Jesus and the Trinity

No doubt in recent years many of our workers have had to deal with the question of Jesus, His origin, and His relation to the other members of the Godhead. Often over-enthusiastic and misled reli­gious workers going from house to house have succeeded in confus­ing the minds of truehearted and truth-seeking people, and reviving portions at least of the early Arian controversy. It was to answer this challenge that many years ago I began a study of this question...

Language and Literature Professor, Southern Missionary College

NO DOUBT in recent years many of our workers have had to deal with the question of Jesus, His origin, and His relation to the other members of the Godhead. Often over-enthusiastic and misled reli­gious workers going from house to house have succeeded in confus­ing the minds of truehearted and truth-seeking people, and reviving portions at least of the early Arian controversy. It was to answer this challenge that many years ago I began a study of this question that has perplexed but not often been studied by the layman or possibly even by many ministers. We have taken the teaching of the Trinity for granted, and the problem texts have been passed by without too much concern until we have been com­pelled to meet the challenge. That was ex­actly my position. As a result of the chal­lenge many hours of research in the Scrip­tures have been spent, that Biblical evi­dence might be presented that would also be in harmony with the statements of the Spirit of Prophecy. The conclusions ar­rived at are based on a general study of the Scriptures and the Spirit of Prophecy and not on merely two or three isolated texts strained to support a theory.

The Problem

The immediate problem involves a full harmonization of such Biblical statements concerning Jesus as "All power is given unto me" (Matt. 28:18); "the Father him­self, which hath sent me" (John 5:37) "my father is greater than I" (John 14 28); "I can of mine own self do nothing' (John 5:30); "the beginning of the creation of God" (Rev. 3:14); "the firstborn of every creature" (Col. 1:15) with other statements that make Him one with the Father from eternity. How can we recon­cile these statements with Micah 5:2 where, speaking of Jesus, it says His "goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting," or with John 10:30, "I and my Father are one," or with John 1:3, "All things were made by him," or even with Colossians 2: 9, "In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." The latter statements are fully supported by Sister White's writ­ings.

If Christ made all things, He existed before all things. The words spoken in regard to this are so decisive that no one need be left in doubt. Christ was God essentially, and in the highest sense. He was with God from all eternity, God over all, blessed forevermore.

The Lord Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, existed from eternity, a distinct person, yet one with the Father.—The Review and Herald, April 5, 1906.

Christ was the Son of God; He had been one with Him before the angels were called into exist­ence. He had ever stood at the right hand of the Father.—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 38.

In Christ was life, original, unborrowed, underived.—The Desire of Ages, p. 530.

Several questions arise from these state­ments. Why was all power given to Him? Didn't He already have it? Why did the Father send Him? Couldn't He send Him­self? Why does He say, "My Father is greater than I" if He was God essentially in the highest sense? Why did He say, "I can of mine own self do nothing"? These are problems that must be solved if we are to meet the claims of those who place Christ on an inferior plane as an inferior God.

Although we cannot solve all that per­tains to God and the plan of salvation, which will be a theme of study throughout eternity, yet we are told that "we must sink the shaft deep in the mine of truth."— Ellen G. White in The Review and Herald, March 25, 1890.

It is the glory of God to conceal Himself and His ways, not by keeping men in ignorance of heavenly light and knowledge, but by surpassing the utmost capacity of men to know. Humanity can comprehend in part, but that is all that man can bear.—Bible Echoes, No. 17, April 30, 1894.

God intends that to the earnest seeker the truths of His Word shall be ever unfolding. While "the secret things belong unto the Lord our God," "those things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children." The idea that certain portions of the Bible can not be understood has led to neglect of some of its most important truths. The fact needs to be emphasized, and often repeated, that the mysteries of the Bible are not such because God has sought to conceal truth, but because our own weakness or ignorance makes us incapable of comprehending or appropriating truth. The limita­tion is not in its purpose, but in our capacity. Of those very portions of Scripture so often passed by as impossible to be understood, God desires us to understand as much as our minds are capable of receiving. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God," that we may be "thoroughly furnished unto all good works."—Signs of the Times, April 25, 1906.

