IN THE IMAGE OF GOD

Many authors have written books on the subject of the Trinity. Lay people as well as those with alphabet soup after their name have attempted to write and explain the Trinity. It is a subject that is as deep as you want to make it. Dr. Kennedy was a lot smarter than probably 20 of us combined and he gave up researching it because I have heard people say that it drove him crazy. Therefore, I guess I’ll throw my two-bits into the pot.

This will not be an all-inclusive teaching so get a cup of coffee and settle back. I only want to write enough to help us understand God a little better, to help our prayer life, and maybe to spark an excitement about digging further and deeper into God and His Word. Just remember that God does not reveal all things to His children. How can a finite man figure out and explain all aspects of an infinite God.

The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law [Deuteronomy 29:29 KJV].

Nonetheless, the first two discernible things we know about God is that one, He is an incorporeal being [1], and two, He is a creator being [2]. He created the heavens and the Earth [3], all the animals [4], and for His piece de resistance, He created man and woman [5]. Since God created man in His own image, man is a tripartite being as well. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit [6] while man is spirit, body, and soul [7]. Let me illustrate.

Right away in Genesis 1:26, 27, the Bible declares the trinity of God.

v26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. . .
v27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

In verse 26, the words “Let us. . .Our image. . .Our likeness” declare the three person trinity. In verse 27 the Bible also declares the oneness of God with the words “His Own. . .He him. . .and He them.” How do we know that verse 26 speaks to a three person trinity? We know because many Scriptures in the Bible state that God is three separate entities of the one God [8]. Pertaining to v27, Deuteronomy 6:4 says that God is one. What are the roles of each of the three persons?

It is the role of God the Father to create a plan. For example, God the Father designed how He would redeem man [9]. The Son (Jesus Christ), implemented the Father’s plan by doing His Father’s will and willingly went to the Cross [10]. The Holy Spirit administers the plan by teaching us ‘all things’ and seeing to it that all mankind feels the call to salvation and hears of the saving knowledge of the Son, Jesus Christ [11].

All truth is parallel and in keeping with the context; please allow me to share man’s tripartite nature with you. Since God created man in His image [12], I try to keep to the two-track teaching method [13].

Therefore, man is a triune being. Man’s spirit is his God-consciousness. His body (flesh) is his world-consciousness through the five senses. Finally, his soul is his self-consciousness, which consists of thought, cognition, emotions, intellect, reasoning, self-will, personality, and the choice processes of his being. These are all functions of the soul. Genesis 3 is about man’s decision making process, which affected the entire world and every man’s existence. . .forever, both spiritually and in the natural. (Who says that one man can’t make a difference?)

This is very simplistic and basic but unless someone wants to go to seminary or is a glutton for the knowledge of God, it is pretty much all we need to know. Myself, I don’t want ever to stop learning about God. I gladly, and with pleasure, write my blogs to pass on what I have learned to my spiritual brothers and sisters. I pray that they bless you.
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[1]. John 4:24
[2]. Genesis 1, 2
[3]. Genesis 1:1
[4]. Genesis 2:19, 20
[5]. In Genesis 1:27 God created man’s Spirit; In Genesis 2:7a He created man’s body; In Genesis 2:7b God created man’s soul, and in Genesis 2:21, 22 He created the woman from man.
[6]. Deuteronomy 6:4
[7]. 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 4:12
[8]. Matthew 28:19; John 14:16; John 14:26; John 15:26; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 2:18; 1 Peter 1:2
[9]. Galatians 4:4, 5
[10]. John 6:37, 38
[11]. John 14:26; John 16:8; Romans 1:19, 20
[12]. Genesis 1:26, 27
[13]. For every natural truth, the is an equal and corresponding spiritual truth. In other words, when I give an example in one, I like to give an example in the other. This helps in relating to the illustration and context of the narrative.