The Doctrines of the Trinity

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The Doctrines of the TrinityThe Deity of Christ
as revealed in Johns prologue
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All things came into being by Him, and apart from
Him nothing came into being that has come into
being.
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Questions

1. Did the Word alone create?
2. Did the Word create exclusively, yet in agreement
   with the other Persons?
3. Did the Word initiate the Trinitys creative
   work?
4. Was the Word the Fathers agent to carry out
   creation?
5. Who was involved in creation and in what capacity?

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The Trinitys Naturea whole, immutable
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The Trinity
The God
The Word
Common Divine Nature
Three PersonsOne Nature
The Holy Spirit
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The Holy Spirit as Creator
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The Holy Spirit as Creator
Genesis 1.1-2 In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless
and void, and darkness was over the surface of
the deep and the Spirit of God was moving over
the surface of the waters. Psalm 104.30a Thou
dost send forth Thy Spirit, the creatures are
created
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The Holy Spirit as Creator (cont.)
Isaiah 40.12-13 Who has measured the waters in
the hollow of His hand, and marked off the
heavens by the span, and calculated the dust of
the earth by the measure, and weighed the
mountains in a balance, and the hills in a pair
of scales? Who has directed the Spirit of the
LORD, or as His counselor has informed Him?
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The Holy Spirit as Creator (cont.)
Psalm 33.6 By the word of the LORD the heavens
were made, and by the breath of His mouth all
their host. Job 33.4 The Spirit of God has made
me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Spoken word
Hebrews 11.3 By faith we understand that the
worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that
what is seen was not made out of things which are
visible.
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The Father as Creator
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The Father as Creator
Acts 4.24 And when they heard this, they lifted
their voices to God with one accord and said, O
Lord, it is Thou who DIDST MAKE THE HEAVEN AND
THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN
THEM The Church implicates the Father by
distinguishing the Son in verse 30
while Thou dost extend Thy hand to heal, and
signs and wonders take place through the name of
Thy holy servant Jesus.
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The Father as Creator (cont.)
Acts 17.24 The God who made the world and all
things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and
earth, does not dwell in temples made with
hands Paul implicates the Father by
distinguishing the Son in verse 31 because He
has fixed a day in which He will judge the world
in righteousness through a Man whom He has
appointed, having furnished proof to all men by
raising Him from the dead.
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The Father as Creator (cont.)
Matthew 5.45 in order that you may be sons of
your Father who is in heaven for He causes His
sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends
rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
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Logos(pre-incarnate Christ)as Creator
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Personhood who became flesh
Human Nature (flesh)
Material
The God
The Word
Common Divine Nature
Immaterial
Grey area represents the God-Man
The Holy Spirit
Acquired human nature
The Word, a Person of the Trinity, assumed a
human nature. After John 1.14, the Word,
inseparable from the common, divine nature also
possesses a human nature.
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Jesus, the God-Man is fully deity with a real
human nature.
Acquired human nature
Material
(flesh)
The God
The Word
Common Divine Nature
Immaterial
The Holy Spirit
Remains Divine
Remains Deity

• The Word is not separated from the divine nature
• He does not cease to be deity in personhood