This problem that involves the sover­eignty of God and the relationship of the members of the Godhead to each other as revealed in the Scriptures is by that very revelation a part of the great plan of sal­vation. This is "the science that enters into the purpose brooded in the mind of the Infinite,—'kept in silence through times eternal;' the science that will be the study of God's redeemed throughout the endless ages. This is the highest study in which it is possible for man to engage."—Ibid., April 18, 1906. "The plan for our redemp­tion was not an afterthought, a plan for­mulated after the fall of Adam. It was a revelation of 'the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal.' Rom. 16:25, R.V. It was an unfolding of the principles that from eternal ages have been the foundation of God's throne. From the beginning, God and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through the deceptive power of the apostate."—The Desire of Ages, p. 22. In reading the Spirit of Prophecy on this theme, as in the above quotations from The Desire of Ages and the chapter on "The Plan of Redemption" in Patri­archs and Prophets, page 63 and onward, one must be careful not to read something into those words that the author never in­tended. For instance, we know that the second person of the Godhead received the name Jesus at His birth because it means "Saviour." Likewise, we also know that the name Christ is a translation of the Hebrew term Messiah and they both mean "the Anointed One." Acts 10:38 and Matthew 3:16 indicate clearly that this anointing took place at His baptism, when He be­came the Christ. Yet Ellen G. White uses those very names for Him long before they were actually conferred on Him by virtue of His position or work in connection with our salvation. In The Desire of Ages, page 19, she says, "From the days of eternity the Lord Jesus Christ was one with the Father." Thus the present names of God were used in the past before the signifi­cance of the name became applicable. This is merely a rhetorical device that we constantly use in our English language but which cannot be used as proof of the time of the application of a name. When we speak of New York, referring to a time previous to 1664, we do not mean that the city was called New York at that time. We merely do it for clarity's sake. Just so with the names of Jesus in the Spirit of Proph­ecy. He has been given many names in His connection with the plan of salvation that He never had before, but yet that did not change the fact that He was God. Thus we have such names as "Jesus," "Christ," "Immanuel," "Lamb of God," "Son of God," "Redeemer," all used of Him now in connection with any period of time simply because we are familiar with those terms and not to prove that He was any of them at some remote time in the past. If this caution is observed, we will avoid confusion in the study of this great theme.

Doctrine of the Trinity

The doctrine of the Trinity is a gener­ally accepted doctrine of Christianity by all but a few. However, this does not neces­sarily make it the truth. It becomes neces­sary to establish it upon a scriptural foun­dation. That there exist at present the three Beings of the Godhead, the Bible definitely supports. We shall deal with their pre-existence, power, and relation­ship later. In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus gave command that those baptized were to be baptized into the name of the three—Fa­ther, Son, and Holy Ghost. When Jesus promised the Holy Ghost, the Comforter (John 14:26), He said He would pray the Father and He would send the Holy Ghost. Here all three are distinctively mentioned. Paul, as he closes his letters to the Corin­thians, uses the names of the three members of the Godhead in his benediction (2 Cor. 13:14). The order of mention is not the same as in Matthew 28:18-20. Again, in I Peter 1:2, in Peter's salutation he sets forth the work or office of each member of the Godhead in still a different order. This may not have any particular significance except to reveal the fact that there was no particular order of mention that bound the writers of Scripture. It would be a strong indication, at least, that even though their work and office were different, the unity was such that they were coequal. We can rest with confidence in the fact that the Scriptures support the doctrine of the Trinity without using 1 John 5:7, which textual critics recognize to be of question­able origin.

Relationship of the Three Members of the Godhead

As for the relationship of the three mem­bers of the Godhead, there is perfect unity. Each has His work, or office, but performs it in full harmony with the others. We are not told in Scripture as much about the office and work of the Father as we are of the other two. He probably can be thought of as the Designer, the Planner, the Pre­dictor (Acts 2:23; 1 Peter 1:2). The Son is the Creator (John 1:1-3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2). All things were made by Him. Hence He is the beginning of the creation of God (Rev. 3:14) and not Himself created. He began the great work of God's creation, as nothing was made without Him. He is also the Redeemer and Mediator (Acts 4:12; 1 Tim. 2:5). The Holy Spirit is the Com­forter, Consoler (John 14:26), the In-spirer or Mover (2 Peter 1:21; Gen. 1:2). This does not mean that either one would not be able to perform the function of the other, but in the perfect unity there is per­fect order, and each one has His part that He fulfills in the general plan of unity.

