in the study of God You know, what harm, foul, is there?
So with that being said, I feel better today. Thank you for indulging me for a moment. The Trinity of God, the doctrine, the essence of it, the Trinity, we see that there's the monotheism. And so in 1 Corinthians 8, verse 6, Paul says, For us there is but one God. Elohim.
Singular plurality. Go and explain it. That's the hard thing to do. That's what I'm trying to do this morning. It's in scripture, but how do you put it into human words?
The second thing we see is that there's a plurality of the Trinity. There's the plurality. By plurality, we mean how God relates to himself. Say, what? That's not what the word means to me.
Yeah, I know, but this is what it means in biblical theology: plurality is how God relates to Himself. Did you get that? God's not psychotic. He doesn't talk to himself. He does not have multiple personalities.
Gee, what color do we want to make the world? Gee, I don't know. What color do you think we should make it? Gee, I don't know. And he doesn't sit and have a conversation with himself.
The Son speaks to the Father, the Father speaks to the Son, the Spirit speaks to the Son, the Spirit speaks to the Father. On an ongoing, true definition of the original word, dialogue. God dialogues among himself. Singular In the Trinity. Horror.
Amazing!
Well Jack, I don't like this because I can't figure it out. I can't see it. I know that's one of those things, but we're going to do our best to help you to kind of get a touch of it this morning. And maybe for some of you. That are steeped in a cult.
Maybe this will liberate your thinking. This morning, in a wonderful way. Listen, an example: Hebrews chapter 9, verse 14. concerning the plurality of the Trinity. Hebrews 9.14, listen carefully.
He says there How much more shall the blood of Christ encircle Christ? Who through the eternal spirit, I circle eternal spirits. Offer himself without spot to God. Yes, that speaks of the Father, but the word again is of God in totality. Did you get that?
Right there in Hebrews 9:14 is Christ. Which we'll show you this morning is God. The Spirit, which we'll show you this morning. In the scriptures, is God. And There he speaks of God in totality.
Hebrews 9, 14. Norman Geisler gives this illustration, and I quote Norman Geisler this morning in case you don't get it, you can blame it on him. And here it is. Yeah. Are you ready?
Quote, it has been said that God Is one What? With what in quotes. That God is one what? Essence What would be essence or nature? And three who's.
which are his person. Oh man, did you get that? It has been said that God is one what Quote close quotes. And three. Whose?
Quotes there. Which are the persons? The who? The person's, the what, is his nature or essence. Uh Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on Real Life Radio and his message called Christ and the Trinity.
Thanks so much for being with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called The Life and Times of Jesus Christ. It's a series about the real Jesus of the Bible, God in the flesh, and why knowing him more deeply changes everything. And we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. America's founding wasn't just political, it was biblical.
In the American story, The Beginnings, Tim and David Barton uncover the scripture-anchored principles that shaped this nation from day one. It's the history they don't teach anymore and the history every American needs. Give a gift to real life and receive the book, plus a free kids' guide for America's 250th birthday. And check out our Faith in Freedom collection, bold apparel to wear in celebration of America. Visit jackkibbs.com or call 877-7777-2346.
Hey, thank you again so much for listening. And if you'd like to hear or see more of what we do here, you can always go to jackhibbs.com for all the latest on what's going on with this ministry. And please, if you're ever in the Southern California area, come see us at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. We'd love to see you there in person. It has been so good to be with you today, and I pray you find yourself in the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.
See you on the next episode. This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word.
We'll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.
