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In this article I’ll be sharing something that is not new but the Lord will be deepening our understanding of the subject matter. “The three expressions: One God.” I’m sure it is something that we are familiar with; we have heard it over and over again but the Lord will just be revisiting who He is to us, re-introducing Himself to us under this heading that the Holy Spirit will be leading us in three expressions- one God. I will start my observation from Matthew chapter 3:16-17, “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him. And He saw the Spirit of God descended like a dove, and alighting upon Him”. And suddenly, a voice came from heaven, saying, this is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Now, we’re going to start from here, because this, Matthew chapter 3:16-17, exposes us to clear distinctions of the expressions of God.
Listen to Podcast: The Three (3) Expressions of One (1) God
Number one, the first person that we saw here is Jesus in verse 16, when He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately. Jesus is the Son of God, if we go back to the visitation of Mary, when the angel came to her, and said to her, blessed are you among women; God is about to birth something through you, God is about to birth Himself through you, and Mary asked, how will these things be since I know no man? And the angel said to her, this is how you will come to receive and birth forth that which God is communicating to you. He said, the Spirit of God will come upon you, and the Spirit of the Most High will overshadow you. He said, and the One that you will bring forth will be called the Son of God, He is the Son of God, and His name will be called Jesus. So, we don’t have a doubt about how Jesus came about as a man walking on the earth. Jesus was born, and His conception gave birth to who He is; His expression. So, the expression of Jesus is the expression of the Son of Man; the expression of Jesus is God, the Son.
Unto us a Child is born and unto us a Son is given. So, Jesus was born as a Child, when Mary was in full term, the Bible says all the inns were occupied, and there was just a manger nearby and they decide to go there, and there Jesus was born. Jesus was not born as an adult; He was born as a child. Now, there was something God was trying to express on earth. When God made the first Adam, He made Adam an adult. There was no record in Scripture that God was changing diapers for Adam. He was a full-grown man, and having been a full-grown man; God puts him in the garden: you don’t put a child in the garden and tell the child to tend and keep it, the child doesn’t even know what to do. But Adam was a full-grown man that God puts in the garden, to tend, and to keep it. Adam sinned and fell, but when God was going to bring about restoration, Jesus did not come as a full-grown man; Jesus came as a Child. He was born as a Child, but He did not end up as a Child, He became a Son that was given and the Bible said that government will be upon His shoulders, and He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God.
So, Jesus is God, but that expression of God is the expression of the Son. So, when we look at Matthew chapter three, the first God expression that we saw was introduced to is Jesus, the Son that was given, he said, He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water, and behold the heavens were open to Him. There was no man at this time that the heavens were open to him. There was no man in record that the heavens were open to. And the Bible says the heavens Yes, the highest heavens belong to the Lord. So, what is the reason why the heavens opened for Jesus? It is because He was God. The heavens opened to Him not heaven, but the heavens were opened to Him because He was God. And he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting upon Him.
So, we are introduced to the Second person. And now this order, particularly, we’re going to understand how it’s important for us to understand it from here, because if we don’t understand it from here, we cannot relate with the three expressions of one God, first: Jesus, then, the Holy Spirit. He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting upon Him. When John the Baptist was sent on the assignment, to go into the world, and fore-run Jesus, he said, the One that has sent me said to me, whosoever you see the Spirit, coming upon and remaining, that is Him, that will baptize with the Holy Spirit. So, the first person, first expression, and first contact that we must have in dealing with one God is Jesus. When you meet Jesus, then you will be introduced to the Holy Spirit.
Now, this particular order is important because many at times in the three expressions of one God, we get confused, sometimes we find ourselves praying, and worshipping Jesus; then we feel condemned a little in our heart, that are you supposed to be worshipping Jesus, what about the Father? No! are you not supposed to worship the Holy Spirit too or do you find yourself thanking the Holy Spirit and you feel as if you are robbing Jesus of the thanks or you feel like you are robbing the Father of the thanks? Now, the reason why we feel like that is because we don’t understand how to relate or how to approach these three expressions of one God. You see, as human beings our identities, even if we were twins, are different.
The thumbprint of the first is different from the second one, even though they are identical twins, if they take their eyes, they call something retina identity, if they bring their eyes for retina identity, even though they look starkly alike, they are different. But you see the amazing thing about God, the thumbprint of Jesus, the thumbprint of the Holy Spirit, the thumbprint of the Father, in any life, in anywhere on the earth is the same. The identity of Jesus, the identity of the Spirit, and the identity of the Father, are one and the same. Verse 17; “And suddenly a voice came from heaven saying, this is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Now there is Jesus, the expression of the Son, walking on the earth.
