One Triune God: Eternal Spirit Being w/ 3 Members God is Spirit. God is infinitely complex. God is eternal, existing and functioning as three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All three are each fully and equally God and possess the same divine nature. Functionally, the role of the Son is subordinate to the role of the Father and the role of the Holy Spirit is subordinate to the role of the Son. Those who worship our one true God must worship in Spirit and truth (John 4:24). We do not have three “gods” - we have ONE GOD in three persons functioning uniquely and perfectly. (John 14:25-31) (Matthew 28:19) (2 Corinthians 13:14) (1 Peter 1:1-2) The members of the Holy Trinity are persons, they are all capable of having a personal relationship with each other and with the humans that they collectively created. God is a social being. From eternity past, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have continually interrelated as persons (in complete harmony). Human beings were given the honor to enter into communion with their sovereign, triune, tri-personal God and to love each other as God’s image-bearers. All three Persons of the Godhead shared in the purpose of creating human beings for personal relationship. All three are interested in having personal interaction with us. TITLE: F A T H E R S O N H O L Y S P I R I T Biblical Name HEBREW / English YHWH / Father God YAHUSHUA / Jesus Christ RUACH HAQOADESH / Holy Spirit Godhead Role THE FATHER Supreme in authority, set His seal upon Jesus (John 6:27) Responsible for devising the grand purposes and plans that take place through all of creation and redemption. THE SAVIOR, SON Submits to the Father’s authority. Has unlimited power (Matthew 28:18) Seeks always to do the Father’s will. Although the Son is fully God, he nonetheless takes his lead from the Father (John 8:28-29, 42) Seeks to glorify the Father in all that He does THE COUNSELOR, COMFORTER Submits to both Father, Son Seeks to glorify the Son, to the ultimate praise of the Father (John 16:14, 1 Cor 12:3; Philippians 2:11) He resurrects, enlivens the previously-dead spirits of “born again” believers. He intercedes in prayer to the Father. Human Prayer Interaction (Ephesians 2:18) We pray to the Father Even though Jesus accepted worship (Mat 14:33)(Jn 9:38), He taught us to pray to the Father . We pray through the Son. We pray helped by the Holy Spirit

One Triune God: Descriptive Names / Titles Shield of the Trinity OLD TESTAMENT: The Bible presents God as a Holy Trinity (three Persons, but only one God). In both Genesis 1:26 and in Genesis 3:22, the Bible reveals a conversation within the Trinity wherein created man is described as made “in our image” and “like one of us.” There are other passages in the Old Testament in which God refers to Himself using plural constructions. It is interesting to note that the plural form of the title “Elohim” is applied to God over 2,500 times in the Old Testament. NEW TESTAMENT: The presence of the triune God can be found right at the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, when, at His baptism, the Father and the Holy Spirit attest to the sending of the incarnate Son of God: "And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heaven parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.” Then a voice came from heaven, 'You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased'" (Mark 1: 10-11). The Son of God, as is revealed here, works in unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit. A clear reference to God's triune nature is also found in the wording of the blessing at the end of the the Apostle Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen" (2 Corinthians 13: 13).

One Triune God: The Great “I AM” – Father YHWH In His infinite wisdom, God chose to provide us with His written Word as a progressive revelation. God did not communicate everything all at once. Some Old Testament concepts only appear as a shadow of the fullness that would be revealed in the New Testament following the advent of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God’s self-proclaimed name that He shared in the Old Testament is an awesome example of this progressive revelation. What Does “Yahweh” Mean? “Yahweh” is the personal name of God in the Bible; called the “Tetragrammaton” It is composed of four letters, no vowels. The Hebrew letters are Yod, Hey, Vav, Hey, read right to left in the Hebrew, left to right in English (YHWH). Hebrew letters all have meanings. Yod: The smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet and is masculine in gender. It portrays the symbol of an entire hand, or closed hand, from the wrist to the fingertips. This is distinguished from another letter, kaf, that means “palm” Hey: This letter of the Hebrew alphabet is feminine in gender. It means “to behold” “to show” or “to reveal.” Vav: This letter of the Hebrew alphabet is masculine in gender. It portrays the symbol of a “nail” “peg” or “hook” and signifies something that is being nailed or bound together. So when read in Hebrew, right to left, God’s name means: “Behold the Nail, Behold the Hand” or simply “Behold the nailed hand” It becomes even more profound when we combine the meaning of the individual letters with the overall meaning of the name YHWH which means “salvation.” “Behold, the nailed hand is salvation” There are other Biblical references to the Messiah’s pierced hands and feet” (Zechariah 12:10) (Psalms 22:16) “Yahweh” is the personal name of God, much like Abraham and Sarah are personal names. Words like Elohim (God), El (Mighty), Shaddai (Almighty) and Adonai (Master) are titles. And of course “Lord” is a title. Consider the Third Commandment: “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain” (Deuteronomy 5:11). The word “LORD” above is not in the original manuscripts. “Yahweh” is what was originally written. The Jews changed the word “Yahweh” in their torahs because they believed it was blasphemy to pronounce the personal name of the Lord out loud. Thousands of times God put His personal name in Scripture and each time it’s been changed to a title! If a man wrote a love letter to his wife, would she want to read, “Dear Woman” or “Dear Wife” or would she rather read “Dear Susan, etc.?” “Yahweh” wanted a personal relationship with the Jews. He even set up a temporary sacrificial system so He could live right in their midst. (Isaiah 29:13) In the Church Age, Jesus is the personal name we use to address our Lord of lords. We can say, “Jesus, Lord of my life.” But it’s actually quite impersonal to address Him with titles like “Dear Lord,” “Lord God,” etc. “Jesus” wants to have a personal relationship with us. But no more sacrifices are necessary. Yahweh paid it all on the Cross and has given us the power of His Spirit, living in us, to accomplish His will.

As for Me and my house… we will serve the Lord Joshua 24:15 As for Me and my house… we will serve the Lord