Trinity Series - small group notes # 6

If you have not been following this series, please go to the post for January 22 where an explanation of the format is given. Happy studying!

All of God:
Exploring the Mystery of the Trinity
God the Son, Week of February 15, 2009

Ø Almost all of the teaching in the New Testament tells us that we are to pray to the Father (Luke 11:1-4; Colossians 1:3; Ephesians 3:14). The Son’s role is to mediate (argue for us in the face of Satan’s accusations) for us before the Father (Romans 8:34; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25). The Spirit’s role is to help us to pray and “translate” our prayers for us so that they are in line with God’s will (Romans 8:26-27; Ephesians 6:18). Is it appropriate to pray to the Son?

Read all the passages. Each member of the Trinity has His particular role in our prayer lives. There is no command to pray to Jesus (beyond the gospels when He encouraged His followers to bring their requests to Him) in the New Testament, but we can infer that Paul communed with Jesus in 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 (The “Lord” in vv 8-9 was almost certainly referring to Jesus, as vv 9-10 would indicate). Also, for Paul to “know” Jesus at the level he expressed in Philippians 3:10, it is almost certain that interpersonal communion was required – more about that in another question.

Ø Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. He was tempted just as we are. Was it possible for Jesus to sin? Armenian theologians usually say, “Yes, because otherwise the temptation was invalid,” while Reformed theologians say, “No, He was God.” I say “No” but this question is probably one of the least useful and fruitless theological questions about Jesus’ humanity. The outcome is ultimately the same – Jesus was tempted and yet did not sin (Hebrews 4:14-16). While the aforementioned theological debate renders little that is good, the fact of Jesus did not sin, though He was tempted just as surely as we are is a wonderful encouragement to us! How does this knowledge help you in your Christian life?

God has always understood our weaknesses (Psalm 103:13-14), but the emphasis in the book of Hebrews is that now WE know that He understands. In Hebrews 4:16, both God’s mercy, in forgiveness, and grace, in help for overcoming temptation, are available.

Ø In Philippians 3:10, the Apostle Paul expressed a desire to “know” Jesus. He had followed Christ for some 20-25 years by this point. Clearly He meant that he wanted to know Jesus more intimately than he already did. No doubt, this required interpersonal communication with the Son, which thus speaks to the question about prayer to the Son. Consider the depth of Paul’s desire as evidenced by the rest of this verse and discuss how we can follow Paul’s example to know Jesus more intimately than we do now.

It would be good to read Philippians 3:7-14 for context. Paul had come to the end of himself in his attempts to become acceptable to God and had put all of his hopes in Jesus (vv 7-9). He so badly wanted to know Jesus more intimately than he already did that he was willing to suffer and to put his own desires to death every day. In this way, Paul would know the power of the resurrection, but it would only be a by-product of knowing Jesus.

How do we get to know Jesus better? The same way we get to know others better – we talk, we listen (prayer, Word and Spirit). In our early walk with the Lord, we tend to imitate the actions, words, and responses of Jesus. As we grow in Jesus, we tend to become more like Him – because we know Him. For instance, when confronted with a situation that requires a thoughtful response, a young Christian would say, “What would Jesus do?” A more mature believer would know what Jesus would do – because, He knows Jesus!

One last thought. We grow to know Jesus as the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see Him in God’s Word. A low view of Scripture (questioning miracles, questioning the accuracy of historical accounts given in Scripture, its contemporary relevance, etc.) will inevitably lead to a low view of Jesus, no matter how clever the objection to such a charge might sound. The ONLY way to know Jesus more intimately is to spend more time with Him in the Word.