We’ll go through some other Scriptures that will explain to us that wherever you find Jesus, the identity of Jesus does not conflict with that of the Holy Spirit. The identity of the Holy Spirit does not conflict with that of the Father. If you go through the Scriptures, and you see anywhere the Father is mentioned, everything about the Father is everything about Jesus. Everything about Jesus is everything about the Holy Spirit. We call God the Judge, the righteous Judge. Now, the Bible says we have become to God, the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit when He comes, He convicts men of sin, and of righteousness. So, you will find out that everything that you find in the Father, as an identity is the same in Christ; is the same in the Holy Spirit. So, whosoever you are turning to will point you to the remaining when the Holy Spirit is conversing with you, is as Jesus’ conversing with you, when the Father is conversing with you, is as the Son is conversing with you because everything that they say will all align, and focus on the same thing. So, you won’t find the Holy Spirit talking to you about holiness and Jesus is talking to you about Sin, no! their interest is the same, and their purpose is the same.
Let’s see Genesis chapter 1:26, “Then, God said, let Us make man in Our image.” (Do you see the capital O?). God said, God, sounds like singular, who is ‘Our’? The Son and the Holy Spirit. So, if you think you are made in the image of God, the Father, it is to say that you are also made in the image of God, the Son; you are also made in the image of God, the Holy Spirit because He didn’t say, “My image”, He said, let Us make man in Our image and according to Our likeness, meaning that their image is the same. If A equals to B, B equals to C, it means that A equals to C, A equals to B, and C equals to B. However, you arrange it, they balance, whatever you find in A, (you know, there’s something they call the mathematics sets.) Whatever you find in that set of A is the same use you will find in the set B is the same thing you’ll find in set C.
So, the three expressions of one God is one and the same, the same image, the same likeness, and that’s why the Pharisees could not comprehend it when Jesus was conversing with them. And He said the Father and I are one. Because if they had come back to Genesis, chapter 1:26, they would have seen that what Jesus was saying was the simple truth. Even though you are seeing me among you, am going to the same toilet you are going to, I’m going to the same kitchen that you are going to, and am eating the same food that you are eating, it does not rob me of having the same set that God has. That’s why the Bible says that He did not count it robbery to be equal with God, even though He was God; even though a Son, He learned obedience by the things that He suffered. So, we understand here that God said, let Us make man in Our image. So, for you to understand yourself, you must understand the three expressions of one God; you must understand the expression of the Father, you must understand the expression of the Son, you must understand the expression of the Holy Spirit. So, when you are communicating as a man, they are three expressions of one God, interplay within your members. But guess what, you can’t be confused because they all agree as one.
Let’s see the Book of First John chapter 5:5-13, “Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He who came by water and blood- Jesus Christ.” Jesus came by water. (In that portion we read in Matthew chapter 3:16-17, he said; and when He was baptized, immediately He came out of the water, the heavens were open to Him, and He saw) so this is He who came by water and blood- Jesus Christ, not only by the baptism of water, He also came by the baptism of death. So, he said by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness because the Spirit is truth. The Spirit bears witness that Jesus is the Son of God, and what the Spirit testifies is true, because they are one and the same. Now, for there are three (3) that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; these three expressions bear witness in heaven.
What does this mean? In heaven, there is a witness that if you look like the Father, they say yes, this is a son of God. If you look like Jesus, they will say yes, this is the son of God. If you look like the Holy Spirit, they agree that yes, this is a son of God, because the three of them, bear witness. Now, what’s the implication of that? When God had interaction with the children of Israel, they were not interacting with Jesus; they were interacting with the Father. How do I know they were interacting with Father? When God came to Moses, He came as Yahweh. He came to him as the LORD God who talks about God, the Father. And from that beginning of time, God was telling them and making them understand that, I have three expressions but it is the same God, but in this dispensation, you are relating with God the Father.
When Jesus came to the scene, did He neglect those that related with God the Father, and say you people your own dispensation and the relation you had with Father is gone? No! He came, making them understand there is a link between the Father and Himself, He has now come for restoration. The things they used to do to appease the Father, He has now come as that sacrifice that has been given up by the Father once and for all.
