The Trinity of Creation

Genesis 1:26

“fiat creation”  The Latin word fiat means “let there be.”  God speaks it into existence.

Let there be.  We’ve heard that over and over.  But verse 26 doesn’t say, “Let there be.”  It says what?  “Let us make man.”  This is brand new.  This is a very important difference.  This is a major shift in the language.

All the way along, verse 3, verse 6, verse 9, verse 11, verse 14, verse 20, verse 24.  Let there be.  Let there be.  That is an impersonal form of the Hebrew verb.  Let there be.  Almost as if God is not intimately involved.  Let there be.  But here it’s, “Let us make.”

At this point God becomes personal and because God is a trinity, when he introduces himself personally, it is in the plural language.  It is in the plural language.  I mean, in John chapter 1 is says that Jesus Christ created.  “All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made.”  Here it says God created.  Even the Spirit of God is said to have shaped the creation earlier in Genesis 1. 

Psalms 104:30

³⁰ Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.

The whole trinity is engaged in this.  And when God comes to the creation of the human race, he doesn’t employ the impersonal fiat terminology, “Let there be,” but he uses language that reveals he is speaking within himself, “Let us make man in our own image.”  You know what he’s letting us in on?  He’s letting us in on a trinitarian plan.  He’s in communion with himself about this most important of all creatures.

The full clarification of the doctrine of the trinity waits for the New Testament, where you get the complete theology.  But certainly the trinity is evident in the Old Testament.

You have the Spirit of God repeatedly referred to in the Old Testament.  You have the angel of the Lord who is none other than the pre-incarnate Son of God.  You have God himself.  You have an inner trinitarian communication here.  You have the Psalmist saying, “And the LORD said to my Lord.”  A conversation between the Father, no doubt, and the Son.

There are a number of revelations of the trinity in the Old Testament.  Psalm 2, the father saying to the son, “Today I have begotten you and given you the nations as an inheritance,” a messianic promise, a prophetic promise.

In fact, talking of Christ, the second member of the trinity,

Psalms 45:7

⁷ Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Well, that is a statement directly attributed to the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.  That is, again, an indication that God is communing with the Son.

Psalms 110:1

¹ The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

That’s the most quoted OT verse, mentioned in some form 25 times. The New Testament reveals it is applying to Christ.  So you have God the Father communicating with God the Son in a conversation between the two.

So there are conversations within the Godhead. But the full understanding of the trinity really blossoms in the New Testament.  Why?  Because the second member of the trinity becomes man.  Becomes incarnate. 

I know something of what that conversation was about. How do I know? The only way we can know anything…because it’s in the Bible.  This conversation was about redemption.  The earth had already been formed.  And according to Revelation 17:8, our names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. But when?  Before the foundation of the earth. 

So we know something of what that conversation was about before the shaping and the creating of the earth and before the creation of man.  It was a conversation that had reached such a level that names were actually recorded in God’s book.  Names, whose names were there?  Mine!  Yours, if you’re a believer.  And I also know, according to Ephesians chapter 1, that we were predestined to be in Christ from before the foundation of the world.  Right? 

We serve one God in three persons. We see all at work in Ephesians 1.

vv. 4-6     God planning our salvation.

vv. 7-12   The Son purchasing our salvation.

vv. 13-14 The Holy Spirit preserving our salvation.

Predestination is a most controversial topic because many use it to suggest that God picked some to be saved and some to be lost, and that we have no choice. It’s truly absurd. Many use it as an excuse for not witnessing to people, because whatever is gonna happen will happen with or without my effort. God willed me to be saved but not them. And it’s ironic to me that people who believe that way are always part of the elect, and so are their kids. Interesting.

Just to clarify: Whosoever will may come! God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Who are the elect? All who elect to accept Jesus’ offer of salvation. Who are the chosen? All who choose to believe. There are the whosoever wills and the whosoever won’ts. Predestination is understood by remembering that God exists outside of time and already has foreknowledge of who will be saved because in His mind they already are saved. He knows who will go to heaven because in His economy they are already in heaven. Ephesians teaches that we are already sitting with Him in the heavenlies! God saves the elect and then elects some more!

