2. WHO IS GOD?

 back to Part 1

Here is another series, rock, plant, animal.  What’s next?  Stretch. your mind!
    "Man" is a good answer
    This series has to do with personality, or life.  A rock has no personality, no life, but it has a body. You could say it has one dimension, just like in the line has one dimension.  The second item, a plant, has two dimensions, a body and life.  It grows, but it has no thought pattern, no mind of its own, no feelings.  It corresponds to a plane in the other series.  The third item, an animal, take a dog for example, has a body and life, but it also has a soul in that it exhibits a feelings and thought to a certain extent.  A soul corresponds to animal life.  The dog has three dimensions and corresponds to a solid in the other series.  The fourth item, man, has yet a another dimension, spirit, and corresponds to the space-time continuum or Universe.  It is obvious that man has a body, life, and a soul.  But man also has self awareness, and not only self awareness, but especially God awareness.  I’ve never seen an animal give any indication of an awareness God.  Intellect, emotion, and will seem to be involved in our soul and spirit, but emotion seems to favor the soul and will favors the spirit.  And man has a will and faces choices throughout his life.  He can decide to be good or bad, to go his own way or to go along with the crowd.  Most importantly, he can choose to accept or reject God.  A person who rejects God is said to be dead spiritually. Sometimes it is hard to tell where soul leaves off and spirit begins.
    We see these three parts of man in 2 Thessalonians 5:23 where Paul says, "And I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ", and again in Hebrews 4:12 where it says "the Word of God is quick and powerful and mightier than a two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  Together, these four items, a body, life, a soul, and a spirit, make up what we call collectively a person or personality.
   Now, stretch, what comes next in our series?
    God is a good answer.  More generally, though, multiple persons or personalities.  Just as in the first series, a line is a collection of multiple points, and a plane is a collection of multiple lines, a solid is a collection of multiple planes, and our universe is a collection of multiple spaces/solids through time,  so our next answer in this second series would be a collection of multiple persons.  God is a collection of multiple persons."
    The Bible tells us that God has three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  As we examine scripture, we find that each has its own intellect, emotion, and will, it’s own distinct personality and function, and yet the Bible clearly teaches us over and over again that God is one God.  All three persons together are God.  There is a theological name for it not found in the Bible, trinity. Three in one, tri-unity, or trinity.
    We are created in the image of God.  We like God, have an emotion, intellect and will. However, we are not exact copies of God any more that an image in a mirror is an exact copy of the person looking into it.  We are merely like a mirror that reflects God’s glory.  We have only one personality, while God has three.  How could anyone really expect God to be just like us, not more than us?