One of the most difficult concepts for Christians to grasp is the Holy Trinity. Like God Himself, this notion is both incredibly simple and difficult to fully understand. In order to explain the Holy Trinity, I am going to go from a complex understanding to a simple understanding. Why? Because “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.” - Proverbs 25:2
Learning Hebrew is pivotal to understanding God’s character, His Word, and who He is. The English language (and other languages as well) lose a lot of the context of the Word of God when translated from Hebrew. I will keep the Hebrew limited, but it is necessary to know certain terms in order to have a better understanding of the Trinity.
"In the beginning Elohim (God) created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Ruach Elohim (Spirit of God) was hovering upon the face of the waters." - Genesis 1:1-2
For simplicity sake, understand that in Hebrew “im” can denote plurality and greatness. This means that Elohim (God) can be both plural and singular. Let’s look further into Genesis 1:26-27:
"Then God said, ‘Let Us make humankind in Our image, in the likeness of Ourselves; and let them rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the animals, and over all the earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the earth.’ So God created humankind in His own image; in the image of God He created him: male and female He created them."
Did you notice that God went from plural in verse 26 to singular in verse 27?
God created us in His image and we are threefold. Here are some examples: 1) We are physical meaning we have a body - Christ is the body of the Church (1 Cor. 12:27) 2) We have a spirit/soul (Matt. 16:26) - God is Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17) 3) We are creators - there are countless verses about the Father being a creator (Gen. 1:1, Nehemiah 9:6, etc.) We are creators by nature. We create life, stories, and music for example. The first example of the Trinity can be found in the very first chapter of the first book of the Bible! This is something that God wants us to understand.
Now for the simplest explanation of the Trinity all you have to do is look around you. God reveals Himself through nature and physics. All matter consists of three states: solid, liquid, and gas. Is an ice cube different from a puddle of water? Of course, but are they not both H2O? Time is made up of the past, the present, and the future. All distinct periods, and yet, inseparable and all of them are called “time”. That is God. That is Elohim. He is the Father, and He is Jesus, and He is the Holy Spirit.
I hope that learning about the Holy Trinity inspires you to dive deeper into His Word, and thus, closer to the lover of our souls!