Trinity Sunday 2010

Trinity Sunday marks a shift of emphasis in the Christian calendar. Advent through Pentecost traces the life of Jesus. Today begins a season of reflecting on the teaching of Jesus and the Church. One foundational teaching of the once-for-all-times-delivered-to the-saints Faith is the Trinity -- One God in three distinct, co-eternal and co-existent Persons.

Trinity is not an explicit teaching of Scripture. No one verse clearly states, "There is ONE God that exists as THREE distinct, co-equal, co-existent Persons: Father, Son and Spirit." The Church, however, formulated such clear statements as the Apostles', Nicean and Athanasian Creeds to describe the God of the Bible. The Church reflected on God's clear revelation and many passages can only be understood by the Trinity.

Trinity is hinted at from the beginning of God's self-revelation. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. (Genesis 1.26)

But Trinity becomes clear only with the Christ event. The classic passage found in the Gospels is the baptism of Jesus (God the Son.) Luke 3.21-22 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on 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."

Here in one moment and one place we see the Holy Spirit descending onto Jesus (the Son) and the Father declaring, "This is my Son..."

At the end of His earthly ministry Jesus commands that while we are going, discipling, we baptize "them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." (Matthew 28.19.)

One suggested reading for this year's Trinity Sunday is Romans 5.1-11. In it we see the Trinity intertwined in the discussion of the resultant benefits of being justified by faith. Each of the Three Persons are working as One to bring joy to the believer.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.