Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Three in One

Tonight after supper, we were doing our family devotional from John 14. This is the passage where Jesus tells the disciple of the Holy Spirit. So we started discussing the Holy Spirit and the Trinity. Since the Trinity is a difficult concept even for theologians, it's always difficult to try to explain to children.

After Kelly was explaining that the three persons of the Godhead were the same but different, this is the conversation that followed:

Kora: It's kind of like God has three heads.

Kelly: Not really, because that would imply that there were three minds and three different thought processes. But that's not the case. There is one God, but they have different roles.

Aubrey: It's more like the one head has three bodies!
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3 comments:

Amy Tagle said...

Very cute!!
I had to explain that to some 6th graders at Girls camp in June and after blank faces with my explanation, a lady chimed in and explained it like this: For instance - I am a wife, a mom, and a sister. Same person with different roles. That stuck with me and the kids understood that.

July 15, 2008 at 6:37 PM
Candace/Chloe said...

Too funny!!! We LOVE our evening devotions....the little ones say the funniest things!

July 16, 2008 at 2:55 PM
Adam Pastor said...

Greetings Tami

You state "the Trinity is ... always difficult to try to explain to children."

Could it be, because the Scriptures do not teach it!!

Jesus as a child was never taught it! Neither were any Jewish child of his era taught such a foreign concept.
Rather they were (and still are) taught
Deut 6.4-7!!

(Deu 6:4-7) Hear, O Israel:
The LORD our God is one LORD:
5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou iest down, and when thou risest up.

Jesus our Lord and Master, our Teacher; called these verses (commonly known as the Shema) as the first or greatest of all the commandments in Mark 12:28-34!!

This was therefore, Jesus' creed!
The Shema defines that
YAHWEH GOD Alone is ONE!
Hence, when Jesus quotes this verse, note the scribe's response:
(Mark 12:32) And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:

It ought to be obvious then, that neither Jesus nor the scribes believed in a trinity?!?
No, they recognized solely ONE Being, ONE Person as Almighty GOD.
Jesus identifies who that ONE GOD is:
(John 17:1) These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven,
and said, Father, ...
(John 17:3) And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Jesus identifies the Father as the only true GOD!
Paul (as well as the rest of the early church) followed their Master's teaching:
(1 Cor 8:4) ... that there is none other God but one.
(1 Cor 8:6) But to us there is but one God, the Father, ...

So, Tami, IMHO, you should teach your children that there is only ONE Person who is Almighty GOD!
And that is the Father.
The Father is the ONE GOD.
(That way, none of your children will start thinking of three heads or three bodies!)

So who is Jesus?
Ans: GOD's Son.

So there is ONE GOD, the Father.
And the man, Jesus our Lord, is GOD's Son!

(1 Tim 2:5) For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus;

The holy spirit is simply the invisible presence of both GOD and Christ in the church, in believers.
[John 14.23]

Children understand fathers & sons.
So a child can easily understand that the Father is GOD Almighty, whilst Jesus is his human Son!!

So, Jesus was taught Deut 6.4. It was his creed. Seeing that it is our Master's creed, it should also be our creed, as well as your children's.

Tami, I beseech you:
Don't try and teach your children the trinity, seeing that neither Jesus nor any of his disciples ever taught it!
Tami, that is my humble advice and prayer to you.
:-)

Also for more info,
I recommend this video:
The Human Jesus

Take a couple of hours to watch it; and prayerfully it will aid you in your quest for truth.

Yours In Messiah
Adam Pastor

July 19, 2008 at 2:16 PM

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