How do I know this? John chapter 3:16, “For God so loved the world.” Who is God that so loved the world? The Father. Every time there’s an expression of God in the dimension of unconditional love, a love that is bigger than what you can think or imagine: it is an expression of the Father. In Second Corinthians chapter 13:14, the Bible says, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God.” This Scripture gives us the three expressions of one God. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how is it the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ? It is because of how He came, He did not come just by water, but by water and the blood, He was baptized in water, He was baptized in His own blood as a sacrifice for you. So, what that sacrifice was to open up heaven for us and give us access to grace. So, every time Jesus is been mentioned, it is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s why that Scripture said, Now, you can boldly come to the throne of grace, to obtain mercy, and find grace to help because Jesus had been made that sacrifice for you.
The love of God: it is the Father that loved so much that He gave up His own Son, His Son that the Bible says in John chapter one, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, He has always been with God, there was no time that Jesus was separated from God. He was always with the Father, and that’s why in the beginning, He was there. Through Him, all things were made. Jesus was God five and six. And for your sake and my sake, God released His Son, He separated Himself because what Jesus did is a big deal, much more than we can think. God separated Himself from His Son and that’s why, when Jesus was speaking in the end, He said, glorify Me Father, with the same glory, and that’s why when Jesus was returning back, He was returning back to where He was seated. He said, He seated at the right hand of the Father, above principalities and powers.
So, Jesus is the expression of God, that gives us grace. Because it is through Him that the sacrifice for the world came. In Revelation, when there was an enquiry in Heaven; who will go for us? Who will go and restore the earth back to how God wants it. And He volunteered. The said who is worthy to even open the scroll and to look into what is in it. And people started wailing, people started crying, and they say, don’t cry. He said, the Lamb of God, Jesus, the Son of God. He is worthy to open the scroll and look into what is there. So, Jesus was that the atonement that brings restoration, redemption, so He brings grace. God is the benevolent Father, that loves; that is able to sacrifice because He loves.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son; He is the one that gives, He gives benevolently. And He gave us His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. Now, in First John, it says that these three, they bear witness in heaven. So, when Jesus came to the Jews that are related with the Father, He did not abandon them to go their way. He was still making them understand that there is a link between the Father that has appeared to them and the Jesus; the Son that has appeared now. And that’s why He was always emphasizing on the conversation, the relationship, everything that happened between that nation and God, and how He was there from the beginning. And that’s why He will say to them greater than Solomon is here, before Abraham was: I was. Those names are like big deals to you but I’m the one that was there all through.
But they could not fathom, they could not understand; how can the God that they could not look at Him when He came down on the mountain, be the same God. They could not comprehend, and that was their problem; they knew Messiah was coming, that God was going to send the Messiah to them, but they did not imagine that the Messiah will be in the fragile frame of Jesus that was using His sandals to kick dust all over Nazareth and Galilee, and all those places, they couldn’t fathom it and that’s why they kept imagining if Jesus had come in the form of Angel Michael or Angel Gabriel, do you know they would have built a house for Him? They would have decorated it, they would have collected gold throughout the land, and build Him an edifice and stayed there. In fact, they won’t let Him die, they won’t allow Him to be ascended before them, they will put a high ceiling with rod, that if He tries to escape, they will keep Him there. But He came unassuming, He came unknown, He was not born in a palace, He did not come in the expression that people will think He will come.
God that came down on a mountain that people could not look at, that the mountain became black, because God came down; there was fire, it was hot. Then, you now say God came again, and He now came in a baby that they knew the address where He was born, that they knew that Mary carried Him for nine months, and they knew that when He came, He came with placenta. There was nothing mystical about it; it was not like when Mary carried Him: the pregnancy was suspended every time she was walking, she actually went through all the pains of giving birth; they could not relate but that was an expression of God. That was the expression of God the Son, Jesus. So, what He came to do for us, is to give us grace; He is the perfect expression of grace. We don’t deserve Him, He is not even worthy to be counted; when they are doing censor, they’re not supposed to count Jesus. He is not even worthy to be counted among us, but He chose to be numbered among us; as the Son of Man and the expression of God.
So, what Jesus was doing was to create a bridge that God had been a far off because of what you have done. So, there have been a separation; I’ve come to be the dividing line, I’ve come to create a bridge that brings you back to God: that’s the expression of God, the Son, Jesus.
