There is another verse in the Bible, however, which says that God forsook Christ on the cross. Matthew 27:46 says, "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" How can we reconcile this verse with the other verses in the Scripture which show that Christ's crucifixion was God's crucifixion? At the very juncture when the Lord Jesus was going to give up His spirit, He cried, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" On the one hand, God never left the Son, but on the other hand, the Son cried out that God had forsaken Him.

In order to answer this question, we need to see the essential and economical aspects of the Divine Trinity. In the history of theology, the students of the Bible have seen two aspects of the Divine Trinity: the essential Trinity and the economical Trinity. The essential Trinity refers to the very intrinsic essence of the Trinity. In essence the three of the Trinity are one. The First dwells in the Second, the Second dwells in the Third, and the Third dwells in the First and the Second. The three coinhere, dwell in each other, essentially. They are one and cannot be divided. But economically speaking, that is, according to God's economy, God's plan, and God's accomplishing of His purpose, the three are distinct. If the three were not distinct, how could the First forsake the Second?

Another picture of the economical Trinity can be seen at the Lord's baptism. At the time of His baptism, the Father was in the heavens, the Son was in the water, and the Spirit was in the air like a dove. The Son in the water on the earth heard the Father in the heavens speaking (Matt. 3:16-17). In this case the three of the Godhead are not only distinct; They are in three different locations.

In order to have a complete view of the Divine Trinity, we need to see His economical and essential aspects. In John 10:30 the Lord said, "I and the Father are one." In John 14:10-11 the Son told the disciples, "I am in the Father and the Father is in Me." Are They separated? No. They are one essentially. But when They act to carry out Their economy, to finish Their plan, to accomplish Their purpose, quite often They are distinct. At the Son's baptism the Father was distinct from the Son, and the Son was distinct from the Father. The Gospels also show us that the Son prayed to the Father, and when He prayed, He lifted up His eyes to heaven (John 17:1). Here we see that the Father and the Son are distinct economically. Essentially speaking, the crucifixion of Christ was God's crucifixion, but at the juncture when Christ gave up His spirit, God forsook Him. God was there essentially, but He forsook Him economically. We need to realize that the study of the Divine Trinity is an endless matter.