The knowledge of God.  The scriptures were given to help us come to the knowledge of God.  The scriptures reveal the eternal Godhead.  Peter says the scriptures are not available for private interpretation.  He says Jesus is the more sure word of prophecy.  Revelation 19 says Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy.  Jesus says in John 5:39 the scriptures speak of him.  

So the scriptures speak of Jesus.  But we know the scriptures also tell us in John 1 that Jesus came from the bosom of the Father to declare the Father.  So we have the scriptures speaking of Jesus.  We have Jesus declaring the Father.  2 Tim 3:16 says all scripture is God breathed.  The Holy Spirit(the Ruach Hodesh) is described as the breath of God in the Old Testament.  2 Peter 1:21 says the law and the prophets came not by the will of man, but holy men spake being moved by the Holy Ghost.  

The Spirit inspires the scriptures that declare Jesus.  The Spirit proceeds from the Father to testify of the Son.  Jesus is the Word thats from the beginning; the eternal Son of God, the exact substance of the Fathers divine essence, showing forth the brightness of the Fathers person.  Jesus says things like if you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father.  There’s the Godhead, indivisible, inseparable, revealing themselves to mankind, so we can be immersed in their name.  Thats what true prophecy is about.  It’s the revelation of the divine.  It’s God revealing Himself to us.  The scriptures are trinitarian in nature.  They reveal the Godhead to us, enabling us to have communion with the divine nature, catching us up in the fellowship of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  

If we look at the very beginning of the scriptures Gen 1:26 says  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 

In this passage God is talking to someone because He says Let “US” make man in “OUR” image, after “OUR” likeness.  Who is God talking to.  Who is the “US” and the “OUR”.  Prominent Hebrew scholars like Rashi and Malmonides admit the pronouns are indeed plural, and because they cant wrap there head around God being One, but also being described using the plural, they say God must be talking to the angels or to the dirt.  But that doesnt make sense because God identifies Himself with whoever He’s talking to when He says OUR image and OUR likeness.  Neither the angels are the dirt share image and likeness with God.  Whoever God is talking to would have to be the same divine substance as Him for Him to say “OUR” Image and “OUR” likeness.  

So we have God speaking of Himself in the plural and talking to Himself when He says let us make man in our image after our likeness.  Then Genesis says male and female made he them.  So God says He’s going to make mankind in His image, and then it says male and female made he them.  God made mankind to be relational.  Human beings are deeply relational.  We dont like loneliness.  We dont like to be alone.  We were created to be social beings.  The reason we were created that way is because God is relational in His being.  The very fact we are made for relationship testifies that the one true God is relational in His being.  How can God create us to be relational if He doesn’t exist relationally in His being.  

1st John says God is love.  For God to be love it requires more than one person to exist in the being of God … God is immutable.  Malachi 3:6 says God does not change.  James 1:17 says there’s no variableness or shadow of turning in God.  Hebrews 13:8 says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.  If God is love, that means He has always been love.  He was love before He created anything.  He can’t become love after he creates, otherwise that would mean the creature created God’s nature.  If God is love there has to be someone there to love.  There has to be more than one person within the one true God.  Otherwise how can God be love.  Who is He loving.  Who is He communing with prior to creation if theres only one person there.  

The Hebrew word used for God in Genesis is Elohim.  Elohim is plural and means divine ones.  It can also mean “godhood” which talks about the quality or state of being divinity; or God.  Godhood talks about the divine nature or essence.  It speaks of Deity; or Godhead.  Elohim is used to speak of more than one divine person.  It’s an interesting word because even though it speaks of more than one divine person, it simultaneously speaks of a single being or deity.  

So what are we to make of the fact that the one true God is spoken of in the plural.   Who exactly is the “US” in Genesis?  

If we go back to the beginning of Genesis, verses 1-3 say In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.  And God said, Let there be light: and light appeared.  

Within the first three verses of Genesis we have 3 distinct things present creating the heavens and the earth.  We have God speaking.  We have the Spirit of God.  And Light appears in the Word that comes forth from God.  The Word that comes forth from God is the Light.  The Light isnt the sun or the moon because God didnt create the sun and the moon til the 4th day.  The Light isn’t something that was created, it’s something that appeared, having come forth from God.  

