Monthly Article by Dr. Bryan J. Hult www.renewingtruth.blogspot.com Feel free to use my content, but please give credit to my work.

Copyright 2011 Dr. Bryan J. Hult

August newsletter Oneness Ive used the word Trinity ever since I sang This is my Fathers World in childrens church many years ago. Scripture does not use the term Trinity, but it is clearly taught. We believe God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are three persons in one Godhead. We see it in Jesus baptism,1 Jesus teaching to the disciples2 and Pauls writings.3 In the concept of Trinity there is the truth of oneness. God the Father is equal to God the Son and equal to God the Holy Spirit. That equality emphasizes the oneness in the Trinity. There are three distinct Persons, yet one God. Each of the members of the Trinity has a different role, but they are one in purpose, essence and being. God wants His people, the church, to live out both aspects: different roles and one in purpose, essence and being. Christians have different roles as members of the Body of Christ. Husbands and wives have different roles in marriage. Parents and children have different roles in family structure. Church leaders and members have different roles in church function. Despite the difference in roles, we are to live out oneness in purpose, essence and being as being complete in Christ.4 The first time that this oneness concept is mentioned in Genesis is when God said, Let us make man (singular) in our image, according to Our likeness (oneness); let them (plural) have dominion over(all the creatures)5 Then we read, So God created man (singular) in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female(their roles)6 We immediately see it again when God brings the woman to Adam and Scripture says, They shall become one flesh7 The two persons with different roles were to act in oneness of purpose, essence and being in marriage. Unfortunately, the Fall in Genesis 3 distorted both roles and oneness. Ever since then, God has been redeeming mankind back to those divinely ordained roles and that oneness.

As sin reigns, both are distorted. When God is in control, then roles are fulfilled and oneness is seen in the Body of Christ. For example, Paul writes, For in fact the body is not one member but many.8 Every Christian is unique in the Body and important for the structure and function in the Body. We were never intended to be like everyone else. Every member has strengths and weaknesses and those strengths are what make the Body function well! In fact, God assembles the Body so that each unique person will contribute to the Body function, If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body?... But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.9 AND, in each unique role, God designs us as one: But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.10 As Gods people function as one Body, they reflect the oneness of the Trinity, but when they dont, the Body suffers. To the extent that Christians do their own thing, they limit mirroring oneness in the Body. When husband and wife do their own thing, the marriage weakens. When parents and children do their own thing (often when busyness takes away from spiritual development), the family weakens. You can apply the principle to any other area of life! Even a football team that fails to function as one has much less opportunity to win. Church members or groups within the church that function separately from the whole have a much greater opportunity to be distracted by the enemy and dont reflect oneness of the Trinity. As we move toward the end of summer and into the fall, lets reflect on oneness and represent the Godhead to the world! God is most glorified when we most closely reflect Him!
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Matthew 3:13-17; 2Matthew 28:19-20; 3Ephesians 2:18; Galatians 4:6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 4Colossians 2:9-10; 5Genesis 1:26; 6Genesis 1:27; 7Genesis 2:24; 81 Corinthians 12:14; 91 Corinthians 12:15,18; 101 Corinthians 12:20