Before we can understand the image
of the Holy Trinity in living cells,
we first need to understand...
THE HOLY TRINITY
.
1. COMMUNICATION
IMAGE
God is Communication
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God (John 1:1). God is communication.
Self-Communication
What does God communicate? There is no space, time, matter or anything else in eternity apart from God. The only thing God can communicate is God's only self, the divine nature or essence.
Divine Persons
The divine nature is absolutely indivisible. Which means it cannot be communicated in part, but only in its entirety. What is the entire divine nature? It is nothing less than God. God's self-communication doesn't produce other, separate Gods, but rather distinct divine persons. The difference is a divine person is fully divine, but not a separate God.
2. THREE
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Unique Persons
Just as every human person is unique, so is every divine person. But there is only one divine nature which is absolutely identical for each divine person. How then can divine persons be different? The answer is communication.
Threefold Communication
Communication consists of giving or receiving something, such as information, or in this case, the divine nature. There are only three ways to communicate:
- Give (without receiving);
- Give and receive;
- Receive (without giving).
Three Divine Persons
There cannot be any other, hidden divine persons because there are no other ways God can be differentiated by communication, or indeed anything else for that matter. God must be three, a Trinity of divine Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
3. Father, Son and Holy Spirit IMAGE
IDENTICAL
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are identical since they are each fully divine. However, they are not three separate gods, but one God because they communicate the same divine nature.
DIFFERENT
While the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are identical in terms of divinity, they are different in terms of the way they communicate the divine nature. This is why they have different names.
Father
- GOD
- Only gives the divine nature, never receives it.
Son
- GOD
- Gives and receives the divine nature.
Holy Spirit
- GOD
- Only receives the divine nature, never gives it.
4. UNI-DIRECTIONALITY
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Communication in One Direction
If we now consider the Father, Son and Holy Spirit together, as a unified whole (after all, they are one God because they are united by the communication of the same divine nature), we find the divine nature is communicated in quite an unexpected pattern. It is not communicated in an endless cycle without beginning or end as we might expect for God who has no beginning or end. Rather, the Holy Trinity is LINEAR. Eternity has a direction! There is an arrow of communication, running from the Father, to the Son and finally into the Holy Spirit.
Beginning
(Father)
The Father does not receive the divine nature from anywhere else. This is because the Father is the source of all divinity in the Trinity. That is, the Father is the origin of the Son and the Holy Spirit's divine nature.
Middle
(Son)
The Son receives His divine nature from the Father, and the Son also communicates it to the Holy Spirit. The Son is therefore in-between the Father and the Holy Spirit.
End
(Holy Spirit)
The Father communicates the divine nature to the Holy Spirit through the Son. The Holy Spirit is the endpoint of all communication in the Trinity. Just as the Father is an infinite source, so the Holy Spirit is an infinite sink of divinity.
5. ORIGINS
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5.1 Who Made God?
If God exists, then who made God? This is becoming an increasingly popular question to ask nowadays. There are two answers to this question - not alternative answers, there are actually two answers. First, God has no origin. Second, the origin of God is God. There is no contradiction here at all. In fact, there's more. Not only does God have no origin, and God is the origin of God's own self, but God has multiple origins.
5.2 Internal Origins
God has no origin because nothing existed before God. God is the only entity who is without origin - everything else which exists has an origin. If your god had an origin then, sorry, it's not really god. This is why the question, "who made God?", seems silly at first, because the very definition of God is to have no origin. But it turns out, it is not silly at all. Because if we look inside God, what we find are internal origins.
5.3 The Origin of the Son
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are each fully divine, however, if they were each without origin, they would be three separate gods. This is not the case. They are one God, because they are inseparably united to one another by communication of one and the same divine nature. The difference between the Father and the Son is that the Father does not receive His divinity from anyone and anything else, whereas the Son receives His divinity from the Father. In other words, the Father is the origin of the Son.
5.4 The Origin of the Holy Spirit
The Son is not the only Person with an origin in the Trinity, so does the Holy Spirit. But the origin of the Holy Spirit is different from that of the Son. Again, this follows on from one of the essential principles of the Trinity, namely, wherever there is plurality, there must be difference. So, not only are the three Persons different, but now we find that the two origins are also different from one another. Whereas the Son originates from the Father alone, the Holy Spirit originates from the Father and the Son, or from the Father though the Son.
FATHER
No Origin
The Father receives the divine nature from nowhere; the Father has no origin, He is the source of all divinity.
SON
From the Father
The Son receives His divine nature from the Father, the Father is therefore the origin of the Son.
HOLY SPIRIT
From the Father and the Son
The Holy Spirit receives His divine nature from the Father through the Son, therefore, the Father and the Son are the origin of the Holy Spirit.
Notes
5.5 The Father Did Not Exist Before the Son
The Father did not exist before the Son, because the Son did not have a beginning. Having an origin is not the same as having a beginning. The Son has an origin (the Father) but not a beginning. The Son has no beginning because He is divine nature has no beginning or end. Having said that, the Father does not communicate the divine nature to the Son once, it takes all eternity for the Father to communicate the infinite divine nature to the Son. In sum, while the Son has always co-existed with the Father, the Father eternally generates the Son.
5.6 One Direction Now Makes Sense
Exactly the same logic applies to the Holy Spirit. Just because the Father and the Son are the origin of the Holy Spirit does not mean the Holy Spirit came into existence after the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit has existed from all eternity, but the Father and the Son are the eternal source of the Holy Spirit. Uni-directional communication makes perfect sense now precisely because it is the cause of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Communication in the reverse direction would result in utter chaos.
5.7 The Trinity is Not a Computer
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are each fully divine, however, if they were each without origin, they would be three separate gods. This is not the case. They are one God, because they are inseparably united to one another by communication of one and the same divine nature. The difference between the Father and the Son is that the Father does not receive His divinity from anyone and anything else, whereas the Son receives His divinity from the Father. In other words, the Father is the origin of the Son.
GENERATION
SPIRATION
LOOPY
Looking at the Father, Son and Holy Spirit Together (because they are one God) we find:
Uni-Directional Communication
One God...The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three persons, not three separate gods, precisely because they form a single communication pattern or structure. What is this pattern? It is quite a surprising pattern. It is not an endless cycle without beginning or end as one might expect for God. On the contrary, it is the exact opposite: it is linear, with a beginning an end, and even a middle:
God has direction!
Sequence.
Order.
How can there be sequence if there is no time?
Everything happens simultaneously.
This is a causal sequence.
Father -> Son -> Holy Spirit
Gives Receives/Give Receives
The Holy Trinity strictly communicates in one direction, from the Father, to the Son and finally into the Holy Spirit. The divine nature is never communicated in the reverse direction. There is direction in eternity, it's a one-way system, an eternal flow, an arrow of communication.
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