Matthew and John are different in many aspects, but as we have seen in the last message, they are also very much alike. One reveals that Jesus is the king, and the other shows us that Jesus is the very God. Both of them, however, tell us that this wonderful person is going to be with us and within us. This is His purpose. Whether He is this kind of person or that kind of person, His purpose is the same—to be with us and within us.
In this message we need to see another point which is covered by both of these books. This is the matter of the Triune God. There are sixty-six books in the Bible, but none are so clear on the Triune God as Matthew and John. In the last chapter of Matthew it is revealed that the Triune God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. “Go ye therefore, and disciple all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19).
From the Hebrew text, we see that in Genesis 1:1, the word “God” as the subject of the sentence is in plural number. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” But the word “created” as the predicate of the sentence is in the singular. This is quite meaningful. The subject is plural, but the predicate is singular. In the first verse of the Bible the Triune God is revealed in a secret way. It is not so clear unless you know the numbers of the Hebrew language.
Then in Genesis 1:26, God uses the plural pronouns “us” and “our” to denote Himself. “God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” This really causes a problem. Is God singular or plural? If we say that God is singular, why does He use the plural pronoun for Himself? And if we say that God is plural, it is the greatest heresy. We know that we do not have three gods, but only one God. Yet how can we understand these verses? It is very difficult to understand this matter completely. In a sense, the Triune God is one of the greatest mysteries in the universe.
From Genesis 1, we go on to Genesis 3. After the fall of man, God again uses the plural pronoun for Himself. “The Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil” (Gen. 3:22).
In Genesis 11, men had become so rebellious against God that they built the tower of Babel and the city of Babel. Then God said: “Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech” (Gen. 11:7). Again we see that God uses the plural pronoun in referring to Himself.
When God uses the plural pronoun for Himself, it is always related to man. When God created man, He used the plural pronoun for Himself. When God took care of fallen man, He used the plural pronoun again. And when God came to deal with rebellious man, He used the plural pronoun. This means that the Triune God is for God’s dealing with man. In Genesis 1, when God was creating all the other things, He never used the plural pronoun for Himself. It seems that to all the other creatures, God was just God Himself. But whenever God is related to man, He is Triune.
There is another occasion in the Old Testament when God uses the plural pronoun for Himself, and it is also related to man. It is found in Isaiah 6:8. Isaiah saw God on the throne, and then he heard God ask the question, “Who will go for us?”
Hence, we see that whether God created man, took care of fallen man, came to deal with rebellious man, or sent someone to proclaim something to man, He was Triune. God’s relationship to man was almost always related to His being Triune.