Temple Baptist Church - 2-23-2025
Genesis 1:26-27
II. The Attributes of God
In this study of Theology, I will not take the time to explore every quality of God but will home in on a few of them. This does not indicate that other attributes of God are not as important as all are, but will be dealt at a later time.
Attributes of God Defined: These are terms that describe God's character, nature, wisdom, and power—His properties, qualities, and characteristics. When you realize that God is all you have, you will discover that God is all you need! The Bible extensively details who God is, what He can do, and His various attributes.
A theological statement to remember is: "God is one God, manifesting Himself in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. These three are co-equal in all power and attributes!" God is one. "I and my Father are one," said our Lord Jesus Christ. He is not only one God manifesting in three persons but also the only God, as there is none other. The unity of God is a prominent truth in the Scriptures, especially in the Old Testament. Monotheism, not Tri-theism, is the doctrine expounded in the Scriptures.
The Plurality and Unity of God: Trinity
A. The first mention of God's plurality is found in Genesis 1:1. Here, the word "God" appears in its singular form, yet the Hebrew word used for God, "Elohiym," is plural in number. This verse reveals both the plurality and unity of God's person. Although I am not a scholar and do not fully understand Greek or Hebrew, it is important to examine the term "God" in this context. The Hebrew word is 'ĕlôhyim, pronounced as el-o-heem'. "Elohiym" is the plural form of "eloahh" (el-o-ah), which means deity.
“God,” Elohyim, is found 3,101 times in the Old Testament and each reference to “God” is the plural form, Elohyim, but always translated into the singular word God.
The word “God” is the correct translation in Genesis 1:1 because there is only one God, manifesting Himself in three distinct and separate personalities. One God but three Persons!
Genesis 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods (elohiym), knowing good and evil. (In this verse, “elohiym” is translated correctly as “gods.” Satan told Eve singular that she would be as gods plural.)
B. In the later part of Genesis chapter one, we see the first instance of God referring to Himself with the plural pronoun "us." The plural pronoun “us” is also used in chapters three and eleven.
Genesis 1:26-27 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Genesis 11:7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
C. In the opening chapters of Genesis, the plurality of God is evident in what is called the Trinity.
1. In verse 1, we find God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost in the singular word “God.”
2. God the Word and God the Father. John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God (God the Father), and the Word was God (God the Son). (2) The same was in the beginning with God. (3) All things were made by him (God the Word as Creator); and without him was not any thing made that was made.
3. In verse 2 of Genesis, chapter one, we find the first mention of the Spirit of God: the third person of God, also called the Holy Ghost.
Genesis 1:2 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.
4. In Genesis 3:8, we find the “voice of the LORD God walking.” John 1:1 declares that Jesus Christ, the Word of God, was both God and in the beginning with God. The “voice” or the “Word of God” is found in:
Genesis 3:8-9 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. (9) And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) The same was in the beginning with God. (3) All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
More profound words were never spoken than these. The Word: 1) was God 2) was in the beginning with God 3) was the Creator of all things.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Revelation 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
D. In Genesis, chapter one, we find God plural making man in His image plural physically, both male and female, a dichotomy. God plural also made man a trichotomy: body—world conscious, soul—self-conscious, and spirit—God conscious.
Genesis 1:26-27 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (God plural (us) made man in His plural image [male and female…them] a dichotomy. He also made man in His image because man is a trinity or trichotomy: body, soul, and spirit. A trichotomy is any splitting of a whole into exactly three non-overlapping parts, meaning it is a procedure in which a whole is divided into three parts.)
Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: (“one of us” speaks of both the individuality of the Trinity and the unity of the Trinity. One is an inseparable part of us!)
Genesis 11:6-8 And the LORD (Jehovah) said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. (7) Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. (8) So the LORD (Jehovah) scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. (Lord [singular] becomes us [plural in verse 7] and LORD singular again in verse 8.)
Isaiah 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
E. The Doctrine of the Trinity is a fathomless mystery that man—in his finite mind—cannot comprehend. It is a doctrine well documented in both the Old and New Testaments and is a doctrine only comprehended through faith.
1. The Trinity is shown in the Old Testament in a three-fold manner:
a. In the plural names of God; e. g., Elohim (which we have dealt with earlier)
b. By the plural pronouns used in reference to God; us, our, etc. (also dealt with previously)
c. By the various references to the individual persons of God.
1) God the Father (The Ancient of Days)
Daniel 7:9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
Daniel 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
2) God the Son or Jehovah God (The Angel of the Lord [Christophanies—Theophanies--Anthropomorphisms])
Genesis 16:7 And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
Genesis 18:1 And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
3) Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost)
Genesis 1:2 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.
Judges 6:34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him.
2. The Trinity in the New Testament.
a. At the baptism of Christ.
Matthew 3:16-17 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: (17) And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
b. In the Great Commission.
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
c. The Apostolic Benediction.
2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. The second epistle to the Corinthians was written from Philippi, a city of Macedonia, by Titus and Lucas.
d. The sending of the Holy Ghost.
John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
e. God’s witness in heaven.
1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
"Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued, investigation of the great subject of the Deity. The most excellent study for expanding the soul is the science of Christ and Him crucified and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity."
(C. H. Spurgeon).
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