Today's lesson included a close look at the Trinity as revealed in Ephesians 1:1-14.

1. Welcome to “Learning and Living the God-centered life” Carmel Baptist Church www.learningandlivingtheword.com May 24, 2009

6. Ephesians 1:1-2 (READ THE TEXT) Stop and think about what the apostle Paul is writing in these verses Notice he writes “Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, which means the Father.” Paul uses theos when talking about God the Father in Trinitarian context. 2 Corinthians 13:14 Paul’s shorthand for the The Father is when he writes God The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Point #1 - Isn’t there a distinction here that Paul is making between the Father and the Son. They are two different Persons of the One true and Living God. Two different expressions of the Father and Son and yet they are distinct

7. Paul is an apostle of Christ “by the will of God” Point #2 - Doesn’t this also imply a ranking with the Trinity? Paul is an apostle of Christ sent by Christ one who is sent to carry out the mission of Christ but he does this ultimately not because Christ has said so but in fact because the Father has said so. The Father has willed that Paul be an apostle of Christ. There is primacy that is given to the Father. The saints are to be faithful in Christ, and Paul is an apostle of Christ, while understanding that they do so under the authority of the Father.

9. So Grace and Peace flow from whom? Answer- the Father and the Son. They are both identified as givers of grace to their people. Point #3 - Where is the Spirit? Now we know the danger of building too much on silence and that you can’t build an argument on the basis of silence. But isn’t it noteworthy how seldom the Spirit comes into play in the context where God is given praise. Turn to Revelation 5:12 “the Lamb slain was given praise and they bow before the Father and the question can be asked: ”where is the Spirit?“

13. It was the desire of the Father to have us as his own, and the only way that was possible, was to choose us in the Son to be holy and blameless through the work of his Son Sometimes we process salvation in these terms, the Father and his anger toward us, in his just condemnation of us was getting ready to condemn us all, and send us all to hell. And then we think the Son stepped in with love and grace and said, “Oh Father don’t do that, allow me to take the punishment that they deserve, on myself so they can be set free.” This kind of thinking is dishonoring to the Father, and it is not true to biblical teaching, to think that the Father had to be convinced and had to accept a planned brought to him by his Son.

14. No it was the Father who designed and carried out EVERY aspect of our redemption and the Father did it in his Son. And the starting point for your salvation starts in ETERNITY PAST. Before the foundation of the world the Father chose us to be brought to Himself and he knew the only way this could be done was through his Son. Behold what love the Father has bestowed on us as children of God. How did this happen? Got adopted us, he picked us out, legally made us His children through what the Son has done for us Ephesians 1:5 Just look at what the text is telling us that the Father has done for us.

15. Ephesians 1:4 - He (God the Father) chose us Ephesians 1:5 - He (God the Father) predestined us, to Himself (God the Father) The kind intention of his will, (God the Father) Ephesians 1:6 His grace (God the Father), He (God the Father), freely bestowed on us in His beloved Son The Father brings these blessings because of His deep love for us And he provides the way for us to come to his Son Ephesians 1:7 In him (Christ) His blood (Christ) His grace (God the Father) look back at verse 6 Ephesians 1:8 Which He, God the Father lavished on us

17. Ephesians 1:11 His purpose (God the Father) His will (God the Father) Ephesians 1:12 His glory (God the Father) Ephesians:1-13 in Him (Christ) Sealed in Him (Christ) The Spirit is coming to us through the Son Ephesians 1:14 His glory (God the Father) His refers to the Father In him refers to the Son with him refers to the Spirit The Spirit comes in seals us, so that each promise and gift that the Father has for us in the Son will come to pass.

18. Ephesians 1:1-14 Isn’t this section of Scripture amazing as it is jam packed with the Trinity. How many times do we read a text like this and yet we missed the obvious. And it stems from our lack of training and teaching in these important Bible basics. We need to put on our Trinitarian glasses when we come to the Bible. And notice Father, Son and Spirit

20. Historical and biblical overview of the Trinity We begin with the early Christian conviction that there is only one God. A scriptural monotheism. An Old Testament Israel and in the New Testament church we have in Judaism and early Christianity a wholehearted commitment to believe that there is only one and only one God. Why is that so remarkable, because that sounds right to us? The reason is true for ancient Israel and today for early Christians because they were surrounded by polytheistic cultures. Everyone around them believed in a multitude of deities

