Understanding The Holy Trinity, an analogy.

 

Having difficulty understanding the Trinity?

Understanding The Holy Trinity
 (an analogy)

Some people have a hard time grasping the concept of the Holy Trinity. For some, it is just to difficult to imagine that God, his Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one (Catholics teach this along with other Christian denominations) Click on the link below to read the Wikipedia text to see what the Mormons originally taught.

(Mormons originally taught the Adam -God doctrine)

Several years ago I wrote a simple explanation of the Holy Trinity in hopes that the class I was teaching would better understand the relationship between God, his son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. I hope after reading this, the concept of the Trinity makes a little more sense.  

Think of God as the Sun

There is one God *, only one God, one son which is God’s word made manifest as flesh** and one Holy Spirit. Think of God as the sun and Jesus as the rays of the sun. The sun produces light and heat. We can see the image of the sun, and the light that radiates from the sun. We can also feel the heat from the sun. Just so we are on the same page thus far, we can see the image of the sun, the sunlight (rays) and the heat from the Sun.

1. Sun Image (Sun)
2. Light from the Sun
3. We can feel the heat from the Sun

Just as the sun cannot be without the light of its rays, the rays of the sun could not be without the Sun. The sun and its rays are one, without beginning or end, they are the same. You can't have one without the other. You cannot separate the sun from the light it produces just as you cannot separate the sunlight from the sun. Think of God our father as the sun and Jesus is the sunlight, they are one in the same. You can't have one without the other. The Holy Spirit is the warmth of the light from the sun. 

1.  Think of God as the Sun
2.  Think of Jesus as the light of the sun or rays of the Sun
3.  Think of the Holy Spirit as the warmth of the light of the Sun.

The sun produces heat which is carried by the light. Just as you have light, you have heat. The sun, the light and the heat are all one; one cannot be separated from the others. If you have one you have all three, just as God, the son, and the Holy Spirit are one. You can’t have one without the other. 

*1 Corinthians 8:6

But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we live for him. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life. (NLV)

**John 1(NIV)

The Word Became Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life,and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

In these passages, we see that there is only one God and one Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is the word of God made flesh.  God saw a need to communicate with his people in a form they could identify with, human as they were.  In the old testament, God communicated with his people through prophets. For a variety of reasons, God believed he needed to come to earth.  So he came to earth in a manner which people could identify with, as a baby.  He walked among the people for 30 years before he started his 3 year ministry.  

Just so we are on the same page.

God came to earth and became Jesus.  God and Jesus are one in the same.  Jesus is the word of God made human.  Instead of communicating through prophets, he came to earth and began his 3 year ministry communicating to not only the Jews but the gentiles. God was communicating to those around him in a form they could identify with, as human.  

So God and Jesus are one and the same, just as the Sun and the light from the sun are one in the same.  

The Holy Spirit is introduced in .....

John 14:16 (NIV)

Jesus said, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever."

Jesus told his disciples that when he left them he would ask his father to provide them with an advocate (holy spirit) to help them and be with them forever.  

It is easiest for me to understand that the advocate is the spirit of Jesus.

To recap

1.  God

2.  The word of god came to earth in the form of human, Jesus

3.  When Jesus died, he left his spirit with all of us, the Holy Spirit.

So you see, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one in the same.

I hope this helps.