Three in One

Conjoined twins are identical twins whose bodies are physically connected. It’s an extremely rare occurrence and, sadly, half are stillborn with another third dying within 24 hours of their birth. Modern surgery has made it possible to separate many conjoined twins. While some cases are quite simple, others are life-threatening because of shared vital organs.

One of the most famous pairs of conjoined twins was Eng and Chang Bunker, who were born in 1811 in Thailand (Siam). They moved to the United States and traveled with P.T. Barnum’s circus; they were called the “Siamese twins,” a term that came to be used for conjoined twins.

There is a connection in the Godhead that is not an accident of nature. The oneness of God is a concept humans have tried to grasp for millennia. How could God be three distinct persons and still be one? The Bible clearly presents to us a monotheistic view of God. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” (Deuteronomy 6:4). The Hebrew word for “one” can mean to unite or unify.

The Scriptures affirm a plurality within the Godhead. At creation, the Bible says, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26, emphasis supplied). Some verses distinguish the Spirit of God from God. At creation, “The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2).

Each member of the Trinity is fully divine, including Jesus of whom Paul writes, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). The clearest presentation of the three separate beings of the Godhead was at the baptism of Jesus, when Christ [the Son] had the dove [the Holy Spirit] descend on Him as God [the Father] spoke words of affirmation to Jesus. (See Matthew 3:16, 17.)

A triune God, who is three in one, is a concept difficult to understand but presented in the Bible as the nature of the One who loves us. By faith we may accept this truth even though it is beyond our understanding.

Apply It:

Think of examples of unity and diversity in the natural world that illustrate the oneness of God. For instance, the human body is made up of many parts but is still one body.

Dig Deeper:

Isaiah 48:16; Zechariah 14:9; 2 Corinthians 13:14

Key Bible Texts

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; (1 Timothy 2:5 KJV)