How can God be one, while being Father, Jesus, & Holy Spirit?

The Trinity of God is revealed throughout the scriptures from the beginning.

• Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make people* in our image, to be like ourselves. They will be masters over all life—the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the livestock, wild animals,* and small animals.” Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 . Tyndale House: Wheaton, Ill

The passage from Genesis 1:26 uses the plural “us” for God. In the text, God is more than a single entity.

• Genesis 3:22 Then the Lord God said, “The people have become as we are, knowing everything, both good and evil. What if they eat the fruit of the tree of life? Then they will live forever!” Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 . Tyndale House: Wheaton, Ill

The passage from Genesis 3:22 also uses the plural “we” for God. The text shows that God is a minimum of two entities.

• Genesis 11:7 Come, let’s go down and give them different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.” Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 . Tyndale House: Wheaton, Ill.

The passage from Genesis 11:7 also uses the plural “let’s” for God. The NLT text uses the contraction “let’s” to stand for “let us” in the words that God uses. “He” again is a minimum of two entities.

• Genesis 18:1, 2, 3, 5 through 19:1 The Lord appeared again to Abraham while he was camped near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day about noon, as Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent, 2 he suddenly noticed three men standing nearby. He got up and ran to meet them, welcoming them by bowing low to the ground. 3 “My lord,” he said, “if it pleases you, stop here for a while… 5 Let me prepare some food to refresh you. Please stay awhile before continuing on your journey.” “All right,” they said. “Do as you have said.”… 8 When the food was ready, he took some cheese curds and milk and the roasted meat, and he served it to the men. As they ate, Abraham waited on them there beneath the trees.
  9 “Where is Sarah, your wife?” they asked him.
  “In the tent,” Abraham replied.
  10 Then one of them said, “About this time next year I will return, and your wife Sarah will have a son.”…13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Can an old woman like me have a baby?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? About a year from now, just as I told you, I will return, and Sarah will have a son.” 15 Sarah was afraid, so she denied that she had laughed. But he said, “That is not true. You did laugh.” …
  16 Then the men got up from their meal and started on toward Sodom. Abraham went with them part of the way.
  17 “Should I hide my plan from Abraham?” the Lord asked. 18 “For Abraham will become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. 19 I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the Lord and do what is right and just. Then I will do for him all that I have promised.” 20 So the Lord told Abraham, “I have heard that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are extremely evil, and that everything they do is wicked. 21 I am going down to see whether or not these reports are true. Then I will know.”
  22 The two other men went on toward Sodom, but the Lord remained with Abraham for a while…
  33 The Lord went on his way when he had finished his conversation with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his tent… 19:1 That evening the two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom, and Lot was sitting there as they arrived. When he saw them, he stood up to meet them. Then he welcomed them and bowed low to the ground. Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 . Tyndale House: Wheaton, Ill.

This extended passage continues through chapter 19. But, you should notice that the context demands that we understand that “The Lord” from 18:1 is used to refer to all of the “men” or just one of the “men”. In other words “They” references “The Lord”, “Them” also references “The Lord”, “We“, again, references “The Lord”. The same is true for “I” and “me.”

I hope that you are still following me on this, because it is very important to understand the context of what the scriptures record. Perhaps you are concerned that the text interchangeably uses the term “men,” “The Lord,” and in Genesis 19:1 “Angels”. This is not that difficult to understand if “The Lord” employs “Angels” who take on the appearance of “Men”.

This very fact occurs over and over in the Old Covenant books as well as the New Covenant books. Consequently, we see in the above section of scripture an Angel who appears to be acting as the agent for the Father, an Angel who appears to be acting as the agent for the Son, and an Angel who appears to be acting as the agent for the Holy Spirit.

Before we conclude this section of Genesis, notice above, that in verse 21 the individual who is called “The Lord” remains behind to talk to Abraham while the other “two men” go down to Sodom. The one who remains behind, tells Abraham, “I am going down to see whether or not these reports are true. Then I will know.” But, when he, “the Lord”, finishes talking and leaves, in verse 30, he does not join the two other men/Angels in 19:1.

So, let us consider the options here.

1. He lied to Abraham and did not go down to Sodom to check things out for himself.
2. He did go down to Sodom, but he did it independant of the other two “lords” and the scripture failed to record that visit. However, he would’ve had to beat the other two Angels down to the valley, because the two who retrieve Lot and his family appear to be the only reconnaissance for Sodom.
3. He did go down to Sodom, but he did it by “Proxy” via the other two “Angels” who are also called “the Lord” in chapter 18:1.
   

We will continue the review of How God can be one and yet be multiple entities in tomorrows post.

Read the text and think about it.

DSM