Then, there is an expression of God called the Holy Spirit. And it looks as if the Holy Spirit is the most difficult expression of God that human race has ever experienced. You know, Jesus, could be touched; God, they could sacrifice to Him. God speaks to them about altars, about signs, about things they can physically touch and do. But the Holy Spirit comes in a dimension that humankind has never seen before. He says you can’t see the wind; you don’t know where it is coming from, you don’t know where it’s going; so is everyone born of the Spirit. There’s no physical touch or can you catch the wind? Then, God now came in the dimension of the Holy Spirit, an expression that the world is still trying to grapple with.
You can’t even see Him, He’s not descending on any mountain, He is not asking for turtle dove, and He is God; no fire, no smoke, and He comes in a still small voice. In fact, many times you ignore Him that, can that be God? You know when Jesus was talking, He was to speaking parables; Jesus was at least giving face to the voice, but Holy Spirit has no face, no place. For God; there was a place, for Jesus; there was a face, but for the Holy Spirit; no place, no face: you just have to believe. He’s speaking to you, and you are even confused, is it my mind or it is God? You just have to believe, and He is an expression of God, and this is the dispensation we are in. And what the Holy Spirit is coming to do or what He has come to do, is to bring us into that place, where we see that the Father, whom the Israelites as a nation, communicated with, and Jesus that the apostles and the disciples walked with, is still the same God living inside of you.
He is coming to testify of the things that the Father said, the things that Jesus did, and what God has made possible for you now; that’s, that expression of God. If we don’t understand how to relate, we will not be able to carry God in our generation. If we cannot relate with these three expressions of one God, we will not be able to carry God in our generation. Because how we carry Him now is not by walking with Jesus physically, it is not going to a mountain that can be touched with human hands, it is staying in the place of fellowship with the Holy Spirit, it is staying in the place of communion with the Holy Spirit; where God is having conversations with you and you are building an altar in your heart for Him every time, He is having conversations with you. You are not building physical altars like Abraham, you are not carrying an ark of covenant like the children of Israel, but your life, your body, your soul, your spirit, has become a house for Him.
And that’s why Bible says, do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? Do you not know? Many people don’t know. And that’s why we abuse this body, we treat it anyhow, we walk anyhow, we live our lives anyhow because we don’t know that this body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The expression of the Holy Spirit is the perfect expression of fellowship. You don’t need to go to any place physically “I want to go and meet with God”, you will meet with Him daily, you will make every moment you have the opportunity to meet with God. The Holy Spirit is a perfect expression of fellowship and our walk with Him. Jesus will say to His disciples, follow Me and I will make you.
Bible says, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. So, you see that the thumbprint of the Father, the thumbprint of the Son, the thumbprint of the Holy Spirit are one and the same; same identity, same image, same likeness, if God is love, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of love; Jesus is love. If God is true, Jesus is the truth, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. You will find out that their thumbprint and their signature is the same. If God had told you something, everything God told the children of Israel, none of it has failed: Israel as a physical nation on the earth is still enjoying it. The things Jesus said when He was on the earth, He said when the end will come, you will hear rumors of war, you will hear nations fighting against nations; we see all of these today, but none have fallen to the ground.
The same thing with whatever the Holy Spirit tells you today, none will fall to the one will fall ground; believe it. Let’s quit this mindset of belittling the Holy Spirit, because imagine if the Holy Spirit comes like fire on the mountain, burns your entire kitchen, or your sitting room: then you now say God has come. How much of God’s resources do we want to believe that God is in our midst? To believe that God is in our lives? Jesus should be coming to die every time so that you believe God loves you. No! He said He has been given up once and for all. What you need to do, what I need to do is to believe and enter into fellowship; Jesus said it is to your advantage that I go, Jesus did not say I am going to remain; Jesus left.
Let’s not be confused, Jesus actually left, in Acts chapter one, they saw Him ascending and the angel said, why are you fixated on the sky? He said, this same Jesus, as you have seen Him taken before you, He will come in the same manner. So, Jesus left, Jesus actually left; so that expression of God the Son left. So, He said, how be it the Father will send the Holy Spirit, the Helper in My name, He will tell you, and remind you of the things that I have said. He will take of what is Mine and share it with you. So, Jesus is not here; the expression of God that is here is the Holy Spirit, believe it! believe Him! Believe it that the Holy Spirit is here, and believe Him: that’s the expression.
