Genesis 1:1-3 (Trinity Sunday)
St. John, Galveston 5/31/2026
Rev. Alan Taylor
+ In Nomine Jesu +
Grace and peace to you, fro God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Nothing in God’s word is insignificant or frivolous. That is evident in the very first words of Scripture. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,” and there was light.” God begins with the revelation of Himself, witnessing, if you will, to His Triune nature. The Father created, the Spirit hovered and the Word was spoken and light and creation came into being.
From Old Testament to New, one finds the same confession of God’s Triune nature. As to Jesus, the Apostle John eloquently bore witness to His nature, as well, in a manner that is strikingly similar to the words of Genesis 1. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never been able to put out the light.”
The Scriptures, from beginning to end, are God’s revelation of Himself to the world. As such, they are both infallible and authoritative in all things related to Him and to this faith we hold so dearly. Throughout the history of Christendom, the Scriptures have been believed upon and confessed, and yet, for various reasons, Christians do not all believe and confess the same things. One might be inclined to look to the Scriptures themselves as the source of such strife and division among God’s people. Such a conclusion, however, would be wrong. The differences in confession among Christians are solely the responsibility of man and, to a very large extent, they are the result of the intrusion of human reason into the handling the Scriptures, as well as, a stubborn refusal to the let the Scriptures interpret themselves.
It is evident, that no aspect of God’s self-revelation has come under more intense scrutiny and assault than the nature of God Himself, which includes, of course, the nature of Jesus Christ. Formal, written Confessions of the Church were born out of controversies and assaults on the Divine Word. Confessional statements are the Church’s confession to God and to the world, regarding it’s understanding of the Divine Word.
On this Trinity Sunday, we confessed the Athanasian Creed, what is, unfortunately, the least used and perhaps the most misunderstood of the universal, or ecumenical creeds of the Church. It is fitting that this particular Creed bears the name of St. Athanasius of Alexandria, even though it is highly unlikely that he wrote it. The reason it's fitting that the Creed bears his name, is that Athanasius was one of the Churches greatest defenders of the Triune nature of God and of the divine and human natures of Jesus. Somewhat unique in his case, is that he confessed his faith at time when there were few to stand with him. He once said, “If the world is against the truth, then I am against the world.” For that reason, Athanasius is often remembered by the phrase "Athanasius contra mundum" (“Athanasius against the world”).
Perhaps the moniker given to Athanasius is fitting for the Church today. The Church against the world. We confess very specific things about God because He has revealed to us very specific things about Himself. But for many people, when it comes to God, less is more. That is, it is better to say less about God than more, so that he can fit in nicely with the many and various things that people believe about Him, as they create him in their own image.
And so, in a culture such as ours, where truth is often redefined or softened, and the world resists speaking truth or subordinates it to tolerance, Athanasius, this Father and Doctor of the Church, continues to remind us of three important aspects of our faith in the Triune God.
The first thing we learn from St. Athanasius is that truth is not determined by popularity. In other words, what is true and what is popular, are often not the same thing. Truth is unchanging, and so, it should never be subject to the fickle winds of culture.
In the 4th century, it was a denial of the divinity of Jesus that was becoming more and more popular. A Priest named Arius, was the leader of a Christian community near Alexandria. He believed and taught that Jesus was not equal to, or one with the Father. He coined a popular phrase, saying, “there was a time when He (that is, the second person of the Trinity) was not.” Essentially, Arius believed that Jesus was created by God, and therefore, He was less than God, subordinate to Him.
Arius’ teaching intrigued many people and spread considerably. Some wondered whether or not it was even important for the Church to get the confession of Jesus’ nature right, or if it was simply an insignificant matter, a matter unworthy of the Church’s concern. In 325ad the Church proposed the Nicene Creed to deal with Arius’ heresy. The Creed was later adopted but Arius’ popularity didn’t go away. The Church later adopted another firm confession of it’s belief regarding Jesus. It is the words of that Confession that you confessed this morning, even though many people today would ridicule you for believing as you do, claiming your belief is narrow minded and intolerant. “It is necessary for everlasting salvation that one faithfully believe in the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is the right faith that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is at the same time both God and man.” Truth is not determined by popularity.
The second thing St. Athanasius teaches us is that our faith in the true God, the Triune God, is worth defending, even at great personal cost. After all, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and yet, loses his soul?” Four times Athanasius was exiled from Alexandria because he insisted that God is Trinitarian, that is, One God in Three Persons and that Jesus was and is God in human flesh. Consequently, the very same God who spoke light into existence, who created everything that has been made, is the God who took the sins of world in His body that He might atone for them. As the Apostle wrote, “God made Him who knew no sin, to be sin, that you might be the very righteousness of God in Him.” Your Christian faith is worth defending, even at great personal cost, because God, in calling you by the Gospel, has enlightened you with His gifts, giving you life and salvation.
And finally, we learn from St. Athanasius that courage is essential for living the Christian life. Actually, we learn the same thing from Simon Peter, as well as from other great figures in the Scriptures. But, perhaps with Peter more than others, we learn that the courage our faith demands, is not of ourselves, rather it is of the very God whose name we confess. Like Peter and Athanasius, Paul learned the same thing about the power of God and courage or boldness in confessing the faith. Whatever Paul’s thorn was that invaded his flesh, he wanted God to remove it. Instead, God chose to give Paul power (courage) through his own weakness. “My grace (God said) is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”
“And the catholic faith is this,
That we worship one God in Trinity
and Trinity in Unity,
Neither confusing the persons
nor dividing the substance.
The Godhead of the Father and of
And of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is
One; the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep yours hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.
+ Soli Deo Gloria +