Three in One

Water Ice and Steam

I was thinking today about the three roles of God in the Trinity. God is God the Father. God is God the Son, Jesus Christ. God is also God the Holy Spirit. All three are indivisibly God but in three different roles.  One of the best descriptions I have ever heard of the Trinity is this – that God is three in one. In the same way that water is also ice and steam, so God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

God the Father is water – the one all sustaining substance that holds the world together. Water gives life; it preserves life, it grows life. Water even bears new life in that it causes hard dried seeds to suddenly start to grow. From death to life in a microcosm of transformation. Just as Jesus died and was buried before rising again, so a seed dries out and dies, falls to the ground and is buried before growing and rising back to life once again. Water is the cause of this metamorphosis. God is the cause of all life. He created it and He sustains it by His own power – just like water.

God the Son, Jesus Christ, is the ice. Ice is simply water in another format. Jesus is simply God in another format. He looks like God, He acts like God, He thinks like God, He speaks like God – in short He is God but in a different and distinct format. Ice is water – in a different format. Just as real, just as life supporting and life giving, but different. No water – no ice. No God – no Jesus.

God the Holy Spirit is steam – ethereal, slightly puzzling, yet still water, and in yet another different format. Steam is not water and it is not ice yet, paradoxically, it is both water and ice – in a different format.

Just as water, ice, and steam are different but the same, so their purposes are different but the same too.

God the Father – creator God, “maker of heaven and earth”. Created us in His own image and loves us, every single one of us, so much that He sent His Son as the sacrifice for our sin. God sustains us by the power of His hand by His own will for us and our lives. He is the creator and sustainer of life.

God the Son – Saviour, friend, Lion of Judah. He is the Son of God. He was the sacrifice for our sin. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Alpha and Omega. Jesus is the doorway to heaven, the key holder of eternal life. He is the only way, the only truth, and the only life. He is the only way to the Father and therefore to heaven.

God the Holy Spirit – helper, companion, friend, teacher, guide, comforter and more. He is the evangelist’s secret weapon – the one who convicts at the Name of Jesus. He is a Gentleman who never forces Himself on anyone. He can be grieved and depart – waiting patiently for us to invite Him back again.

There is so much to this combination of water, ice, and steam – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Great books have been written about them and more will doubtless be written in the future. Just remember this.

They are indivisible and they are as integral, irreplaceable, and vital to your life as air.