God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, From Glen's mailbag Options

[Glen]

Dear believers in the only true living God, I am currently struggling within my mind the concept that there is only one God but there are three individuals (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). If the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the one and the same, then how can He (God) as Jesus Christ not know what day or hour he will return? Or did someone erroneously wrote that and could it have been that he said it was not for man to know the time or day of his return? Keep in mind that God is omniscient and knows all things. If God is not the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit the one and the same, then there are three individual beings who are each a god. I am not attempting to cause disbelief or discredit the truth but sincerely desiring to know the truth about God. I believe in God and desire to know Him as He truly exists. I do not want to believe ignorantly but with true knowledge, so that I may be bold and confident in my beliefs and be convincing to others in sharing the truth. I am seeking you for help to gain a firm understanding. If you will respond, I may have more questions in response to your replies until I am free within my mind from disruptive thoughts about the true living God. I will be most grateful if you will patiently and lovingly help me.Sincerely from,Albert

Hi Albert! I'm not sure how much time I have to commit to this particular issue, but I'll give you what I can. First of all, I have no idea why God chooses to present Himself as multiple persons. Some have suggested man was created in God's image in this respect, having body, mind and spirit. Others have suggested we are in His image in our need for relationship because He represents an eternal perfect relationship. Nobody but God knows why He is more than one person! And nobody but God knows how He does it or what the full meaning of it is. This is one of the reasons the debate has gone on so long and why I'm sure I won't be able to give you a satisfactory answer.

Concerning knowledge of the day and hour, while some texts in the original language include "nor the Son" and some don't, the most reliable texts suggest Jesus, in fact, didn't know. Your question is based on the premise that Scripture is the perfect Word of God and can't contradict itself. This is the correct premise. If God is one, then, how can God-the Son not know what God knows? Actually, the question denies things the Scripture explains and ignores other things that could explain it further, for instance:
Though Father, Son and Spirit are One, they are not the same. Each has a unique mission as described by the Scripture. For God's purposes, He apparently decided each of His Persons would have different characteristics perfect for their different missions. For the purpose of God-the Son's mission on Earth, He had to not know some things...and be unable to do some things. He wasn't able to heal sometimes, for instance. He had to obey His parents. He needed rest and food. He wasn't able to have His prayer answered when He asked to not have to die on the cross. In fact, why would He, being God, have to pray? The best answer I can find in Scripture is, He voluntarily gave up His God-ness in order to come to Earth and save us, His creation (See Philippians 2:5-11). If we go back to our premise, we aren't seeking to dwell on seeming contradictions or find reasons to doubt, but to understand ways they don't have to be contradictions and reasons for faith. For me, the above paragraph is a satisfactory explanation of the question. This brings us face to face with the issue of faith. Faith in God forces us to accept things we don't understand.

If God is small enough for us to understand, He isn't big enough to help us.

God is not bound by our logic or reason. What gives us such difficulty with God is, we try to fit Him in our tiny minds. Even with His Word, we humans understand less about God than a dust mite understands about us. Here's a logic test for you: If God is all powerful, can He make a rock He is unable to lift? Answer: God is so powerful He is beyond our logic and linguistic maneuvers. This is the realm of faith. I challenge you to continue to live in the realm of faith until you're comfortable not knowing some things. I admire your stated desire to seek and live in the truth. As someone who has offered Christ full time for over 15 years, let me suggest one more thing. If someone you're talking to is fixated on a seeming contradiction in Scripture, unlike you, they aren't seeking the truth. I have yet to find a genuine contradiction in Scripture. For more on seeming contradictions in the four Gospels, visit http://www.web-church.com/life_and_history...esus_christ.htm.