21. Think of the apostle Paul when he entered Athens, the Greco-Roman world in acts 17 “beholding a city full of idols” Cultures that are deeply polytheistic And we have is the faith of Israel and the early Christians affirming there is one God. This was in the face of enormous opposition. And well is this clear that the Old Testament teaches one God? Genesis 1:1 - “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth Is this a monotheistic text? Answer - it sure is, if we understand what Moses the writer is doing, his main purpose is to establish their uniqueness, the oneness of the one true and living God of Israel. In contrast to the polytheistic views of the nations that surround Israel.

22. And these religions they held the different gods help territorial jurisdictions over different portions of the created order. And therefore they had lordship over various parts of creation. And in contrast to that Moses writes Genesis 1:1 and explains that there is one God who made all of it which means that he alone has rights of rulership , over every one and everything. In Biblical theology there is a close connection between creation and lordship. Think of Acts 17:24 God who made the world and all things in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth Do you hear the connection between Creator and Lord?

24. Yes in the age of pluralism in which we live now, these words are enormously relevant whether others out there acknowledged this or not, there is one God and He reigns over all people and they must bow the knee to him or they perish. May we see the truth of His word, and how contemporary these verses are for us today. Isaiah 45:5-7 (READ THIS SCRIPTURE) “ I am the LORD and there is no other” This is about Cyrus who was born over 200 years before this was written Isaiah 46:9 The Old Testament concludes there is one true God

26. In early church there was no question that the Father was full deity who did Jesus pray to if it wasn’t the Father? Who did Jesus seek to honor with his life if not God the Father? To whom did Jesus pray if not God the Father There was a tendency in the early Church to something called “monarchianism” the thinking about the Father in a way that would render less the Son and the Spirit The Scripture talks about the Father’s monarchy or his rule over all things that could not be jeopardized But what about Jesus? The burning question for the first three centuries of the church theologically, is this question who is Jesus?

28. Look how Paul distinguishes between Father and Son but he attributes to Father and Son the same ability to bring about creation The Father is the Creator and the Son is the agent John 1:1 (understanding the deity of Christ) the Word was with God (distinction) you are with someone only if they are distinct from you The Word was God (equality) We need to see the Father and Son as distinct from one another while identifying as the same God So what language can we borrow to express such great truth? This is written in the context of Genesis 1:1 in the beginning John 1:3-the Son created the heavens and the earth that is declared in Genesis 1 he is God

30. Point #2 Hebrews 1:3 (a)-he is the exact representation of the nature of his Father Point #3 Hebrews 1:3(b) - he upholds the universe by the word of his power Point #4 Hebrews 1:6-the angels worship him do you think God knows that only the Angels should worship God? God commands the Angels to worship Jesus the Son Point #5 Hebrews 1:8-the Greek word for God is used as the title for the Son

31. Point #6 Hebrews 1:11-12 applied these verses to Jesus the Son Well what about the Holy Spirit? And indeed the early church had to wrestle through this issue of the Holy Spirit is God But finally as usual the words of scripture provided the evidence Acts 5:3-4 this is Peter’s dialogue with Ananias and Sophia asking them if they lied to the Holy Spirit and then he says you have not lied to men but to God 1Corinthians 2:10-11 Paul indicates the Holy Spirit knows the thoughts of God this is an emphasis regarding revelation, but it is the spirit who reveals the thoughts of God and who can know the thoughts of God other than God himself.

34. The one God whose blessings will rest upon them is Father, Son, and Spirit So how did the early church put together all this data? At the Council of Nicaea 325 A.D. We need to know these dates to help our fellow Christians know their history Leading up to the Council at Nicaea there had to be much dispute especially as it related to the Son. And at this point the Holy Spirit is not much on the radar screen But calls the issue of the Son had not yet been settled in order to move into the issue of the Spirit. You paragraph 1 proposal that was put on the table was that of “modalism”this was done so by a gentleman named Sabellius

35. He argued for one God, the Father is God, the Son is God, the Spirit is God This sounds pretty good to us doesn’t it? So what’s the problem? Sabellius said, he hailed to a monarchy in view of the Father Therefore in the incarnation the Father is now manifesting Himself as the Son. So during the life of Christ we have God the Father present as the Son but not as Father, and not Spirit At Pentecost the Father comes again in Spirit but not as Son or the Father. So yes we have God the Father God the Son God the Father