What about our free will?  We need to understand that salvation is usually looked at from OUR perspective, but sometimes the Bible presents it from God's perspective.  When from the latter, you will find terms like predestination, as well as election, foreordained, etc.  When presented from our perspective, you see words like 'all' and 'whosoever.'

Don't get the mistaken idea that some are born for heaven and some for hell.  Because the Bible is clear:  If you want Jesus, He wants you. God votes for you, the devil votes against you, and you form a majority by which one you vote with.

In God's mind you were saved in eternity past.  [foreknowledge]

In Jesus' mind you were saved at Calvary.

In the Spirit's mind, it was in that moment when you actually made your choice.

Like the woman at the well, Jesus finds us.

ill.--a little boy was asked if he had found Jesus yet.  He said, "I didn't know He was lost!"  You and I were the ones who were lost. He finds us. But if you don’t wanna be found He won’t force it.

How can we rectify that God planned our salvation from eternity past with what we know about man's free moral agency and free will?  The answer is found in the fact that He is God and we are not.  If our half pound brain can have it all figured out about the One who is eternal, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, then someone should gather around us and worship us! 

God is no respecter of persons.  Any and all are invited.  All who elect to take God up on His offer will be accepted.  All who don't, won't...no exceptions!

Back to the real point: I know something of what that conversation was about.  The Godhead, the trinity were communicating about redemption.  And a plan had unfolded in the mind of God, and this was the plan.  God perfectly loved the Son.  God wanted to demonstrate his love to the Son, and he determined that he would do that in a remarkable way.  That is, he would get a bride for his Son.  And by “a bride” he meant he would get a redeemed humanity who would honor his Son, adore his Son, love his Son, worship his Son, and serve his Son forever.  And literally he would bring that redeemed humanity up to where the trinity lives in the glories of heaven and they would live there forever.  That was the plan. He knew we would sin, given the option. And that perfectly fits the plan to rescue us, and show additional love. We are more valuable because we were not only created but also redeemed, bought back.

And so, let’s revisit a great truth already covered, but too amazing not to repeat: God made us in His image, a 3 part being of body, soul, and spirit. But because of the fall we have a sin nature, and our spirit is dead, so we are incomplete. We have a body that will only exist for a time, a soul that will exist forever, somewhere, and that location is determined by whether our spirit is quickened, made alive, born again. That happens when we repent of sin, believe, and are saved. We are complete then in God’s image, a 3 part being. Even our mind is a trinity of intellect [thinking], emotion [feelings], and will [decisions].

1 Thessalonians 5:23 [Paul said]

… I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So it should be no surprise to us that the Trinity formed us as a trinity of sorts, in His image, and that He created these three: time, space, and matter. You see, when He created everything, that was matter, but if you had matter and no space you wouldn’t know WHERE to put it. And if you had matter and no time you wouldn’t know WHEN to put it. (“beginning” = time; “heaven” = space; “earth” = matter)

And each of those are a trinity in themselves. Time is made up of past, present, and future. Space has length, width, and height. Matter is solid, liquid, or gas. And each molecule has protons, neutrons, and electrons. The fact that it’s all made in His image is a testament to His glory. And we were created for His glory!

Time, space, and matter. One day all that God created will come to an end, and God will recreate a new heaven and a new earth. WHAT, WHERE, AND WHEN.

The what, matter, will all be dissolved with a fervent heat. Our bodies will be no more. We will be given glorified bodies, with our same likeness, made perfectly in His image.

The where, space, will be His eternal kingdom.

And the when, time…well, time will be no more. Jesus said, “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.” Our timeless God, who created time, sent His Son who stepped into time to redeem us. One day it will be the last day…the evening and the morning were the last day. The Lamb will be the eternal light of forever heaven that is timeless. And there will be no more night!