Knowing & Understanding God.. the Trinity

Knowing & Understanding God

Jeremiah 9:23-24 God wants us to know and understand Him... and He wants us to then pattern our lives after what we know. Because that is how we will get joy and pleasure from the gift of eternal life.

We know and understand Him through 1) what He does (hesed, exercises kindness, grace, mercy) and 2) what He says (guidelines for justice and righteousness).

What He Does: the record of Israel's history... is there to show YHWH in action… ready to bless with every good thing, but also ready to judge righteousness and justice, but with mercy. The Psalms & Prophets could be seen as reflections on what we come to know about God through His actions.

What He Says: God has given us a foundation of laws, statutes, and behavioral case studies. These are God's ideals for human interaction.

Then… God revealed Himself to us even more powerfully through the life and ministry of Jesus. God became a human being so that we might know God better (and visa versa).

The Trinity

However, most professing Christians (Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox) insist that God must be understood in a very different manner... the trinity.