So, how do we function with this expression? It is by fellowship. Fellowship, communion; when you sit with the Holy Spirit, you are sitting with God. When you’re sitting with the Holy Spirit, you are sitting with Jesus. So, when you are speaking to the Holy Spirit, and you are praying in the name of Jesus, the Father is hearing, the Bible says it has pleased the Father to give Him a name. So, when you are saying thank You, Jesus, don’t think God is offended. When you say thank You, Holy Spirit, don’t think Jesus is angry; they are one and the same. It has pleased the Father, to give Jesus a name and He gave Him a name that is above every other name, that in the name of Jesus, every knee bows, every tongue confesses to the glory of God the Father. So, when you are fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit; Jesus is glorified, and God the Father is glorified: because He is them.
The Bible says the love of God has been shed abroad, in our hearts, by the Holy Spirit. You cannot receive or know the love of God, except by the Holy Spirit. You cannot understand fully the things Jesus did because you were not alive when He did it. You can’t fully understand the gravity, the importance of what Jesus did, except by the Holy Spirit. When Apostle Paul was praying that I may to Him, the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His suffering, being conformed to His death, he knew that he could not know Him in the flesh, it is possible only in the Spirit. And that’s why fellowship with the Holy Spirit is important. It comes through faith, when you fellowship with the Holy Spirit, it is through faith. You believe that you are fellowshipping with God, you believe that God is here, you believe that God is in that room, you believe that God is in that house, you believe that God is in that space and that whatever you say to Him, He hears you and He will provide an answer.
The reason why many of us are struggling is that we don’t understand these three expressions, and we don’t understand particularly, this expression of God that is available now. Do you know once the Holy Spirit is out of the earth, that’s it? Jesus is coming back. Once the Holy Spirit leaves the scene, the end has come. The reason the devil in all his madness cannot create chaos than what he is trying to do is because the Holy Spirit is here and he knows the Holy Spirit is God; you are the one struggling with it. The devil knows the Holy Spirit is God; He is the Spirit of light. He said and the light shines forth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it. Do you think He’s talking just about Jesus? He is talking about all of them: the same image, the same likeness.
So, when the Holy Spirit is in your life, don’t be thinking that the devil can also possess you. Don’t think the Holy Spirit is weak, because He is gentle, He comes in a still small voice; don’t think He is powerless. The Bible says it pleased the Father, that in Jesus, the fullness of the Godhead should dwell bodily. And it pleased Jesus to leave the scene. And the Holy Spirit has the fullness: because how can He take of what is Jesus and share with you if He does not have the fullness of Jesus? And the Bible calls Jesus, the wisdom and the power of God. And the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of wisdom, their signature is the same. You can’t have the Holy Spirit and think you have less of Jesus, less of the power of God. The Holy Spirit is not less God! He is God. So, you have the Holy Spirit, you have the fullness of God, we have the fullness of God; we must believe it.
When you pray to God, and the Holy Spirit is persuading you to pray in a particular direction, pray it because the Bible says who knows the heart of God except for the Spirit of God because they are one and the same. We must enjoy the Holy Spirit; enjoying the Holy Spirit is enjoying God, living for the Holy Spirit is living for God, being led by the Holy Spirit is being led by God, and pleasing the Holy Spirit is pleasing God.
How do I please God, I want to live my life pleasing God and you have the Holy Spirit; please Him! Whatever the Holy Spirit asks you to do, do it: you have pleased God. Do you know many of the questions we ask, is because we don’t understand the Holy Spirit. How do I know the will of God for my life? Do you know the will of the Holy Spirit for you? That is the will of God for your life. Holy Spirit can you tell me the will of God for my life? Simply ask Him; Holy Spirit what is Your will for me? Do you know some of us do you want Jesus to come physically? I just want to see Jesus, if I see Jesus, there’s nothing God is asking me to do that I will not do; the Holy Spirit that is here what are you doing with Him? And that’s why many at times when we pray, God looks down on us, and He laughs.
The Bible says my people perish for they lack knowledge; they lack an understanding of this expression. You can’t have the Holy Spirit and be wailing I want to see Jesus. That’s why when Thomas was saying show us the Father and we’re okay. Jesus said have I been with you and you are asking Me; show us the Father? That is the same thing the Holy Spirit is saying to us. We are to believe; the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of faith. When you walk in Him, He will deepen your faith in Jesus and the Father.
