Three-In-One

God the Son

Worthy of Praise

Humans like to learn and understand things, so for thousands of years people have tried to make sense of God's three-in-oneness with different images and symbols and descriptions. None of them are exactly perfect. The Trinity is too supernatural for perfect descriptions. But here's one way people have tried to put it into words:

  • God is the Father. God is the Son. God is the Spirit.
  • The Father is God. The Son is God. The Spirit is God.
  • The Father is not the Son. The Father is not the Spirit.
  • The Son is not the Father. The Son is not the Spirit.
  • The Spirit is not the Father. The Spirit is not the Son.

Here's a graphic that shows the same thing, sometimes called the Trinity Shield:

The words and graphic are clear — but the truth is still too big and deep for humans to fully grasp.

One thing is for sure: since Jesus Christ is God, he is worthy of our praise. The Bible talks about Jesus both being God himself and also obeying God the Father. He humbled himself as a human and also was elevated to the place of highest honor. Jesus is love and also Lord. Jesus is Savior and also King.

This is the Jesus we follow. This is the Jesus we love and learn from. This is the Jesus whose sincere and shocking humility we are told to imitate.

Read & Reflect

Philippians 2:6-11

  • In a journal, list everything these verses say about Jesus.
  • Most people want to rule their own lives. We cling to “divine privileges” that aren’t even ours to begin with. Jesus — the only human being who actually deserved to cling to divine privileges since he actually is God — gave up his rightful privilege of self-rule in order to save and serve us.
  • What kinds of self-rule do you cling to?
  • What is so difficult about letting them go?
  • In what areas of life do you need to pursue more humble obedience to God? Read verses 1-5. How do they relate to verses 6-11?
  • What does it mean to you that Jesus is both Savior and Lord? Do you think of Jesus as someone you should worship and honor, or as more of a friend? Why?

Extra Info

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Many scholars believe that Philippians 2:6-11 is one of the earliest church hymns. It’s sometimes called the “Kenosis Hymn” because the word for ‘he emptied’ (in v. 7) is ekenosen.

Extra Verses

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Revelation 5 is a vision of both humble Jesus and reigning Jesus.

Extra Things

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Listen to Amena Brown’s spoken word “He is Here” about Jesus being present here as himself and within the Trinity.

Listen to Andrew Peterson’s “Is He Worthy?”​ about Jesus Christ being worthy of our praise.

Listen to "Jesus, Son, of God."