MOST HOLY TRINITY
FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT
INTRODUCTION
Many get stuck in their Bible reading because of the Old Testament. Some may find the God they read about in Old Testament is not the kind of God they are looking for.
Are there two Gods, one of the Old and one of the New Testament? No, there is one God, in three Divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. a God of Justice and Mercy
In the very beginning of Genesis when man disobeyed God by choosing his will over God’s will, man committed Original sin which we all inherit in our human nature.
GENESIS 3:8-16
“…Have you eaten from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat? The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me—she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it. “The LORD God then asked the woman: What is this you have done? The woman answered, “The snake tricked me, so I ate it…. Then the LORD God said to the snake…I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; they will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel.*
God of the Old Testament in His Justice separates man from His kingdom but in His Mercy, promises a Savior that will crush evil and reunite us into God’s Divine Life.
At our Baptism, Original Sin is removed and (if adult) any other personal sins. Infused with Divine life we become heirs of heaven, brothers and sisters of Christ.
COMMENTARY
The Old Testament is filled with blessings and curses. Man falls again and again, yet God in His Mercy remains faithful, calling man to repentance and reunion with Him.
THE GREAT FLOOD
When the LORD saw how great the wickedness of human beings was on earth, and how every desire that their heart conceived was always nothing but evil the LORD regretted making human beings on the earth, and his heart was grieved. So the LORD said: I will wipe out from the earth the human beings I have created, and not only the human beings, but also the animals and the crawling things and the birds of the air, for I regret that I made them. But Noah found favor with the LORD. Genesis 6:5-7
Even in the midst of such a terrifying judgment God’s rescue mission moves forward in the hands of his faithful shipmate, Noah. God demonstrates his justice toward humanity through punishment, and he demonstrates his saving love and mercy for humanity through Noah.
Death was a result of man separating himself from God (ORIGINAL SIN). We inherit death in our human nature from our first parents Adam and Eve. In the ancient world life expectancy was very low.
God, in his righteousness sometimes uses death as a punishment to restore the order of justice. When we reject the Author of Life, death results. “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” Matthew 10:28
REFLECTION
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father…John 14:9
Jesus says to Phillip and to us Who sees me sees the Father!
We cry out for justice here and now on earth. But our expectations are seldom met in this life. Unlike earthly justice, God will bring all things together in his perfect justice in end times.
God provides time for the wicked to repent and obtain salvation. I give thanks every day for God’s unlimited patience and mercy. God is a Just God. The time God allows between now and the final judgment gives us an opportunity to become a recipient of his Mercy through rather than a target for his judgment
We can’t ignore the Old Testament for that is when the story of our salvation begins. It is where we first learn who God is and what man’s relationship to God should be. We see that God is not only transcendent, but a God who intervenes in our history.
We see Divine Providence, creating a nation, Israel, to be a call, a light to all nations to worship the one true God. How is Divine Providence working in my life?
“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is Good,
His mercy endures forever.”
Psalm 107