From the texts given and others to be noted, we can confidently believe in a Trinity—a triune God—three distinct Be­ings, each objective to the other. All are self-existing and self-existent. The three are equal in power and attributes. They are different in rank, which is assumed voluntarily because of their perfect unity. Nevertheless, each has the capacity and potentiality of the rank of each of the others. The Spirit does not send the Father, neither does the Son send the Father. Each has His office and work, but they are one in character, intent, and purpose. A

Trinity is a necessity from the viewpoint of eternal revelation. Only that which is like yourself can bring out what is in your­self. If God were alone, no one could know Him. Only divinity can reveal divinity.

The question of the Trinity is clearly involved in this larger question of Christ's relation to the Godhead. God Himself is in a sense on trial, because trinitarians are compared with pagans who worship many gods. By the assertion from those who dis­believe in the Trinity, Jehovah is claimed to be the Father and alone God, and Jesus Christ is relegated to a lower position and of unequal status with the Father. But if the Father alone is God, then Jesus cannot also be God, for that would still be a plu­rality, as in paganism. Hence, according to the outcome of this teaching, Jesus cannot be God. Thus this specious argument is re­vealed to be another plan of Satan in his long hatred of Jesus to dethrone Him, which those in fact (although ignorantly) are doing who declaim the Trinity and the eternal coexistence of Jesus with the Father.

Is Jesus God

Let us now search the Scriptures to see if Jesus as well as the Father is declared to be God, and just who is Jehovah. Then we shall examine the problem of how He came to be the Son. In Revelation 1:18, 17, 8, Jesus, the one "that liveth, and was dead," is declared to be "the first and the last," the "Alpha and Omega, . . . which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." Note also Revelation 22:12, 13. Angels are commanded to worship Him (Heb. 1:6). Jesus is the One who is to come and eventually set up His ever­lasting kingdom on earth. See Daniel 7: 13, 14 and Luke 1:32, 33. In Daniel 2:44 He, the One who is to "set up a kingdom," is called "the God of heaven." In Revela­tion 17:14 He is called "Lord of lords, and King of kings." Note also Deuteronomy 10:17; 1 Timothy 6:14, 15; and Revelation 19:16, 13. Again in his prophecy (Isa. 9:6, 7) Isaiah calls Him "The mighty God," and in Isaiah 7:14 He is named "Imman-uel," which means "God is with us." See also Matthew 1:23. In Hebrews 1:5-8 the Father addresses Him as God. Paul calls Him "great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" in Titus 2:13. Stephen calls upon God saying, "Lord Jesus" (Acts 7:59, 60). John, in writing his Gospel under inspi­ration says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God {'hat is, divine, for a noun without an article expresses quality]" (John 1:1). "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (verse 14). Thus the continued and multiplied testi­mony of the writers of Scripture is that Jesus is of a verity God. "As ye have there­fore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiv­ing. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradi­tion of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:6-9).

That Jesus is God from eternity is fur­ther emphasized in the Scripture, leaving us without a question of doubt. Listen to Micah in prophetic vision tell of Him who was to be born in Bethlehem: "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" (Micah 5:2). The margin reads "the days of eternity." Then note the words of Isaiah as previously referred to in the ninth chap­ter and verses six and seven, where he gives to Jesus the extraordinary name "The everlasting Father" (literally, the Father of eternity), thus again emphasizing the unity and inexplicable equality of the God­head.

This oneness of the Trinity and full di­vinity of Christ is further emphasized in 1 Timothy 6:14-16, where He is called "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords." He contains that which all the Godhead contains, and so does each of the others, but He is sent to represent God to man. Thus He has a unique position. This unity of the Godhead is perfect and complete, past even full hu­man comprehension. "In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9).

But although Christ's divine glory was for a time vailed and eclipsed by His assuming human­ity, yet He did not cease to be God when He be­came man. The human did not take the place of the divine, nor the divine of the human. This is the mystery of godliness. The two expressions human and divine were, in Christ, closely and inseparably one, and yet they had a distinct individuality. Though Christ humbled Himself to become man, the Godhead was still His own.—Signs of the Times, May 10, 1899.

And so Christ's glorious divinity was veiled while He took on the form of hu­manity. This Divine Being in His original unveiled form, as the Mighty God from eternity, no man has seen, as no man has seen the Father. Note here again the di­vine unity, so perfect that our finite minds can barely grasp a minute portion. How glorious is God! We reach upward to com­prehend His greatness, and we press on to attain to His likeness. That we cannot fully comprehend God and His perfection is the greatest evidence of God. (To be concluded)

 


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Language and Literature Professor, Southern Missionary College

June 1961

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