The apostle John interprets Genesis 1 in the first chapter of his gospel.  He quotes Genesis 1 when he says in the beginning was the Word.  John describes the Word as the Light.  He says in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.  Or more accurately the Word was face to face with God.  Meaning the Word was in continuous fellowship/communion with God (Theres the relational aspect thats part of God’s nature).  And John says the Word was God.   

Daniel Wallace, a prominent Greek scholar, emphasizes the grammatical structure of John 1:1. He notes that the phrase "the Word was God" in English reflects a specific Greek construction. In Greek, the word order is significant for emphasis. The phrase is more accurately translated as "and God was the Word," which highlights that the essence of the Word is divine.  Wallace says that the lack of a definite article before "God" in the Greek text suggests a qualitative and not quantitative interpretation.  Meaning John isn’t talking about more than one God but John is saying that the Word possesses the same divine attributes as God and the Word is a distinct person from God.  So, while the Word shares the nature of God, John is talking about more than one divine person in the first verse of his gospel.  Not more than one God, but more than one person in the being of the one true God.  

If we keep reading in chapter 1 of John’s gospel John tells us who the Word is, that is divine along with God when he says “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.  And John further explains what he means in that verse when he says a couple verses later “No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.  

So John tells us that two of the persons who are part of the one true God in Genesis, are the Father and the only begotten Son.  He says both the Father and the Son were face to face in continuous fellowship before the beginning.  It’s important to keep in mind that John does not speak of the Word as a depersonalized force.  He puts relational and family language to the Word and God, when he calls the Word, the only begotten Son, and He calls God the Father.  He highlights the relational aspect thats part of God’s nature, and he highlights that he’s talking about 2 distinct persons here.  It’s true Jesus is the Word and the Wisdom and power of God, but its gross error to try and strip away the personhood of the Word, as if the Word is just a thought and not a person.  

The Holy Spirit is the 3rd person recorded in Genesis.  The Holy Spirit is also God.  He’s the breath of God.  Proceeding from the Father.  He’s the same divine nature as the Father and the Son.  The Holy Spirit creates along with the Father, and the Son.  The Spirit is described as the presence of God; the shechinah glory of God.  The Holy Spirit is the giver of life.  Paul says in Roman’s 8 that the Spirit animates our mortal bodies with life.  Jesus, speaking of the Holy Ghost says whosoever believes on him out of their bellies will flow rivers of living water.

The Holy Spirit is prominent throughout both the old and the New Testament.  Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Comforter.  Comforter is parakletos in Greek.  It speaks of someone who advocates or intercedes on behalf of another. Jesus speaking of the Holy Spirit says I will not leave you Comfortless, but will send another like unto me.  Jesus is saying, I am Emmanuel, God with you, I have brought your Comfort.  But, I will send another to you, who is also God.  Jesus says it’s better if I go and the Comforter comes because I have been God with you, but the Spirit will be God dwelling in you.  When the Spirit comes the Father and I will make our home in you, making you the temple of the Living God.  

The Holy Spirit is not a depersonalized force.  Don’t let the name confuse you. You can’t be nurture people, or talk to them if you are a depersonalized force.  The Spirit is a distinct person in the Godhead just as the Father and the Son.  In the book of Acts Peter asks Ananias why Satan filled his heart to lie to the Holy Ghost.  You can’t lie to the Holy Ghost if the Holy Spirit is not a person.  In 1st Corinthians 12 Paul talking about the gifts of the Spirit, says there are different gifts and different administration of gifts but it’s the same Spirit that makes these gifts manifest.  He goes on to say the Spirit divides the gifts to every person “As the Spirit Wills”.  You cannot have a will if you do not possess personhood. 

If we look at John 1:32 John records the Spirit, proceeding from the Father, descending from heaven like a dove, and resting on Jesus.  Something of note, is this account is recorded in all 4 of the gospels.  The other 3 all record the Father and the Holy Spirit appearing there with Jesus.  This event is known as the theophany because it reveals the Trinity.  God the Father speaks from heaven, God the Son is baptized, and the Holy Spirit descends like a Dove.  The baptism of Jesus reveals the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The same unity we see in Genesis and throughout the scriptures.  This is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  This is the God revealed through the Word that was made flesh.  This is the God we worship.  This is the God we teach to all nations, so they can be caught up in the communion of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  

Prayer