There Is Only One God

Section 1: God

Week 3: God Exists As Trinity

Day 3: There Is Only One God

Deut. 6:4-9

When we say there are three persons in the Trinity and each person is God, it sounds a lot like we’re saying there are three Gods. But the Bible is clear that there is only one God. Deut. 6:4-5, for example, declares: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

Each member of the Trinity is fully God, yet there is one God.  That’s where the mystery comes in. We ultimately don’t understand exactly how that works. We don’t know how God can exist as three distinct persons, yet remain one undivided being. There’s nothing like the Trinity in our human experience. But that shouldn’t surprise us. God is much greater than anything in our experience. So why would we think we could understand his existence completely?

In God’s three-in-oneness, we see a profound unity among the members of the Trinity. Because we were created in God’s image, we are capable of experiencing a similar kind of unity in our own relationships. Whether it’s in the workplace or in our communities or in our families, we find that we are, in one sense, distinct individuals with distinct roles, yet the potential for unity exists in the midst of that diversity.

Clearly this kind of unity is not the same unity God himself experiences within the Trinity. Nevertheless, God has intentionally given us the desire and capability of relating to other people in this way because it reflects his own relational nature. Unity among people is, of course, difficult to achieve in this world. But if we truly want to reflect God’s image, it’s a challenge we have to embrace.

Reflection Question:

 Do you look at your relationships as an opportunity to reflect God’s own unity?

Challenge:

List your three most important relationships. Identify one change you could make today that would bring greater unity to those relationships.