Sermon25-10 2Cor13 Guide

2 Cor 13:11-13 theme verse 2 Cor 13:13

The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.

In this fifth Sunday of 2025, I pray that His grace of the application of all the benefits which Jesus earned for our salvation and also the glorious ministry of the proclamation of His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit may be full in our life. Last week, we looked at the Bible which is the special revelation on the Being and attributes of God, yet this week, we would like to learn the Trinity of God together.

1)    The second Epistle to the Corinthians where we can find out today’s text was the fourth epistle written to encourage the church after Paul, who had been pioneering the church in Corinth, had resolved various problems, by writing several letters, or sending his co-workers Timothy and Titus, or visiting them in person and also in order to confront the false apostles, explaining that true sign of an apostleship is not an external commission by human beings or even an amazing experience of the Holy Spirit, but the suffering experienced in the process of serving the Lord Jesus Christ and also to dispel the misunderstandings they had about collections. And finally in today’s text, 13:11-13, Paul finally says that, ”Rejoice, be perfected, comforted, like-minded, and at peace, then the God of love and peace will be with you,” and then he ended with the benediction of the Triune God, saying “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

2)    By the way, the reason why Paul mention “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” first is because only through the grace of Christ can the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit flow so that in all the benediction of His church, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is mentioned first, and then “the love of God” and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” are followed.

3)    Then, moving into the main topic, we clearly know that the Bible confesses there is Only One God, as Deut 4:35 says “To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him,” and Deut 6:4 says “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one,” and even Eph 4:6 in the New Testament says “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

4)    But today’s text of 2 Cor 13:13 seems to speak as if there are three Gods and the Apostles’ creed confesses, “I believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.” The reason is because Christianity confesses the Trinity which means that we believe there are three Persons who are one in essence, power, and eternity, namely, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. However, although the Trinitarian God was originally mentioned in the Old Testament, the Jews of that time did not have the same understanding of Jesus and the Holy Spirit as we do today so that they believed that God was Only One. Therefor when Jesus came as the Messiah and said that he was the Son of God and that he was one with God, they misunderstood that Jesus was advocating ‘polytheism’, so then they rejected Jesus, saying he was “blasphemous to God”, and eventually crucified Him. As a result, Christianity, after eventually being separated from Judaism, had to explain who Jesus was. In this process, it was necessary to refute various heretical ideas such as “Gnosticism”, “Ebionism”, and “Arianism” that denied the divinity of Jesus. Therefore, in 325 AD, the Council of Nicaea was held and declared that “we believe in the Father and the Son, one true God, and in the Holy Spirit.” However, even after that, heretics again claimed that the Holy Spirit is subordinate to God so that in 381, the Council of Constantinople was held and confirmed that “the Holy Spirit is the One who gives life and is worshiped and glorified together with the Father and the Son.” This doctrine, that is, the doctrine of “the Trinity” is the “Three Persons in One Nature,” which means “God in three persons, identical in essence.” Thus then, church could keep the doctrine of the Trinity against Arius who insisted “Tritheism” which believed that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are sequentially subordinate and exist independently, and also against Sibelius who insisted the “modalistic Monotheism,” which believed that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three but one, but exist in three forms according to the times and roles, I mean, appearing and functioning as God the Father in the Old Testament, as God the Son in the New Testament, and then as God the Holy Spirit after the Pentecost. As such, in conclusion, we, Christians, confess and believe in that “God is one in essence, yet, three in person.”

5)    Regarding this Triune God, the Belgic confession article #9 confesses that after giving several Bible verses, “In all these passages we are fully taught that there are three persons in the one and only divine essence. And although this doctrine surpasses human understanding, we nevertheless believe it now through the Word, waiting to know and enjoy it fully in heaven. Furthermore, we must note the particular works and activities of these three persons in relation to us. The Father is called our Creator, by reason of his power. The Son is our Savior and Redeemer by his blood. The Holy Spirit is our Sanctifier, by living in our hearts. This doctrine of the holy Trinity has always been maintained in the true church, from the time of the apostles until the present, against Jews, Muslims, and the heretics. And so, in this matter we willingly accept the three ecumenical creeds; the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian as well as what the ancient fathers decided in agreement with them.”

6)    This confession on the Trinity in the Belgic Confession Article 9 is called the “economic Trinity” in modern theology. Here the term ‘economic Trinity” is a theological term that refers to the Triune God’s way of working in which He appears outside of Himself which is distinct from each other according to its own unique attributes, but still maintains the unity of One God. If we take our salvation as an example, we can understand this that God the Father planed the salvation of His people, God the Son accomplished that salvation through the cross and resurrection, and God the Holy Spirit effectively applies that salvation to us.

7)    By the way, regarding the relational existence of these three persons of God, the Westminster Confession of Faith confesses in Chapter 2, Section 3 that “In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost (1 Jn 5:7; Mt 3:16-17, 28:19; 2 Cor 13:13): the Father is of none, neither begotten, nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father (Jn1:14,18); the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son (Jn15:25; Gal 4:6).” As such, the explanation of the relational existence of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, within the One God of the Trinity is called the “immanent Trinity” in modern theology, in other words, it is a confession that the Son is eternally begotten of the Father and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son from all eternity.

8)    Here, the time of ‘to beget” and “to proceed” are not chronological time in the created realm, rather eternal present time in the uncreated realm, where there is not chronological flow of the time so that ultimately, as the Father is eternal, the Son and the Holy Spirit are eternal, identical in divinity, and have a loving fellowship in the eternal life. That’s why Darrel Johnson said in his book “Experiencing the Trinity” that “in the deepest mystery of his being God is an intimate relationship, a fellowship, a community of love. (p.51) From all eternity the living God has lived in relationship—indeed, has lived as relationship. At the center of the universe is relationship. From all eternity the living God has been community, family. (p.59) And here is the Gospel: The God who is love draws near to me, a sinful, mere mortal, to draw me near to himself, in order to draw me within the circle of Lover, Beloved and Love itself. I become a co-lover with God! It is the very reason for my existence. (p.62)”

9)    We are created and redeemed in order to be drawn into the circle of love of Triune God and to become a co-lover with God. And then when we were drawn into that circle of love of God, then as Robert Boyd Munger said in his book “My heart, Christ’s Home” used to said to his students that “the closer you get to the heart of God, the closer you get to what is on God’s heart,” then we become to know that God’s heart is the world - your neighbors and my neighbors; empty, rebellious, broken people for whom the Son died, People, as Darrel Johnson said. So that we as His co-lover, become to embrace and love that world which God looks at in love and Jesus sacrificed His life for.

10) That’s why the essence of Christianity is love as the summary of ten commandments is to love our God and to love our neighbor,” and new commandment of Jesus is to love one another, because the Triune God is love. Therefore, I pray that in the end era when the lawlessness will be increased and the love of many wil grow cold, all of us here love more in this year to be proven as His disciples by that love, while flow Jesus’ love to the world.

Key Questions as Small Group Activity

Q1 Through Today’s message, we became to know that God has three persons in One Godhead; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and Triune God shares the same essence, power and glory. So for a while, after thinking about the Trinity of God and also how this Trinity impacts to our life, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Q2 And also we became to know that these Triune God form the eternal community of love and draw us into this circle of love so that we became the co-lovers of God to love and to be proven as His disciples in the world. So after reviewing our life and how we have been transforming and grow in the love of God, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Love you. Thank you. God bless you.

Prayer Note

Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!

Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or  even during the week )

Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!

Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),

please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized   ).

I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon                                    )

Please help me to live in that (  learned way of life                                                )

I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.