37. The more serious problem came from Aria, who was one of the main components of the notion that Jesus was the highest form of all God created beings. The Son was head over all creation (Colossians 1:15) but according to Arias, the Son was in essence subordinate to the Father. The Son was created and the Father was uncreated this became such a popular view that a council was formed and met at Nicaea and 325 A.D. in which the hero of the day became a man named Athanasius. He was a courageous defender of the deity of Christ. Athanasius put forth the Greek term “homousios” that the Son is the same nature as the Father At the same council were the followers of the deceased Origen who proposed a middle position they proposed Christ as “homoiusios” which remains of a similar nature to God the Father.

38. Beware of those who say that we should always find a middle position Instead we seek the truth and sometimes the truth is no one edge or the other, but go for the truth! At the end of the day after nation is one out and the bases they came Christ is not just similar to what he is of the same kind as the Father and this is where we get the Nicene Creed So what about the Holy Spirit? The Arians since losing the battle on the Son moved their attack to the Spirit. And contended that the Spirit of God was likened to an arm of God, or the right hand of the Lord, or the breath of the Lord, this was just an emphasis on the presence of the Lord but not his personhood.

39. So that the Spirit represents an impersonal force that is the presence of God. And He is not deity. So another council is called and this time at Constantinople in 381 A.D. in which the heroes were three Eastern theologians (the Cappadocian fathers) Basel the great Gregory of Nessa Gregory of Narzianses Areas died and 336 A.D. and so they were responding to the Aryans who were very much active and present

40. In 325 A.D. at Nicaea here is what stated regarding the Holy Spirit “and we believe in the Holy Spirit” This represents the attention those days given the Holy Spirit. In 381 A.D. an extension of the Nicene Creed is made for the church in which the third article proclaiming the Holy Spirit is Lord, the life giver, the one who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is to be worshiped and glorified. There was much dispute between Gregory of Narziances onto his and the other two over pushing the term homousios, this means the same as, which had been done with Athanasius in his argument over the deity of Christ Gregory wanted this badly but the other two men voted against him. And he got so upset that he got up and left in mid-Council and actually wrote some nasty notes back to the other two gentlemen.

41. But they became convinced this approach needed to be different than before in order for this article to pass. Instead they orchestrated language that amounted to the same thing but deeply rooted in biblical teaching so others can not complain against them unless you complained with Scripture period The third article of the Nicene Creed indicates the deity of the Spirit with spiritual language indicating he is Lord (2Corinthians 3:18), creator (Genesis 1:2) and is to be worshiped and glorified as God (2Corinthians 13:14) At the Counsel at Nicaea 325 A.D. and Constantinople 381 A.D. then the Church affirms the deity of the Father the Son and the Spirit

42. How to put that together with one God, well for that we need St. Augustine. St. Augustine put together our Orthodox understanding of the Trinity Here is an Augustinian definition of the Trinity: God’s whole and undivided essence belongs equally, eternally, simultaneously, and fully to each of the three persons of the Godhead. So that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each is fully God while each in his own personal expression in role and activity of the one eternal and undivided divine essence. The Christian faith affirms that there is one and only one true God eternally existing while fully and simultaneously expressed in these three persons.

43. The Father, the Son, the Spirit, each member of the Godhead is equally God and is eternally God and each is fully God, not three gods, but three persons of the one Godhead. Each person is equal in essence as each possesses fully the identical same and eternally divine nature yet each is also an eternal and distinct personal expression of that one undivided divine nature. Each person of the Godhead that is fully God, the Father or the Son or the Spirit is not just one third God but rather each person is fully God Yet while each person is fully God, it is no one person alone who is fully God that each person eternally exists along with the others.

44. Each of whom possesses fully the identically same divine nature. Because of this, what distinguishes each person of the Godhead from each other is not and cannot be the divine nature, of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The one undivided divine nature is possessed equally and eternally, simultaneously and fully by the three persons of the Godhead Therefore what distinguishes each person of the Godhead from the other persons is his particular role, in relation to the other persons and the relationships that each has with the other persons. Our task is to determine how these roles and relationships will be expressed.