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Sonship
The relationship between these two eternal
persons changes it is now Father to Son.
Material
(flesh)
The Father
The God
The Word
The Son
Common Divine Nature
Immaterial
The Holy Spirit
After 1.14, John never uses the names the Word
and the God. He only uses Father and Son.
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The God-Man
Material
(flesh)
Jesus has a divine personhood, He knows who He
has always been.
The Father
The Son
Common Divine Nature
Immaterial
The Holy Spirit
He has TWO natures, human and divine.
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The Trinity through time
creation
King David born
Jesus conceived
Law given
Jesus returns
4500 years
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Logos (pre-incarnate Christ) as Creator
John 1.3 All things came into being by Him, and
apart from Him nothing came into being that has
come into being. Colossians 1.16-17 For by the
Son all things were created, both in the heavens
and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or rulers or
authorities--all things have been created by Him
and for Him. And He is before all things, and in
Him all things hold together.
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Logos (pre-incarnate Christ) as Creator (cont.)
Hebrews 1.3 And the Son is the radiance of
Gods glory and the exact representation of His
nature, and upholds all things by the word of His
power. Hebrews 1.10 And, THOU, LORD, IN THE
BEGINNING DIDST LAY THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH,
AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORKS OF THY HANDS
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Logos (pre-incarnate Christ) as Creator (cont.)
Revelation 4.11 Worthy art Thou, our Lord and
our God, to receive glory and honor and power
for Thou didst create all things, and because of
Thy will they existed, and were created. John
19.37 Proves the creator God in Zechariah 12 is
the pre-incarnate Jesus. This is also affirmed
in Revelation 1.7
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The Trinity through time
creation
King David born
Jesus conceived
Law given
Jesus returns
4500 years
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Logos (pre-incarnate Christ) as Creator (cont.)
John 8.58 Proves Jesus is the I AM. Exodus 4.11
(I AM speaking from the burning bush), And the
LORD said to Moses, Who has made mans mouth?
Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or
blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
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Logos (pre-incarnate Christ) as Creator (cont.)
Isa 4026 who has created these stars, the One
who leads forth their host by number, He calls
them all by name because of the greatness of His
might and the strength of His power not one of
them is missing. Colossians 1.17 And the Son
is before all things, and in Him all things hold
together. Hebrews 1.3 And He is the radiance of
His glory and the exact representation of His
nature, and upholds all things by the word of His
power.
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Is John contradicting Scripture?
John states the Word created. The Bible proves
the Trinity (all three Persons) created.
In works of the Trinity, the Bible sometimes
gives emphasis to a specific person.
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Works of the Trinity attributed to the Holy Spirit
John 3.6 (NIV) Flesh gives birth to flesh, but
the Spirit gives birth to spirit. John 14.26 But
the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will
send in My name, He will teach you all things,
and bring to your remembrance all that I said to
you.
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Works of the Trinity attributed to the Holy
Spirit (cont.)
John 16.13 But when He, the Spirit of truth,
comes, He will guide you into all the truth for
He will not speak on His own initiative, but
whatever He hears, He will speak and He will
disclose to you what is to come. 2 Peter
1.21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of
human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit
spoke from God.
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The Trinity created yet emphasis is given to one
Person.
Note the plural and singular pronouns applied to
the one God, the Trinity
Genesis 1.26-27 Then God said, Let Us make man
in Our image, according to Our likeness And
God created man in His own image, in the image of
God He created him male and female He created
them.
(PL)
(PL)
(PL)
(S)
(S)
(S)
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From The Holy Spirit by Walvoord
In the Old Testament revelation of creation, in
most instances the creative act is traced to God,
without distinction as to persons. In all major
works of God, a part is ascribed to each person,
though often one person is given prominence and
special emphasis. While in the work of creation
God the Father is given the most prominence, in
the Old Testament most references speak of the
Creator as God without personal distinctions, and
in the New Testament revelation the creative work
is frequently ascribed to Christ (John 13 Col.
116-17)
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From The Holy Spirit by Walvoord
Cont. -- Two extremes of interpretation must be
avoided. In an attempt to establish the work of
any one person of the Godhead, some have tended
to minimize the work of the other persons, and
have made distinctions which do not hold
throughout all the revelation of Scripture. If
one should take the statements of John 13 and
Colossians 116-17 as excluding from
consideration any work by the other persons of
the Trinity, one would arrive at the conclusion
that all the work of creation was accomplished by
the Son. This, however, does not explain other
Scriptures ascribing similar works to the other
persons
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From The Holy Spirit by Walvoord
Cont. -- The other extreme is to neglect the
diversity of operation of the persons of the
Trinity, taking the position that the Father is
the Creator, and that the Son and the Spirit are
merely agents of the Father. This view likewise
does violence to the Scriptures. While the
problem of distinguishing the works of the
Trinity can never be finally solved, it is in
keeping with all Scripture to ascribe the work of
creation to all three persons of the Godhead,
pointing out only such distinctions as are made
in the Scripture revealing the nature of their
creative work.
The Holy Spirit, pg. 36, Zondervan, by John F.
Walvoord, President and Professor of Systematic
Theology, Dallas Theological Seminary
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Is The Word GodsAgent for Creation?
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The Word, Gods Agent for Creation?
Revelation 3.14 Referring to Jesus And to the
angel of the church in Laodicea write The Amen,
the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of
the creation of God, says this
cause, origin, source
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The Word, Gods Agent for Creation? (cont.)
Hebrews 1.2 in these last days God has spoken
to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all
things, through whom also He made the world.
This verse seems to suggest agency creation. Yet,
it must be considered in light of the remainder
of Hebrews 1 Verses 8 10, the Father to the
Son THY THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER
THOU, LORD, IN THE BEGINNING DIDST LAY THE
FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH, AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE
WORKS OF THY HANDS
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The Word, Gods Agent for Creation? (cont.)
Hebrews 1.2 in these last days God has spoken
to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all
things, through whom also He made the world.
Through By By means of Because of By reason of On
account of
dia, dee-ah
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The Word, Gods Agent for Creation? (cont.)
John 1.3 All things came into being by Him, and
apart from Him nothing came into being that has
come into being.
Through By By means of Because of By reason of On
account of
dia, dee-ah
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The Word, Gods Agent for Creation? (cont.)
1 Corinthians 8.6 yet for us there is but one
God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we
exist for Him and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by
whom are all things, and we exist through Him.
Through By By means of Because of By reason of On
account of
dia, dee-ah
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The Word, Gods Agent for Creation? (cont.)
These through whom verses should be considered
carefully because in Rom. 11.36, speaking of God,
Paul writes, For from Him and through Him and to
Him are all things For the Bible to state that
God the Trinity created through the person of the
Word is not a claim that the Word is the agent
working under the God. These descriptions of the
Word are rather, an affirmation of absolute deity.
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Proven Attributes of the Word

• He is eternally existent
• Existed eternally in communion with God
• Existed eternally in a realm known only to God
• He is distinct from the God in personhood
• He is God in nature (everything that makes God,
  God, the Word is also).
• He is not created

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Proven Attributes of the Word (cont.)

• He is a co-equal creator with the God and the
  Holy Spirit
• The Bible gives clear emphasis on the Words
  creative activity

Psalm 19 The heavens are telling of the glory of
God And their expanse is declaring the work of
His hands.
It is fitting that the Word, Light, Revealer of
the Trinity would be given emphasis for the
revealing creation.
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Questions Answers

• Did the Word alone create?
• No
• Did the Word create exclusively, yet in agreement
  with the other Persons?
• No
• Did the Word alone initiate the Trinitys
  creative work?
• No

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Questions Answers (cont.)
4. Was the Word the Fathers agent for
creation? No 5. Who was involved in creation
and in what capacity? All three Persons were
equally essential to, responsible for, and active
in creation. Gen. 2.4 in the day that the LORD
God (Jehovah Elohim) means ever existing,
plural God
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Questions Answers (cont.)

• Why does John and the Biblical writers so
  strongly emphasize the pre-incarnate Christ in
  the work of creation?
• In order to convince you of the answer to no. 5

All three Persons were equally essential to,
responsible for, and active in creation.