The Christian Life is Trinitarian

Introduction

A. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. (1Peter 1:1-2)

B. God is trinitarian. But that’s not the point of this sermon. This sermon is about how the Christian life is trinitarian. Our relationship with God is trinitarian.

C. My story: In seminary I learned all about the Trinity. I learned how the doctrine of the Trinity was formulated in the early church. I learned to explain the doctrine of the Trinity. And I learned how to prove the doctrine of the Trinity from the Bible. The Trinity was a part of my theology, but it really wasn’t that much a part of my Christian life.
1. As I look back at it now, I think I was guilty of living and proclaiming an Old Testament Christianity, a Christianity that was largely unitarian, not theologically but practically.
a. What is unitarianism?
b. Practical unitarianism, like practical atheism
2. In some ways, my practical unitarianism was a reaction to other forms of practical unitarianism that I saw in the church.
a. Unitarianism of the Son: familiarity/friendship with God and love for others
b. Unitarianism of the Spirit: joy and exuberance, demonstrations of power, God speaking to you
3. Then, in 1997, 15 years ago, one of the things which began to change my thinking about things was a series of 12 sermons I preached on the Holy Spirit.
4. Two more instrumental things happened. First, late in the 90's I read Brian Chapell’s book, Christ-Centered Preaching, and in 2001 I preached a one-year sermon series on Jesus.
5. God began to show me that all three members of the Trinity had a vital role in my everyday life and in my relationship with God.
II. Thesis
A. The revelation of the three persons of the Trinity didn’t come all at the same time. Primarily, the Father was revealed first (OT), then the Son (the four gospels), and then the Holy Spirit (Acts).
B. The revelation of the Son and the Spirit are necessary updates or upgrades to our understanding of God and how to relate to Him.
C. The revelation of the Trinity changes the way we look at God, the way we worship God, the way we relate to God, the way we serve God.
III. The revealing of Jesus and the Spirit
A. OT history of human failure
1. God commands, man tries but fails. All previous saviors had failed.
2. Now man’s turn was over. Now God steps up to the plate to show what HE can do.
3. Up to the point when Christ comes, the story of the Bible has been about the failure of man.
B. Jesus comes as the Messiah, the Christ
1. Meaning of Messiah (Hebrew), Christ (Greek): anointed one
2. Kings, priests were anointed. What is so different about this promised one coming? He’s the anointed one. So what! There’s lots of anointed ones!
3. But there’s one thing Jesus didn’t have that all the other anointed ones had. He never got anointed with oil. He got baptized with water, but water doesn’t constitute an anointing. Anointing is with oil. And unlike all the priests and kings in the Bible, Jesus never got anointed with oil.
4. The answer to this dilemma is found in Acts 10:37-38 “You yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”
a. This tells us how Jesus was anointed. He was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power.
b. When the Spirit came upon Jesus in the form of a dove (Luke 3:21-22), that’s when Jesus was anointed, not with oil, but with the Holy Spirit, who the oil symbolizes.
c. Jesus is the One anointed with the true oil of the Holy Spirit, not with mere earthly oil.
5. And what happens as soon as the Holy Spirit comes upon Jesus at His baptism?
a. “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.” (Luke 4:1) “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee.” (Luke 4:14)
b. “He came to Nazareth, and as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ ” (Luke 4:16-19)
6. Why is it significant that Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and went forth in the Spirit’s power? When Jesus began His ministry, He did not do it by His own power as the Son of God.
a. That would have done us little good in terms of how we can have the power to do God’s will.
b. Rather, it was by the power of the Spirit that He ministered.
(1) It was by the Spirit's power that He performed signs and wonders (Matt. 12:28; Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38), it was by the Spirit’s power that He cast out demons (Matthew 12:28), and it was by the power of the Spirit that He proclaimed the gospel (Luke 4:18; Matt. 12:18; Acts 1:2).
(2) Just as He was directed not by His own agenda, but by His Father's (John 5:19-20,30; 8:26-29,42; 14:10,24), so He was driven not by His own power, but by the Spirit's.
