Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition

LESSON 2 | GOD THE FATHER: THE TRIUNE GOD – THE GREATNESS OF GOD / 215

of the Trinity are distinct persons. There is only one God who manifests himself in three different modes. Why is this view unacceptable according to the Word of God? Would you count this view to be heresy? Why or why not?

“A Little too Friendly” So many of the praise and worship songs today highlight the intimacy and personal relationship that the believer now has with God. Many of the songs speak of God as friend, confidant, even as lover, with a strong emphasis on the personal dimension of our relationship with God. Yet, it is clear that with the absence of solid doctrinal teaching in many of our churches, and with hymns being sung less and less in most fellowships, many believers have no orientation to the attributes of the greatness of God the Father Almighty. In a real sense, the God of many churches is only large enough to meet the needs of our hearts, not tackle the problems of the world, let alone redeem a universe out of control. As one has characterized this state: “the God of many churches is a good pal, but doesn’t seem to be the great God and our Savior, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We seem to be just a little too friendly with him who is a consuming fire.” Imagine that the Lord has called you to be a minister of music and worship in a church. List out eight different emphases or things you could do to help believers in your church gain a greater, richer, and more biblical appreciation for the greatness of God in your worship and life together. The doctrine of the Trinity is a biblical doctrine which asserts that God’s nature is a tri-unity of three persons who share the same essence as God. The Bible claims that God is one God (Deut. 6.4), and yet this one God exists in three distinct yet co-equal, co-eternal persons, each of whom is referred to as God in Scripture, and is said to share the glory of the divine nature. The Holy Trinity (i.e., God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) is the name given to affirm Scripture’s own assertion of the unity, diversity, and equality of the members of the one Godhead. God the Father Almighty, the first person of the Trinity, possesses attributes which speak powerfully and definitively as to his greatness. As God, the Father is spirit, possesses life in himself, has authentic personality, is infinite in his divine nature and character, and his essence never changes.

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T heology and E th i c s

Restatement of the Lesson’s Thesis