The Holy Spirit | a 3-Day Skate Church Movement Devotionalনমুনা

What is the Trinity?

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative–that is, the Holy Spirit–He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.” John 14:26

The word trinity literally means “three in one.” You won’t find that word anywhere in the Bible, but the concept and the idea behind it is all throughout scripture. This term has been used by Christians for hundreds of years to help explain and understand the nature of God.

When I first heard the phrase “three in one,” I immediately thought of a tre flip. While this is just a silly analogy, it has helped me wrap my mind around the idea of God being “three in one.” When you think about a tre flip, there are really three tricks that all come together to create one trick. First you have the ollie. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone land a tre without getting their board off the ground, even a little bit. This is the foundation. Next you have the 360 shuv, and then last, a kickflip. When you put them all together you have a tre. If you remove the kickflip then you no longer have a tre but rather just a 360 shuv and the same goes for the rest. Imagine someone doing a kickflip and then claiming it was a 360 flip. Did they really do a tre flip? Of course not. They did a kickflip. Maybe their understanding of a tre was wrong, or they were taught by someone who didn’t know anything about skateboarding; nonetheless, they didn’t do a tre flip.

The Bible speaks of the Father as God (Philippians 1:2), Jesus as God (Titus 2:13), and the Holy Spirit as God (Acts 5:3–4). The Bible is clear that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct persons, even though they are all God. For example, since the Father sent the Son into the world (John 3:16), He cannot be the same person as the Son. Likewise, after the Son returned to the Father (John 16:10), the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit into the world (John 14:26; Acts 2:33); therefore, the Holy Spirit must be distinct from the Father and the Son.

In the same way that if you take away one part of the tre flip it is no longer a tre flip, if you deny one Person of the trinity then as a result you deny the full nature of God. This passage in John 14:26 tells us that “when the Father sends the Advocate as His representative–that is, the Holy Spirit–He will teach us everything and will remind us of everything He has told us.” In this verse Jesus is speaking to His disciples and telling them about the Holy Spirit who would help teach them and guide them. Jesus says that God the Father will send God as the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus to be our helper. This verse paints a clear–yet still a bit hard to understand–picture of three different Persons, yet equally one God. In the same way that a tre flip is one trick, it has three separate parts (Ollie, 360 shuv, and a kickflip), so the Trinity is one God in three persons.

Pushing further

1. Do you find it hard to wrap your mind around one God in three persons?
2. Do you feel like it’s necessary to fully understand this?
3. What does it look like for you to practically acknowledge all three Persons of the trinity in your everyday life?

Want more content like this? We adapted this Plan from a 52-week Skate Church Movement Devotional Book. Get your book at skatechurchmovement.com.