To Comprehend The Great Three-One

The Apostle Paul instructed the believers at Colosse to teach and admonish one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. That is what I hope to do by explaining the meaning of this hymn, against the backdrop of the Framework of Sovereign Grace.

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[An automated transcript of the teaching video]

The Apostle Paul instructed the believers at Colosse to teach and admonish one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. That’s what I intend to do by explaining to you the meaning of this hymn—To Comprehend The Great Three- One. I’d like to explain the meaning against the backdrop of the Framework of Sovereign Grace, which is God’s master plan for the ages.

You’ll notice the hymn was written by Joseph Hart. Joseph Hart was an 18th century sovereign grace Independent preacher. He served nine years as the pastor of the church meeting at Jewin Street in London.

And now I’d like to read for you the stanzas of the hymn. There are six stanzas in total. I begin with the first,

1 To comprehend the great THREE-ONE, 

Is more than highest angels can; 

Or what the Trinity has done,

From death and hell to ransom man.

2 But all true Christians this may boast, 

(A truth from nature never learned), 

That Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 

To save our souls are all concerned.

3 The Father’s love in this we find,

He made His Son our sacrifice;

The Son in love His life resigned;

The Spirit of love His blood applies.

4 Thus we the Trinity can praise,

In Unity through Christ our King;

Our grateful hearts and voices raise,

In faith and love, while thus we sing:

5 Glory to God the Father be,

Because He sent His Son to die;

Glory to God the Son, that He

Did with such willingness comply;

6 Glory to God the Holy Ghost,

Who to our hearts this love reveals;

Thus God Three-One, to sinners lost,

Salvation sends, procures, and seals.

My dear friends, the obvious message of this hymn is the nature and definition of the gospel of God. It’s interesting, many preachers who attempt to define the gospel will often go to First Corinthians chapter 15. They’ll tell you that Paul, in that passage, identifies the definition of the gospel to be the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. My dear friends, please listen to me. It was never Paul’s intention to provide a definition for the gospel in First Corinthians chapter 15. That chapter is all about the resurrection. He was explaining the meaning and defending the truth of the resurrection. And he mentioned the Lord Jesus Christ in that passage as it relates to the resurrection. Generally speaking, the resurrection of all God’s people, even of the non elect. They’ll also receive a resurrection of their bodies. 

Now, what then is the meaning and definition of the gospel, if it be not the death, burial, resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, don’t get me wrong. The death, burial, resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ is part of the gospel definition, but it’s only one of three parts. If you look at the Framework of Sovereign Grace, the death, burial, resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ deals only with the second branch of the gospel—the redeeming grace of God the Son. But there is also the electing love of God the Father. And without the electing love of God the Father, there would be no redeeming grace of God the Son, for unless the Father chose a people and gave them to His Son, the Son would have no people to redeem. And then, of course, there is the third branch of the gospel, which is the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. Unless the Holy Spirit effectually applies and communicates the redeeming grace of the Son, no one will ever experience all that Christ has accomplished for His people.

So you see, there are three main branches of the gospel. The gospel is all about the electing love of the Father, the redeeming grace of the Son, and the sanctifying power of the Spirit. And that is the meaning of the hymn before us. It highlights these three branches of the gospel. 

Stanza 1

“To comprehend the great THREE-ONE,”

Is more than highest angels can;”

We’re talking here about the TriUnity of the Godhead—Father, Son, and Spirit in one Godhead. This knowledge of the TriUnity of the Godhead is more than highest angels can comprehend or understand. So, you take all the angels that God has created—and they’re superior beings in ourselves—and not even they in their superiority are able to fully comprehend the glory of the TriUne Godhead.

“Or what the Trinity has done,

From death and hell to ransom man.”

We’re then told what the Trinity has done, not only what the Trinity is by nature (Father, Son and Spirit in one Godhead), but also what the Trinity has done from death and hell to ransom man. So we say, therefore, salvation is not only of God, but is of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.

