God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Foundations of Faith: 28 Core Adventist Doctrines for Youth — Lesson 2

Who is God? It is the most important question any human being can ask. Everything else we believe about salvation, about worship, about how we live — flows from our answer to this question. The Bible does not present God as a distant, unknowable force. It reveals Him as a personal, relational Being who has made Himself known to us in three distinct Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Together, these three are the one eternal God — co-equal, co-eternal, and united in perfect love and purpose.

This doctrine is sometimes called the Trinity, and while that word never appears in Scripture, the truth it describes is woven through every book of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. In this lesson we will trace that truth, letting the Word of God speak for itself.

Part 1: One God — The Foundation

Before we can understand the three Persons, we must be grounded in the bedrock truth that there is only one God. Israel's great confession, the Shema, makes this plain:

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD." — Deuteronomy 6:4 (KJV)

The New Testament echoes this without apology:

"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." — 1 Timothy 2:5 (KJV)

Biblical faith is not polytheism — the worship of many gods. It is a robust, exclusive monotheism. Yet within this one divine Being, Scripture consistently reveals a plurality of Persons who relate to one another, speak to one another, and act together in creation, redemption, and sanctification.

Part 2: The Triune God in Scripture

Even in the very first verse of the Bible, hints of plurality appear. The Hebrew word for God, Elohim, is grammatically plural, yet it takes a singular verb — a linguistic fingerprint pointing toward the mystery of the Godhead. Then in Genesis 1:26, God speaks in a remarkable way:

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." — Genesis 1:26 (KJV)

Who is the "us"? The New Testament answers by showing that the Son and the Spirit were both present and active at creation. The Father spoke, the Son was the agent of creation (John 1:3), and the Spirit moved upon the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2). Creation itself is a Trinitarian act.

The clearest single-verse presentation of all three Persons together is found at the baptism of Jesus:

"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: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." — Matthew 3:16-17 (KJV)

Here we see the Son standing in the Jordan River, the Spirit descending visibly, and the Father speaking audibly from heaven. Three distinct Persons — one divine moment. This is not confusion; it is communion.

Jesus Himself enshrined the Trinitarian formula into the commission of the church:

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." — Matthew 28:19 (KJV)

Notice: "name" is singular, yet three Persons are named. One name, three Persons — the grammar itself is a sermon.

Part 3: God the Father — Eternal Source and Sustainer

God the Father is the first Person of the Godhead. He is the eternal, self-existent Creator, the sovereign Lord of the universe, and the loving Father of all who come to Him through faith in His Son.

"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." — John 4:24 (KJV)

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." — John 3:16 (KJV)

The Father is not a cold, distant lawgiver. John 3:16 is perhaps the most famous verse in all of Scripture because it captures the heart of the Father: He loved, He gave. The cross was not the Father punishing an unwilling Son — it was the Father and the Son together, in perfect agreement, absorbing the cost of human sin so that we could be restored to relationship with God.

"Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ." — Philippians 1:2 (KJV)

The apostolic greeting that opens nearly every New Testament letter pairs the Father and the Son as the joint source of grace and peace — a constant, quiet testimony to their co-equality and unity.

Part 4: God the Son — Eternal Word, Incarnate Saviour

The Son is the second Person of the Godhead. He is eternal — not a created being, but the very Word who was with God and was God from the beginning:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." — John 1:1-3 (KJV)

This eternal Son took on human flesh — the Incarnation — in order to save us:

"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." — John 1:14 (KJV)

Jesus is fully God and fully human. He is the only one who could bridge the infinite gap between a holy God and sinful humanity, because He belongs fully to both sides. His atoning sacrifice on the cross is the heart of the gospel:

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." — Romans 5:8 (KJV)

Salvation is not earned by our good behaviour — it is received by faith in what Christ has already done. This is justification by faith: God declares us righteous because of Christ's righteousness credited to our account. But the story does not end at the cross. After His resurrection and ascension, Christ entered the heavenly sanctuary as our High Priest:

"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession." — Hebrews 4:14 (KJV)

"Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." — Hebrews 7:25 (KJV)

Right now, at this very moment, Jesus Christ is not idle. He is ministering on our behalf in the heavenly sanctuary, interceding for every believer, applying the benefits of His atoning sacrifice. His work as our High Priest is ongoing, active, and personal. And one day He will return — literally, visibly, gloriously — to complete what He began:

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." — 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (KJV)

Part 5: God the Holy Spirit — Present, Powerful, Personal

The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Godhead. He is not a force or an influence — He is a Person who thinks, feels, speaks, and can be grieved:

"And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." — Ephesians 4:30 (KJV)

The Spirit is the One who brings the work of the Father and the Son into our personal experience. It is the Spirit who convicts us of sin, draws us to Christ, and produces transformation in our lives:

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." — John 16:7-8 (KJV)

The Spirit does not work against our will, but He persistently woos and draws every human heart toward God. When we surrender to Him, He begins the lifelong work of sanctification — making us more and more like Jesus:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." — Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)

Obedience to God — including the keeping of His commandments — is not the way we earn salvation. It is the fruit that the Spirit produces in a heart that has been transformed by grace. The moral law of God, including the seventh-day Sabbath, remains a living reality in the life of the Spirit-filled believer, not as a burden, but as a delight and a sign of the Creator-Redeemer relationship.

The Spirit also gives gifts to the church for ministry and witness:

"Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all." — 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 (KJV)

Among those gifts is the gift of prophecy, which Scripture promises will be present in God's remnant people in the last days:

"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions." — Joel 2:28 (KJV)

Part 6: Three Persons, One Purpose

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct in Person but united in nature, will, and purpose. Their unity is not the unity of three separate gods agreeing to cooperate — it is the unity of one divine Being expressing Himself in three eternal Persons. This is the mystery at the heart of all reality.

Paul captures the Trinitarian shape of the Christian life in one of Scripture's most beautiful benedictions:

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen." — 2 Corinthians 13:14 (KJV)

The grace of the Son, the love of the Father, the fellowship of the Spirit — this is the full experience of salvation. We are saved by the Father's love, through the Son's grace, in the power of the Spirit's presence.

Reflection Questions

1. In Matthew 3:16-17, all three Persons of the Godhead appear at Jesus' baptism. What does this scene teach you about how the Father, Son, and Spirit work together? How does it shape your understanding of your own baptism?
2. Hebrews 7:25 says Jesus "ever liveth to make intercession" for us. How does knowing that Jesus is actively praying for you right now, in the heavenly sanctuary, change the way you face temptation, failure, or doubt?
3. Ephesians 4:30 warns us not to "grieve" the Holy Spirit. Since the Spirit is a Person who can be grieved, what kinds of attitudes or actions in your daily life might be pushing Him away rather than welcoming His presence?
4. Galatians 5:22-23 describes the fruit of the Spirit as the evidence of His work in a life. How does understanding that obedience is the fruit of salvation — not the root — change the way you relate to God's commandments?
5. John 3:16 reveals that the Father's motivation for sending the Son was love. How does this truth challenge any view of God as harsh, distant, or eager to punish? How should it shape the way you talk about God to your friends?

Practical Application

This week, structure your personal prayer time around the three Persons of the Godhead. Begin by addressing God the Father — thank Him for His love and for the gift of His Son. Then bring your needs and failures to Jesus the Son — your High Priest who intercedes for you right now and whose blood covers every sin you confess. Finally, ask the Holy Spirit to fill you, lead you, and produce His fruit in your life that day. You are not praying to three different gods — you are entering into the one divine family that has loved you from before the foundation of the world. Let that reality change how you walk through every ordinary moment of your week.