What is the first truth that the Bible teaches? Well, what are the first words of the Bible?
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There was a beginning
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God was before the beginning
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God created the beginning
These are the first truths that the Bible declares. And they are all so vital and valuable and connected. And they are echoed and expanded upon by John 1:1, using similar language.
John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
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The Word was also before the beginning
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The Word is distinct from God
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But the Word is also God
Genesis 1:1 tells us that there is one God, one creator, who was before the beginning. But we see a fuller picture of this one God in John 1:1. We see a distinction as to persons but not a separation of those persons. In other words, the Word, who we know as Jesus, he is a distinct person from God, but he is also God. So, here we have God the Father and God the Son.
John 1:2 says – He was in the beginning with God. Here, we see the Son, the Word, Jesus, was with God the Father in the beginning. We know that this Word, who was and is God, and who was there at the beginning, also created when we see John 1:3. It says – All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Jesus is not a created being. He is uncreated. He is God. As Jesus says in Revelation 1:8 – “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
So, when Genesis 1:1 says God created, it means both God the Father and God the Son created. And we know that this Word is God the Son because we see it in John 1:14, which says – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. As John 1:18 says – No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known. God the Father and God the Son, both eternal, and both the Creator, are both God, of the same essence, but distinct from one another.
And then we see a third person who is God, who was also with God in the beginning, and who also was involved in creation. Genesis 1:2 says – The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And then you see the events of creation unfold in vs.3 and following. So, this “Spirit of God” is also God. And God the Spirit is Creator. And we know God the Spirit is involved in the ongoing maintenance of creation. As Psalm 104:30 says – When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.
Now, you might think that this “Spirit of God” is not a distinct person. But Jesus, the Son of God, the Word who is also God, he calls the Spirit a person, who is still God, but who is distinct from both the Father and the Son. In John 14:26, Jesus says – But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. You see all three, Father, Son, and Spirit in this verse, presented as distinct persons.
In John 15:26, Jesus says – …the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. Once again, you see all three, Father, Son, and Spirit, presented as distinct persons.
Romans 8:26 says – Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. The Holy Spirit feels you, he prays for you, better than you can pray for yourself. He is a person, a person who was there before the beginning, a Creator, a person who is God.
So now, if Father, Son, and Spirit were before the beginning, and all are Creator, and all are God, but there is only one God, then what is the answer to all this? The answer is that God is one in essence, but three in person. This is what we call the Trinity, or Triunity of God. In a very real sense, the Trinity is the very first truth to know about God. It is the first truth of the Bible.
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