God the Father Jehovah, God the Son Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit are called the Holy Trinity. The doctrine that the Holy Three are one, is the Trinity. The Trinity is regarded as the core doctrine of Christianity, but there are still different opinions among denominations on how to understand it.
The prime issue of the opinions is, “Who is the Son Jesus in nature?” Today, Christianity has spread around the world and the believers are calling on the name of Jesus, but few people know the clear answer to this question. It is because each church interprets the Bible on its own: some churches regard Jesus as a creature like one of us; some say that Jesus is one of the angels; and some insist that God and Jesus are one because they have the same will and purpose but they are actually individuals.
According to the biblical testimony for the Trinity, Jesus is God in nature (Php 2:5). God has been carrying out the work to save humankind for a long time. During that period of time, God the Father performed three roles: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the true meaning of the Trinity in the Bible.
Understanding God the Trinity
In order to understand the Trinity, let us think about the transformation of water. When water, which is liquid, freezes, it becomes ice which is solid. When liquid water boils, it becomes vapor which is gas. Although water, ice, and vapor are different in form and name, their essence is the same H₂O. Likewise, God works with a different appearance and a different name in each age, but the fundamental nature is one and the same God. Through all the prophecies of the Bible, we can clearly understand the meaning of the Trinity.
First, let us think about God the Father and God the Son. Jesus said that the Bible testifies about Him (Jn 5:39). The Bible at the time of Jesus refers to the Old Testament. The Old Testament prophesied that Jesus, who would be born as a child, was God the Father.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isa 9:6
Therefore, God the Son Jesus is God the Father Jehovah. Next, let us think about God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Apostle Paul said that the Holy Spirit interceded for us, and also said that Jesus was interceding for us.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. Ro 8:26–27
Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Ro 8:34
These verses prove that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the same. Therefore, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not different but one. God the Father played the role of the Son and the role of the Holy Spirit as well. The reason God the Father has performed three roles—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—is because God divides His redemptive work into three ages and works with a different name in each age.
The Triune God Works in a Different Name in Each Age
There is a time for everything (Ecc 3:1). Every activity has its time and goal as well. In the same way, our life of faith has a clear goal. It is to receive the salvation of our souls (1 Pe 1:8–9). God’s work for the salvation of humankind is also accomplished according to the time, that is, according to the age. God divided 6,000 years of His redemptive work into three ages, and gave us a different name for the Savior in each age.
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Mt 28:19
For the salvation of the world, Jesus told us to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. This means that the Father has a name, the Son has a name, and the Holy Spirit too has a name. First, let us study the name of the Savior in the Old Testament.
“I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.” Isa 43:11
At the time of the prophet Isaiah, only Jehovah was the Savior. The age in which the Father Jehovah worked for salvation is the Age of the Father. In the Age of the Father, nobody could be saved by any other name than Jehovah. Then, when God came to this earth in the name of Jesus, was the name of the Savior still Jehovah?
He [Jesus] is “ ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Ac 4:11–12
It is said that there was no other name given to men by which we could be saved, except Jesus. The age changed from the Age of the Father to the Age of the Son. As the age changed, the name of the Savior changed from Jehovah to Jesus. Thus, the name of God, our Savior, has a time limit to call. In the Age of the Father, people were saved only by the name of the Father; and in the Age of the Son, only by the name of the Son.
God the Holy Spirit Comes in a New Name
Now it is neither the Age of the Father nor the Age of the Son. It is the Age of the Holy Spirit. In the Age of the Holy Spirit, is the name of the Savior Jehovah or Jesus? Or is it another new name? Let’s find the name of the Savior in the Age of the Holy Spirit.
“Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God . . . I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.” Rev 3:12
Here, “I” is Jesus. Therefore, “My new name” is Jesus’ new name. Since He said it was a new name, it should be different from the name Jesus.
“To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.” Rev 2:17
In these words, God said that the one who overcomes would be given a stone with a new name written on it. The stone here is not a real stone. In the New Testament, the stone represents Jesus.
As you come to him [Jesus], the living Stone–rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him. 1 Pe 2:4
Therefore, the new name written on the stone in Revelation 2 is Jesus’ new name. However, no one can know Jesus’ new name except the one who receives it. Today, the whole world already knows the name of Jesus. As the world does not yet know Jesus’ new name, the Bible says that it is known only to him who receives it. This new name is the name of the Savior in the Age of the Holy Spirit.
The Name of the Savior in the Age of the Holy Spirit
The Bible tells us that God’s people can be saved only when they believe and follow the name of the Savior in each age.
“You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen . . .” Isa 43:10
God’s people in the Age of the Father were chosen as the witnesses of the name of Jehovah. It is because Jehovah was the Savior in the Age of the Father. However, it was different in the Age of the Son.
[T]hey asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them . . . “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Ac 1:6–8
In the Age of the Son, they should be the witnesses of Jesus. It was because the name of the Savior changed from Jehovah to Jesus as the Age of the Father changed to the Age of the Son. Then, what about in the Age of the Holy Spirit? Of course, we must be the witnesses of the new name. It is because the new name is the name of the Savior in the Age of the Holy Spirit.
In the same way, the names that God’s people should call when praying in each age are different. In the Age of the Father, they should pray in the name of Jehovah to receive answers.
Then I called on the name of the LORD: “O LORD, save me!” Ps 116:4
It was because the Savior in the Age of the Father was Jehovah. Then, whose name did people pray in when the Age of the Father changed to the Age of the Son?
“Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” Jn 16:24
“Until now you have not asked for anything in my name” means that until that time Jesus’ disciples had prayed in another name which is not Jesus’ name, that is, the name of the Father Jehovah. However, Jesus told them to pray in His name from then on. Jesus was teaching the people in that age that they now had to pray in His name since the Age of the Father had changed to the Age of the Son.
If a man prayed in the name of Jehovah, disregarding that he was in the Age of the Son, could his prayer be answered? No. “Ask in my name and you will receive” means that prayer in any other name except Jesus cannot be answered from then on. Then, in whose name should we pray to receive answers in the Age of the Holy Spirit? We must pray in the new name, the name of the Savior in the Age of the Holy Spirit.
In the Age of the Father, people were saved only when they called on the name of Jehovah, the Savior of the Age of the Father (Joel 2:32). When the Age of the Father changed to the Age of the Son, people could be saved by calling on the name of Jesus (Ro 10:9–13). What about in the Age of the Holy Spirit? Only when we call on the new name of Jesus can we receive salvation. It is because the new name of Jesus is the name of the Savior in the Age of the Holy Spirit.
We are living in the Age of the Holy Spirit, then, we must know the new name of Jesus. Only then can we receive the salvation of our souls, the goal of our faith. The Bible is the only way to know who is coming in the new name of Jesus (Jn 5:39). If we carefully study the prophecies of the Bible, we can confirm that the Savior in the Age of the Holy Spirit, that is, Jesus who appears in the new name, is Second Coming Christ Ahnsahnghong.
A brief history of the redemptive work performed by God the Trinity is as follows. In the Old Testament times, God the Father Jehovah chose the Israelites and led them to prepare the way to Heaven. When the time came, God gave up the glorious heaven, came to this earth in the flesh, preached the gospel of the kingdom, and opened the way to Heaven to all people of the world by suffering on the cross for the sins of mankind. He is the Son of God, Jesus Christ. However, the gospel was hindered and the way to Heaven was blocked again. So God Himself came to this earth a second time and re-opened the way to Heaven. He is the Holy Spirit Ahnsahnghong, the Christ who was prophesied to come a second time.