God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit Explained

The Trinity is one of the most widely discussed and debated subjects in Christianity today. Is Jesus the Son of God, or is He God Himself who came in the flesh? Who is the Holy Spirit, and what is the Holy Spirit’s relationship to the Trinity?

While many Christian denominations believe in the Trinity, there are different understandings of what it means and how it is explained according to their interpretation of the Bible.

As Christianity has spread throughout the world, many people know that Christians believe in Jesus as the Savior. However, not everyone has the same understanding of who Jesus is.

With many different teachings and interpretations of the Trinity among churches and denominations, it can be difficult to know what the Bible actually teaches about Him. For this reason, the most important teaching we should consider is not simply what people or denominations teach, but what the Bible says.

What Is the Trinity?

The members of the World Mission Society Church of God believe in the Trinity, which means God the Father Jehovah, God the Son Jesus and God the Holy Spirit are one God, not separate entities.

In order to understand the meaning of the Trinity correctly, let us think of the transformation of water. Liquid, ice and vapour are different in form and name but they all have the same substance of H2O.

Likewise, God appeared as the Saviour in a different form and with a different name in different ages, but the Triune God is the same in substance.

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

The Bible testifies that Jesus, who was born as a child, is Mighty God Jehovah. In other words, God the Father and God the Son are one and the same God (John 10:30).

Even the apostles in the early church understood the relationship between Jehovah and Jesus, testifying that Jesus is in very nature God.

Romans 9:5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

The apostles taught that Jesus, who was by nature God the Father Jehovah, came as a man to save us.

The Holy Spirit too refers to Jesus, who is God the Father.

1 John 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

In the verse above, Jesus is referred to as the Advocate. However, in another verse, we see that the Holy Spirit is also referred to as the Advocate.

John 14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

With these Scriptures in mind, it is  clear that God the Father – Jehovah, God the Son – Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit all refer to the one God.

God Is the Saviour in Three Different Ages

The reason God appears in three distinct identities within the Trinity is that He appears in three different ages, using three different names for the salvation of His people.

Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…

Jesus said that we must be baptised in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In other words, this simply means that the Father has a name, the Son has a name, and the Holy Spirit has a name as well.

The name of the Father is Jehovah, the name of the Son is Jesus, then what is the name of the Holy Spirit?

Revelation 3:12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.

According to prophecy, when Christ comes a second time, just before the Day of Judgment, He will come with a new name, the name of the Holy Spirit.

God Can Appear as a Passerby

Judaism and Islam are among the world’s largest religions. However, both teach that God cannot appear in human form.

This comes from a mindset that places limits on God rather than recognising Him as the Almighty Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. He is omnipresent and omnipotent, and nothing is too difficult for God.

He can be born as a man and appear as a passerby or even as a beggar. So it should not be a surprise if God is born as a human being in this world.

Genesis 18:1-3 The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. He said, “If I have found favour in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by.

Then Abraham made some bread and took a tender calf, and he brought some curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set them before God.

Genesis 32:24,30 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till day break. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

What we should especially know is that God exists not only as a spirit but also in the flesh.

Why Did Jesus Receive the Holy Spirit From God if He Is God?

Among those who do not believe that Jesus is God, Christians and non-Christians alike point to the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus after His baptism, arguing that Jesus cannot be God if He received the Holy Spirit from God.

This reasoning comes from thinking that once God is born into this world, then He is no longer in heaven.

God is omniscient, omnipotent and  omnipresent, He fills the whole universe, so the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain Him.

Jeremiah 32:27 “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?

Jeremiah 23:24 Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?”

Even if God is born as myriads of men with flesh like Jesus, His entity still exists as it is.

For example, the electricity that is produced in a power plant is divided into tens of millions of electrical wires and delivered to the electrical appliances such as lights, stoves, motors and so on, as needed in each house, but the power plant remains as it is.

Likewise God is immutable; His substance remains the same.

Why Is Jesus Called the Son of God if He Is God Himself?

Jesus is God Himself, yet He is called the Son of God or the One whom God sent, because He was born into the world with a human body.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Matthew wrote the meaning of the name as follows:

Matthew 1:23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

John 1:1, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

The name Immanuel or Jesus implies that the Holy Spirit comes in the flesh and saves His people from their sins and is with them.

Even though Jesus called Himself the Son of God, the Pharisees denounced Him because they knew that Christ, the Son of God, was to be God Himself.

John 10:33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

We must understand that God sees everything. Nothing is hidden from God, everything lies bare and exposed before the eyes of God. He holds the whole universe in His hands. God is the Almighty, who searches even the smallest things.

So for God to come in the flesh should not be inconceivable at all. In the last days too, the Word has become flesh and dwelt among us. His name is Christ Ahnsahnghong and He came from the far ends of the earth in South Korea according to the prophecies of the Bible.

The Church of God has over 7800 churches in 175 countries and all members believe in the Trinity and the existence of God the Mother, who appears with the Holy Spirit in the last age to grant mankind the water of life.

Let us study the Bible diligently and receive God who comes to the earth in the flesh for the salvation of mankind and let us have a greater hope of entering the kingdom together.