God With Us (John 14:15-31)
“If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
(Jn 14:15–21).
The Mystery of the Trinity: God With Us
The early Christians wrestled deeply with what they saw and experienced in Jesus. His life, teachings, death, and resurrection revealed things about God that did not seem to fit neatly into what they already knew from the Hebrew Scriptures. The Old Testament described God as one, unseen, and holy. Then Jesus came along and began to speak of God as Father, and of Himself as the Son, and of the Spirit who would come after Him.
The writers of the New Testament spoke of Jesus as both human and divine, often in the same breath. What is interesting is that they did not seem to struggle with that tension. They did not stop to explain how one person could be both fully God and fully human. Nor did they explain how the Father, Son, and Spirit relate to each other. Instead, they simply wrote what they knew to be true, leaving us clues along the way.
The word “Trinity” never appears in Scripture, but the idea grew naturally from what the first followers of Jesus believed and experienced. Around the middle of the second century, Christians began to use something called the Apostles’ Creed. It was a short statement of faith that reflected what the Apostles had taught about God: the Father who creates, the Son who redeems, and the Spirit who sustains.
Over time, people began to wrestle with how to make sense of that language. Some began to suggest that Jesus was only divine, others that He was only human, or that He was divine but created, or that His humanity and divinity were somehow separated. All of these were attempts to define God, to make God understandable.
The problem is that when we try to explain God, we tend to lose sight of God.
We want to explain things because we want control, but you cannot control a mystery —and God is a mystery.
By the fourth century, these questions had created so much tension that church leaders from across the world gathered in the city of Nicaea to work it out. They read the writings of the Apostles, prayed together, and discussed what the Scriptures revealed. Out of that meeting came the Nicene Creed. It was their way of saying that God is a mystery to behold, not a puzzle to solve.
They affirmed that God is one being, known in three persons. The Father, Son, and Spirit are not separate gods, nor do they operate in a hierarchy. They share the same divine life. The Creed was written not to define God but to help us embrace the mystery that the earliest followers of Jesus lived in.
All throughout history, the pattern is the same. Every heresy begins with an attempt to describe God too precisely. In doing so, people lose what is most important: the nearness of God. When we reduce Jesus’ humanity, God becomes unfamiliar with our struggles. When we reduce His divinity, we lose a God who can bring redemption. The Creed, instead, points us to a God who is both near and beyond, both with us and above us.
In John 14, Jesus tells His disciples that when He leaves, another Advocate will come, the Spirit of Truth. The Spirit will live within them and guide them. Jesus wants them to understand that they will not be left alone, that the same divine presence they experienced in Him will continue among them.
The Spirit is the presence of God that moves us toward love, wisdom, and life. When we gather around the table, when we choose forgiveness over bitterness, when we insist on mercy in the face of injustice, the Spirit is visible among us.
God becomes known not because we have defined God but because we are participating in what God is doing.
The mystery of the Trinity is not something to figure out but something to join. The Father creates, the Son redeems, and the Spirit sustains. And all of them invite us to the table to share in that divine life together.
Discussion Questions
What do you think it means that God is a “mystery to behold” rather than a “puzzle to solve”?
Does the idea of the Trinity shape the way you understand God’s presence in everyday life?
In what ways do we still try to define or control God today, and what do we lose when we try?
How have you experienced the Spirit’s presence guiding or sustaining you personally or within your community?
What does it look like for a house church to make the “invisible God visible” through love and action?