We Believe In the Trinity [Episode 000]
February 3, 2020 Speaker: Danny Slavich
Passage: Genesis 1:1–1:36, Exodus 3:14, Exodus 34:5–34:7, Matthew 28:19
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1. Key Scriptures in this Episode
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.,
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:1-3)
Then Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?” God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM., This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation. (Exodus 3:13–15)
The LORD [Yahweh] came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed his name, “the LORD.” The LORD passed in front of him and proclaimed: The LORD—the LORD is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation. (Exodus 34:5-7)
Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
2. Key Concepts in this Episode
a. The Creator/creature distinction. God is different than the things he makes. He is eternal and self-sufficient, but the thing he makes are temporary and depend on him for their existence.
b. God is eternal. He pre-dates his creation. There was never a time when God was not God.
c. God is the creator. God made everything that has been made. He made everything ex nihilo (from nothing).
d. God speaks/reveals himself. We depend on God for knowledge about God and the world. He reveals himself through creation (general revelation) and through his Word, both the eternal Word incarnate (Jesus Christ) and the written word of the Bible.
e. God is a Trinity. God is eternally one Being subsisting in three eternally distinct persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.