Stanza 2

“But all true Christians this may boast,”

What are true Christians? True Christians are those who have been regenerated by the effectual power of the Spirit of God. Jesus described the work of regeneration as a new birth, or, as a branch engrafted to a vine. Those are analogies, or illustrations, to explain the meaning of regeneration. Regeneration is when the Spirit of God unites the soul with the Lord Jesus Christ. By virtue of which union, the Spirit of God communicates the life and virtues of Christ to our souls. That’s regeneration! That’s the new birth! That’s the branch engrafted to the vine! And that’s what constitutes a true Christian, my dear friend. All true Christians, therefore, may boast,

“(A truth from nature never learned),”

 In other words, what we’re about to consider is not something you can learn from the creation of this world. You can’t look into a starry night and gaze upon the constellations and come up with this information. Nor can you look at the intricacies of what God has made upon this earth under the microscope—the plant or the flower or the parts of our incredible bodies—and come up with the truths we’re about to consider. Nor do these truths arise inherently from our corrupt, sinful natures. I mean, you can go to Sunday school your entire life. You can attend church until you’re 80 years old. And if you’ve never been born again, all you have is the natural corruptions of a sinful heart, and you’ll never learn what we’re about to consider. While you’re in that condition, it requires a new birth, something supernatural, in order for you and I to be put into a condition of understanding the mighty truths of the gospel of God. Henceforth, this is it—

“That Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,

To save our souls are all concerned.”

Stanza 3

“The Father’s love in this we find,

He made His Son our sacrifice;

The Son in love His life resigned;”

Here’s the Father’s love—the Father choosing a people, setting His special love upon them. Here is the Father’s love—we find He made His Son our sacrifice. That is, having determined His people would come into the world under the headship of Adam and therefore in sin, the Father magnified His great love by giving this people to His Son and appointing His Son to serve as their Redeemer, that He might become a sacrifice for their sins. Henceforth, the Son, in his love, resigned His life. He agreed when the fullness of time had come, that He would come into the world; He would assume a human nature, that in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, He might earn for His people righteousness by His perfect obedience to the law.; and he might deliver His people from their sins and divine wrath by taking upon Himself their sins and paying that penalty in full. And,

“The Spirit of love His blood applies.”

Meaning, that the Father and Son have given this people to the Holy Spirit, appointing Him to serve as their Sanctifier. That, at the appointed time throughout history, the Spirit of God unites the souls of each one of the elect with the Lord Jesus Christ. And in this way, the Spirit of God applies the Redeeming work of Christ to each of those souls. 

So you have here the electing love of the Father, the redeeming grace of the Son and the sanctifying power of the Spirit.

Stanza 4

“Thus we the Trinity can praise,

In Unity through Christ our King;

Our grateful hearts and voices raise,

In faith and love, while thus we sing:”

When we talk about faith and love of a believer, remember it’s the Spirit of God who has united our souls with Christ. And the Spirit of God applies or communicates the life and graces of Christ to the soul. Some of those graces are the faith of Christ, and the love of Christ. So that we in faith and love, that is, the faith and love communicated by the Spirit of God, and applying those virtues of Christ to our souls, are able to sing. Sing what? 

Stanza 5

“Glory to God the Father be,

Because He sent His Son to die;

Glory to God the Son, that He

Did with such willingness comply; 

Stanza 6

“Glory to God the Holy Ghost,

Who to our hearts this love reveals;

Thus God Three-One (Father, Son and Spirit), to sinners lost,

Salvation sends, procures, and seals.

Salvation sends by His electing love, procures by His redeeming grace and seals by His sanctifying power. Sends, procures and seals! That, my friends, is the gospel of our glorious God. It is a threefold gospel of the Father’s electing love, the Son’s redeeming grace and the Spirit’s sanctifying power. And if you have truly been born again, a true Christian, then you and I together may rejoice in the God of our salvation, and sing this hymn now, in spirit and in truth, to magnify the God who has saved us from our sins and granted us life and liberty and all riches in Christ Jesus. 

May the Lord bless us with these gospel treasures.

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