“THE TRINITARIAN CREATION"
The Holy Trinity
June 11, 2017
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Genesis 1:1-3 (ESV)
At one time or another in our lives, most of us have probably studied the three articles of the Apostles' Creed from the Small Catechism of Martin Luther. We learned there how each of these three articles describes a particular Identity and work of One of the Persons of the Godhead. The first article tells us about God the Father and His work of creation, the second deals with God the Son and reveals to us His sacrificial work of redemption, and the third speaks about God the Holy Spirit and His work of sanctification. In this way we can see how each of the Persons of the Trinity is primarily responsible for a particular part of the divine task. The Father made and continues to make everything that exists--us and everything that we need for our well-being and happiness. The Son is the One who has become human so that He could live a perfect life under the Law of God and shed His blood on the cross in our place in order to redeem us from sin and death and reconcile us sinners to our God of perfect justice. The Holy Spirit is the One who has made us children of God and causes us to grow as children of God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is given to us in the means of grace. All of this is very significant for us especially on this particular day as we celebrate the Holy Trinity.
Something that we perhaps don’t think about as often as we should is the fact that our God--the God who has revealed Himself in Three Persons--is nevertheless One. Because He is a perfect Unity, all three Persons of the Godhead are actively involved in every aspect of divine activity. While the Father is primarily concerned with creation, He is not absent or uninvolved in our redemption or our sanctification. The same could be said about the Son and the Holy Spirit. While each Person of the Trinity has His own particular Identity and work, each is involved in all of it just the same. So that we might better understand and appreciate this, let’s spend these few minutes this morning reflecting on how each of the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity is intimately involved in the work of creation, especially as this is revealed to us in the very opening words of the Holy Scriptures.
The fact that God the Father is involved in creation ought to be obvious to us. After all, that’s why we call Him Father: because He is the Creator of everything and everyone. He is especially the Creator of all people who, the Word of God tells us, have been created “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27). The entire human family is one, despite all of the racial, social, and ethnic diversity that we see when we look around us. When the apostle Paul preached at the Areopagus about "the unknown God” (Acts 17:23), he spoke about this unity of mankind when he said: “He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26). The Father’s work in creation extends far beyond human beings, for we are told in Colossians that “by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16). It is clear that God is our Father since it is He and He alone who has given us the precious gift of life and supplies us with everything that we need for that life to survive and grow.
God the Son is also an active Partner in creation. John the evangelist refers to the pre-incarnate Christ as “the Word” (John 1:1) and tells us that “all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men” (John 1:3, 4). All of this fits together perfectly since in the passage before us the agent of God’s creation is, in fact, His Word. “God said . . .” and it was done. According to the Fourth Gospel it is this creative Word of God that “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). The Savior who lived and suffered and died and rose again for us and in whom we trust for forgiveness and salvation is, in fact, the very Creator of heaven and earth and everything in them. This God, revealed to the ancient people of God in the Law and the Prophets, has revealed Himself finally and completely in the incarnation of His Son, as the writer to the Hebrews tells us: “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days He has spoken to us by a Son, whom He appointed the Heir of all things, through whom also He created the world” (Hebrews 1:1, 2 RSV).
The Holy Spirit, while primarily concerned with our sanctification, is nevertheless involved in creation as well. That’s why the Nicene Creed describes Him as “the Lord and Giver of life” (Nicene Creed, Article III). Our text from Genesis says that “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” From the very beginning the Spirit was there, intimately engaged in the creation of the universe. The Holy Spirit is that Person of the Godhead who makes God known to men. Whenever and wherever people learn about God, the Spirit is at work. Whenever and wherever people are convicted of their sin and come to trust in the grace of God in Jesus Christ for forgiveness and salvation, the Spirit is at work. Whenever and wherever people respond to this grace of God with good works that are born of saving faith in Christ, the Spirit is at work. It is this Spirit who has created faith in our hearts through the Gospel of Christ and it is He who causes that faith to grow and mature as He continuously gives us the nourishment of that same Gospel in Word and Sacrament.
Everybody in the world has a god, no matter how vehemently he may deny it, since everybody is wholeheartedly devoted to someone or something and lives his life according to certain principles, whether those principles be good or evil, loving or selfish. But unfortunately not everyone knows who God is. This fact is made abundantly clear to us as we look at the religious pluralism that surrounds us. What a lot of people don’t understand or at least don’t want to accept is the reality that not everyone who says that he believes in God is worshiping the same God. There is, in fact only one true God--the One who has revealed Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--the One who has created us out of nothing, redeemed us from sin and death with His own innocent blood, and called us to faith and discipleship through the Gospel. It is this Triune God that we celebrate today, giving thanks for everything that He has done and continues to do for us to keep us close to Him and trusting in His saving mercy so that we might, by His grace, revealed in His Son, receive the even greater blessings that are yet to come--blessings that He has promised to us in the Gospel and in which we can have complete confidence, knowing that He alone is our All in All.
Amen.
May the King of Ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, make you wise for salvation through His Word, revealing Himself to you as Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, that you may grow in grace and knowledge, equipped to serve Him in all things. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Amen.