One God in Three Persons

One God who is also three (Trinity) is one of the most challenging Christian beliefs for people to understand. This foundational Christian doctrine says that God is one Being existing in three distinct Persons (God the Father, God the Son – Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit). These three persons are co-equal, co-eternal, and share the divine nature, while remaining distinct in their roles and actions.

Now that’s a lot to get our heads around. How can God be both one and three at the same time? It seems like a contradiction. Yet this understanding of one God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is central to Christian faith. Rather than being an impossible maths problem to solve, the Christian belief of God as Trinity reveals the foundational nature of God. He is a community of divine love in himself, into which we are invited. In today's passage, Paul's prayer beautifully weaves together the work of Father, Son, and Spirit in our lives, showing how each person of the Trinity is actively involved in our spiritual growth.

Explore: Ephesians 3:14-21 (NIV)

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Journal

1. What is God saying to me? Which verse is most significant?

2. What would I like to discuss/explore further?

3. What do I need to do?

4. What does this prayer show me about the Trinity? What would I like to know about the Trinity?

Reflect

In this remarkable prayer, we find a beautiful picture of how the three persons of the Trinity work together in perfect harmony. Paul prays to the Father (3:14), asking that believers would be strengthened by the Spirit (3:16), so that Christ and his amazing love may dwell in their hearts (3:17). Each person of the Trinity has a specific role, yet they work as one to reveal God’s love.

The doctrine of the Trinity teaches us that God is one Being who exists eternally as three distinct persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each person is fully God, equal in power, glory, and infinity. They are not three gods, nor is God simply wearing different "masks" at different times. Rather, God exists as a perfect community of love and relationship.

If God exists in an eternal relationship, then relationship is at the heart of reality. We were created for loving relationship—with God and with others. The love that flows between Father, Son, and Spirit overflows to us, inviting us into this divine communion and friendship. Paul says that knowing and experiencing this loving community means knowing God in fullness (3:19). The Christian belief in the Trinity isn't just theological theory—it's the heartbeat of Christian faith and practice.

Over the years, Bible teachers have tried hard to come up with simple illustrations of the Trinity. Some examples are: an egg (shell, egg white, yolk, yet one egg), a shamrock (three leaves on a single stem), and water (exists as solid/ice, liquid/water, and gas/steam). But none of these fully match the realities of our Trinitarian God. We just can’t get our human brains around the incredible nature of God. As you would expect, He is too big for our minds.

Our understanding of the Trinity also impacts how we view Christ's sacrifice on the cross. The crucifixion was not the Father killing or punishing the Son as though they were separate entities at odds with each other. Rather, it was God Himself—in the person of the Son—absorbing our sin and its consequences. The cross reveals the depth of Trinitarian love—where God experiences both the giving and receiving of sacrifice as one united God, yet in distinct persons.

Pray

God, thank you for revealing yourself as Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are not a solitary being but a community of perfect love, so thank you for inviting me into relationship with you through Jesus and by your Spirit. Let this truth transform how I relate to you and to others. Fill me with the love that flows eternally between Father, Son, and Spirit. Amen.

Respond

Is there a member of the Trinity that you tend to neglect? Be aware of Him today.

Written by Dan Sweetman