The Godhead and the Number 3 (Part 1)

The number three is frequently used in the scriptures in association with the bible subject of the Godhead.  As a matter of fact the word, Godhead, appears in the bible exactly three times:

1.  Rom. 1:20, For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead..

2.  Acts 17:29, Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.

3.  Col. 2:9, For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

The Godhead is described for us in 1 John 5:7, AFor there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.  One of the great mysteries of the ages has been how can three be one.  While we have great difficulty understanding how three can be one, yet we know it to be true because the scriptures plainly declare it is so.  Furthermore, according to the first reference above God has placed the mark of the Godhead on the things that God has made.  He has declared unto us that what we can understand of the Godhead can be understood by looking at the things which God has made.  Ps. 19:1, AThe heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.

Let us now take a look at natural creation and see if we can see the mark of the Godhead on those things which God has made.  First, we live in a universe (uni = one) that can be measured with three parameters, time, space, and matter.  Each of these three parameters have three parts.  Time is measured in past, present, and future.  For instance, in showing the ever present, eternal, unchanging nature of the Lord, he is declared by the scriptures to be the same, yesterday, today, and forever.  Space is three dimensional, height, width, and breadth so that we dwell in a three dimensional universe.  Matter exists in three and only three states; solids, liquids, and gases.  The building block of matter is the atom.  All matter is composed of atoms either singularly or in combinations known as molecules.  Every atom consists of three subatomic elements known as protons, neutrons, and electrons.  These three elements make up for more than 99.9% of all atoms.

In addition we live in a world with a great variety of colors.  Yet there are three basic colors from which all other colors are derived: red, blue, and yellow.  By combining these three basic colors in various combinations all other colors can be formed.

Several times we read in the scriptures that the life of the creature is in the blood.  There are three types of cells in blood: red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.  These three cells are essential for life.  The red blood cells carry oxygen and nutrients to feed the cells of the body.  The white blood cells are essential in fighting various viruses, diseases, and foreign materials that invade the body, and platelets are essential to the clotting of blood when there is an injury to the body, thus starting the repair and healing of body wounds.

In man the organ used for hearing, the ear, consists of an inner ear, a middle ear, and an outer ear.  The middle ear consists of three bones that pick up sound waves and converts them to vibrations that are translated into sound.

The seed of life both in plants and animals generally consist of three parts: outer covering, food stuff, and germ.  Thru this three part seed, life of the plants and animals is reproduced.

According to 1 Thes. 5:23 man consists of three parts: And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We live in a solar system that revolves around the sun which produces three major rays that are essential for life: the heat ray produces the heat necessary for an environment in which man can life; the light ray produces the light by which we are able to navigate on this planet; and the actinic ray is essential for oxidation thus driving the chemical reactions necessary for life.  It is also interesting to note that the planet earth, the one in which God placed life, is the third planet from the sun!

Thus we may conclude that God has placed the mark of the Godhead on the things in nature, which God has made.  In our next essay we will examine the mark of the Godhead as it pertains to the types and shadows of the Old Testament. 

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The Godhead and the Number 3 (Part 2) 

Three (Part II)

There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.  This passage, from I John 5:7, declares unto us the three and one Godhead  While there are many things about the Godhead I do not understand, the pattern of the Godhead is set forth for us throughout the scriptures, especially in the types and shadows of the Old Testament.

First, the scriptures as a whole consist of sixty six books.  The scriptures are divided into the law, the prophets, and the letters.  The first 22 books consist of the law and the workings of the law.  The next 22 books consist of the prophets and fulfillment of the prophets.  The last 22 books contain the letters of the apostles.

When God declared he would destroy the earth with a flood, he had Noah build an ark that consisted of lower, second, and third stories.  Thus it was one ark with three stories.  When God brought the flood waters upon the earth, He opened the windows of heaven, broke up the fountains of the great deep, and caused it to rain for 40 days and nights.  Thus the flood waters were from three sources.  When Noah sought to find out if the flood waters were abated, he sent forth a dove three times.  In type the dove was a figure of the church.  She bore three messages.  The first message was that she found no rest for the soles of her feet.  There was no rest under the old law covenant.  Next, she bore the message of peace with an olive leaf plucked off.  Thus under the new covenant of worship the gospel is the gospel of peace for God's sin-weary people. Third, the dove left the ark and returned not again.  In the morning of the resurrection God's covenant people are leaving this earth to never return again.  When man came off the ark, God replenished the earth with the three sons of Noah; Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Next, God made a covenant with Abraham and confirmed it with Isaac, and Jacob.  In this covenant God promised to multiply their seed as three innumerable things: dust of the earth, sand of the sea shore; and stars of heaven.  In Gal. 3:16 the seed of Abraham is declared to us to be Christ.  The multiplied seed is the elect which Rev. Chapter 7 declares to be a great multitude which no man can number of every nation, kindred, people, and tongue.

When Moses and children of Israel crossed the Red Sea they journeyed three days and came to the waters of Marah and they were bitter.  God showed Moses a tree which when he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet.

The tabernacle the children of Israel built by God's pattern consisted of three parts: the outer court, the holy place, and the most holy place.  Similarly the temple consisted of three major parts.

We are all familiar with Jonah being swallowed by a great fish and how that he was three days and nights in the great deep until God caused the whale to vomit him up on dry ground.  The Lord gave as a sign of his resurrection that as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whales belly, then the Son of man would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Furthermore, the Lord gave the children of Israel three feasts in which the males were to gather and appear in the place which he would establish.  These three feasts were: the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of tabernacles, and the feast of weeks.

When God delivered the children of Israel from the great host in the days of Gideon he chose out three hundred men and set them in three companies and by these he set up the destruction of that great host of enemies that were gathered against Israel.