Did the Trinity exist before creation and if so, for what purpose?
John 15:1 - 26
MSG - 1 I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken. 4 Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me.
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Asked October 15 2017
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Steve Gilkeson
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Tim Maas
The One God has always existed in three Persons. The Bible says that the Son was the Father's expression of Himself from eternity past (that is, His Word (John 1:1-2)), through which He created the universe (John 1:3). Because the Father and the Son are super-personal, the love and relationship between them (which must necessarily involve two Beings) is itself a separate third Person (the Holy Spirit). (This is conveyed by the language of the Nicene Creed, which states that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son". However, the word "proceeds" does not imply sequential existence. Just as the Father and the Son have always existed, the Holy Spirit has also always existed (Genesis 1:2).) As an act of love and grace (undeserved favor) on God's part in response to humanity's fall into sin, the Son was incarnated as true man through the working of the Holy Spirit, while also remaining true God. It was the Son's sinless birth and life, death, and resurrection that made possible the redemption of humanity, and that was something that only He (as both true God and true man) could accomplish. The Athanasian Creed (viewable at https://carm.org/athanasian-creed-500-ad), which dates from about AD 500, is a statement of Christian beliefs about the triune nature of God, which (along with the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed) is generally accepted throughout Christendom. There is also an extensive discussion of this subject in C.S. Lewis' book Mere Christianity, titled "Beyond Personality: or First Steps in the Doctrine of the Trinity". I would recommend it to anyone interested in this subject. It is fully viewable online at: http://www.truthaccordingtoscripture.com/documents/apologetics/mere-christianity/Mere-Christianity.pdf
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