By Enema Achobe

THE TRINITY IN GENESIS 1.

The word Trinity, which has caused so much controversies between Christianity and other faiths, especially Islam, and also within the Christian fold as well, can be defined as the union of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as one God or as one Person. There is no mention of the word in the Bible and history and tradition has it that it was first used by Tertullian around AD 210.

The Trinity is a mystery that can never be understand nor comprehended by the human mind. There is actually no explanation we can make on or about it. It is the union of God as Three distinct persons and yet as One.

In the predominant Muslim Society, where I reside, it is the basic argument. My Muslim neighbors cannot understand and would not agree as to how God can be Three and yet One. They accuse Christians of propounding such an “erroneous” doctrine.

 Many of them claim it is not an Old Testament doctrine, but that it was invented by the Apostle Paul, who they claim was the founder of Christianity.

This article does not seek however to explain the concept of the doctrine of the Trinity, but to show that the concept of Trinity exist very much in the Bible in the New Testament as well as the Old Testament. Even from the very first Chapter of the first book of the Bible, Genesis, we can see the Trinity at work. God works and always does so in the Blessed Trinity, for the Three are essentially One.

Let us consider the opening verses of Genesis chapter 1:

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said ‘Let there be Light’, and there was Light.”

Gen 1: 1-3 (KJV)

The above verses tell of the origin of the Earth. They tell that God is the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. It further gave the state of the Earth at a particular time in the ancient past, and began the description of how the Earth was refurbished.

Now let us examine the first major thing that preceded the creation,

“The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”

The Spirit of God of the Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity. And to show that the Trinity works as one, since they are essentially One, the very first major thing was for the Spirit to move over the surface of the waters.

Why was (or is) it necessary for the Spirit to move first?

The Spirit of God is the part or the Person of the Trinity that stirs up life and set the stage ready for the Father and the Son to operate. He is also the one that sanctifies and purifies for the effective use of the Father.

“the Holy Spirit gives life.”

2 Cor. 3: 6 (NLT)

And all through the Bible, we can see that the Spirit of God always sets the stage. This was evident even in the lives of the Prophets and Kings of Israel. Take for instance when God asked Samuel to anoint David. As soon as David was anointed, which is a way of inviting the presence of the Spirit, it was recorded that he was filled with the Spirit of God. Some version puts it as “the Spirit of God came upon David” [see 1 Sam. 16: 13]. Even the Lord Jesus Christ before He began His earthly ministry needed the unction of the Spirit. Notice the manner of the event,

“and he (John) saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him. And behold a voice from heaven said, ‘This is My Son, My Beloved in whom I delight.

Mat. 3: 16 17. (Amp.)

From the text above, we can see that the Spirit of God came first and dwelt upon Jesus before the voice of God came forth attesting to the Sonship of Jesus Christ.

Thus, the movement of the Spirit of God (the Holy Spirit) upon the face of the waters was to usher in the presence of God and also shows the Trinity.

The next important thing after the movement or descent of the Spirit of God was the advent of Light.

“And God said, ‘let there be Light’, and there was Light.”

“The Light should not be understood through the primary definition of ‘light’ because ‘light’ in its primary meaning does not yet exist”, pointed out Maurice A. Williams in his article “Evolving Light” (09/21/2003). He went further to say, “Consider a secondary definition of Light: perception, cognition, illumination, not the luminosity of the physical universe but something non-material. Consider something spiritual like thought.”

Thus judging from that we can say that the Light was God’s thought God’s perception or cognition. In a broader sense, God’s Word and God’s wisdom, which mean not just His thoughts dwelling within His mind. But His thought coming forth as His Word to accomplish His purpose.

With this in mind, the Light here can be called the Son, or the second person of the Trinity. He was God’s active perception personified. The Son is the active part of the Trinity, it is He that executes the actions of God and brings them to pass. That was why the next thing after the move of the Spirit was the presence of the Light - representing Christ Jesus.

In the Gospel according to Saint John, we see an attestation to this fact:

“In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men. And the Light shines in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it].”

John 1: 4 5 (Amp.)

The above text brings out the point we are emphasizing on. Let’s take a closer look: In Christ was Life and this Life was the LightNow this clearly points out that:

LIGHT LIFE CHRIST

That means the Light was the same thing as Life, which is Christ. Hence the Light was an expression of Christ.

Our Lord Jesus Himself attested to this:

“I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the Light, which is Life.”

John 8: 12 (Amp.)

The Light came forth with the Life needed to make the earth a habitable place again. It came with the task of executing the creation plan; of bringing out the thought of God as reality, as substance.

And from then on, we see that creation began; first, with a separation of the Light from the darkness. That is making a distinction between Christ Jesus, which is the physical representation, the active component of the Godhead, and the system of the world and the devil, which rules over the darkness as it was.

This was a very vital step. For where darkness abound, life is absent. And when Light enters, Life begins. That is why the creation of the earth and everything was credited to the Lord Jesus Christ.

“All things were made and came into existence through Him, and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being.”

John 1: 3 (Amp.)

See also Col. 1: 16, 17; 2: 2-3, 9.

This verse clearly makes us understand that through Christ Jesus, which is the Light of God, the personification and embodiment of the thought (fullness) of God was everything that was made made.

Now to my friends of the Islamic faith, who see the Trinity as a Pauline doctrine, it may please you to know that this is not a Pauline Gospel or Epistle. It was written by John, who was one of Jesus’ closest disciples. And all through his gospel as well as the epistles credited to him, John emphasized on this.

The next thing after the bursting forth of the Light was God the Father giving His declarations all the way through.

“and God sawand God separatedand God calledand God saidand God made”

These went on thus.

Now in the 26th verse of Genesis 1 we saw God referring to the Trinity thus,

“And God said, ‘Let US make man in Our image, after Our likeness”

It is clear from this verse that God was here referring to the Trinity. The Father as it was was speaking to the Son and the Holy Spirit. They have jointly created all things so far. Now it was time to create man, and the Father wanted it to be in Their image that is in the image of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

It is evident that God would not be referring to some body of angels or some other hosts, as some would have obliged to presume. He was referring to the two other Persons of the Trinity.

The use of the pronoun ‘US’ by God can still be seen in Gen. 11 verse 7. The inhabitants of the Earth had come together then to build themselves a great city, whose towers would reach to the heavens that they would dwell together and not scatter. Thus going against the plan of God for man to multiply and fill the Earth. And when God saw the success of their work and the fervor with which they work as a single unit, the Father called to the Others,

“Come let Us go down”

God people made the above statement after He had resolved to confound and scatter the language of the. And the Three descended. The Spirit, to prepare the way for the action; and the Son, executing the thought of the Father.

Thus, the doctrine of the Trinity is not a New Testament thing. It is evident in the Old Testament as well, as we can see from the first verses of the Book of Genesis.

The Father, the Son and the Spirit are uniquely and essentially One. They operate together and with a common purpose. Even in the work of salvation, they are actively involved together.
 For it is written,

“and no one can [really] say Jesus is [my] Lord, except by and under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit.”

1 Cor. 12: 3 (Amp.)

Enema Achobe

  Coordinator,

AL-HAQQ MOVEMENT

 The Evangelism arm of the KINGDOM EXPLOITERS MINISTRIES.

  Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria.

Email: hijodelcielo2007@yahoo.com.ar

  Tel: +234 (0) 80 59 73 49 57; +234 (0) 70 34 51 62 77.

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