The third crucial point concerning the Divine Trinity is the essential Trinity. The Divine Trinity is absolutely one in His element and existence; His essence is absolute. Essence denotes nature; this is with respect to the Divine Trinity Himself. Today, there is a group of Christians who do not see that the Divine Trinity has the essential aspect and the economical aspect. They confuse these two aspects and therefore bring about disputes. Because I have been stressing in America that the Triune God is one and that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one, they interpreted my teaching out of context and thus condemned me for advocating modalism like Sabellius. They said that when the Lord Jesus was standing in the water after His baptism, the Father spoke from the heavens while the Spirit was soaring in the air like a dove; at that time, all three-the Father, the Son, and the Spirit-were present but They were in three different places. Hence, they concluded that the three of the Divine Trinity are not only distinct but also separate. Thus, they questioned our saying that the three are one. When I heard this kind of word in my youth, I thought it was quite reasonable. However, I found out gradually from my study of the Bible that in a certain aspect this reasoning is right, but it is not right in every aspect. Actually, as far as essence is concerned, there is nothing wrong with our teaching.
The Gospel of Matthew not only has chapter three but also has chapter twenty-eight. It is true that Matthew 3 has a picture showing that after His baptism the Lord Jesus was on the earth, the Father was in the heavens, and the Spirit was in the sky. However, the Gospel of Matthew tells us from the beginning that God was first begotten into Mary through the conception of the Holy Spirit and then born as Jesus (1:18, 20-21). From that time on, you can say that Jesus was born of the Spirit; you can also say that He was born of the virgin Mary. This is because this wonderful One is a God-man, possessing both divinity and humanity. He has humanity and He also has divinity; He has divinity and He also has humanity. According to His divinity, He was born of the Holy Spirit; according to His humanity, He was born of a human virgin. Therefore, the Holy Spirit was not only in Him, but even more, the Holy Spirit became the essence of His being.
Then we would ask: In Matthew 3, after the baptism of the Lord Jesus while the Holy Spirit was outside of Him like a dove in the air, did the Lord Jesus have the Holy Spirit within Him? Without a doubt, the Lord Jesus had the Holy Spirit within Him. Not only so, His very essence was the Holy Spirit. Then are there two Holy Spirits, one being inside the Lord Jesus as His essence and another being outside, in the air, to descend upon Him? No, there is only one Holy Spirit. On the one hand, the Holy Spirit was in the Lord Jesus as His essence for His existence; this is the essential aspect. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit descended upon the Lord Jesus at the time of His baptism as the economical Spirit to be His power for His ministry; this is the economical aspect.
Among Christians there is also the concept that when the Lord Jesus came down from heaven because of His love for us, He left the Father on the throne in heaven, and He alone became flesh to be on the earth to suffer on our behalf; therefore, when He was suffering on the earth, the Father was far away in heaven. John 8:16, 29, and 16:32, however, strongly indicate that the Lord Jesus was never alone when He was on the earth; instead, the Father was always with Him. Furthermore, in 6:46; 7:29; 16:27; 17:8; and 15:26, five verses that refer to the Lord Jesus’ coming from the Father, the Greek word for from is para, which means from with. This means that the Lord came not only from the Father but also with the Father. When He came from the Father, He brought the Father with Him.
Hence, when the Lord Jesus was on the earth, He came with the Father, and the Father was with Him. Thus, we would go on and ask: After His baptism, when He came out of the water and stood there, why did the Father speak from the heavens? Had the Father not already come with Him? Was not the Father always with Him? Then why is it that the Father was also in the heavens? Here we must see the two aspects concerning the Divine Trinity: the essential aspect and the economical aspect. According to the essential aspect, from the time the Lord Jesus entered Mary’s womb, He came not only from the Father but also with the Father. According to the economical aspect, at His baptism the Father was still in the heavens.
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