C. And then after He pours out His life, even to the point of dying on the cross for our sins (by the Spirit – Hebrews 9:14), Jesus pours out the Spirit upon His church at Pentecost. He gives His people the power of the Spirit to imbue them with the same power He had.
1. Fulfilling OT prophecy: Ezek.36:27 “I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”
2. But power for ministry & power for obedience is just one part of the Spirit’s work in the believer.
a. The Spirit is the One who takes our hearts of stone and turns them into hearts of flesh (Ezek11:19; 36:26), raising us to life who were dead in sin, causing us to be born again (“born of the Spirit”).
b. The Spirit is the One who convicts of sin (John 16:8) and grants us repentance (2Tim.2:25).
c. The Spirit is the One who shows us Christ, and opens our eyes to who He is.
(1) John 16:13-14 “When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you.”
(2) John 15:26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me.”
d. The Spirit is the One who moving us to cry ‘Abba Father’ (Gal.4:6) and testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God (Romans 8:16).
e. The Spirit is the One who opens our eyes to the vast riches of our inheritance in Christ and who puts hope in our hearts as we look forward to the coming of Christ on the last day.
f. The Spirit is the One who represents Christ to us, in the sense that we know Christ and fellowship with Christ through the Spirit.
(1) Matthew 28:20 “...lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
(2) How is Jesus with us until the end of the age? Jesus is not here right now in the flesh. He ascended to the Father in heaven.
(3) Jesus is with us now through the Holy Spirit. This is how we connect with Christ in this age.
(4) Christ dwelling in our hearts is the same thing as the Holy Spirit indwelling us (John14:16-20).
(5) In two places the Holy Spirit is actually referred to as “the Spirit of Christ.” (Rm.8:9, 1Pt.1:11)
D. There is a great deal we knew about God and how to serve Him in the OT.
1. We knew that God was our creator, who made us and therefore has an absolute right to our worship and obedience.
2. We knew that God was our authority — sovereign One on the throne
3. We knew that God was our law-giver, commanding us how to live, how to relate to Him and to our fellow man, and that we are obligated to do what He requires of us.
4. We knew that God was our judge, rewarding those who keeps His commands, punishing those who do not.
5. We knew that God was our disciplinarian and tester
6. We knew that God was our Sustainer and our Provider
7. Deliverer of His people
E. The coming of Christ is many things to us, adding to our knowledge of God in the OT.
1. He is the revelation and accomplishment of divine grace and forgiveness.
2. In His incarnation, the extent of the love of God was revealed. Not only does God know us and what we’re going through on account of His omniscience, but He knows us and what we’re going through because He’s been here, He’s suffered like we suffer, He’s experienced our weariness and our temptation and our weakness. So we have a sympathetic savior.
3. A call to humble ourselves and lay down our lives for others and have compassion on the weak.
4. Teaching and showing us about how to live and how to think and what’s important
5. Informing us of the goodness of all things in God’s creation
6. He showed us that even those who think of themselves as good are as bad as the ones we think are bad, and equally in need of God’s mercy & forgiveness, calling us to have compassion on sinners.
7. He is God’s guarantee that all things are for us, and God’s call to accept suffering and know that God uses it for good.
8. His coming is the inauguration of the kingdom of God and the promise of our resurrection.
9. He is not just a great prophet — the greatest prophet.
a. Islam: Mohammed the greatest prophet. Jesus a lesser prophet.
b. But Jesus is much more than this. He is the word of God. Hebrews 1:1-3 “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature.”
(1) “God has spoken to us in His Son” not “God has spoken to us through His Son”
(2) “In the beginning was the word!” (John 1:1) He is the ultimate communication of God. Not brings, but is! “He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature.”
10. Christianity is not just a set of ideas, originating mainly from Jesus. Jesus Christ Himself is the center of it all. It is not just what He taught, it is not even just what He did, it is not even just who He was. It is who He is! All His teachings and works point ultimately to Him. All history points ultimately to Him. All creation points ultimately to Him. Even the Father Himself points to Him: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to Him!" (Matt.17:5)
IV. God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. Each is God. Each is an important part of our lives.