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Transcript 257E — The Trinity + Abraham's Bosom [Lu 16:22]
HC: Good evening. Welcome to Open Forum.
CALLER: I was talking to someone at lunch today, and He said, "How can the Trinity be three Persons in One, when Christ sits at the right hand of God?" And I didn't really know how to answer him.
CALLER: And the other question I have is, when the Bible speaks about Lazarus being in Abraham's bosom, it uses he feminine gender. And there are other places in the Bible where it uses the word bosom. Does God have a dual gender, or what?
HC: I'm not certain about that latter question.
CALLER: Bosom, that's a feminine term. And there are other feminine terms in the Bible. Could God indeed be both genders?
HC: Let me try to speak to that.
The question is raised: How can it be that Christ is seated at the right hand of God, if actually there is only one God? Now this is all part of the mystery of the Godhead. The Bible clearly points out the fact that there is God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. But the Bible also insists that there are three Persons in one, or that there's only one God. It really puts it that way. There is only one God.
Now I know this, that when it uses the phrase, He is "seated at the right hand of God," we must not conjure up the picture of two thrones, with God in the center one and the Lord Jesus at His right hand, seated on another throne. That's a human picture. That's a picture related to this earth. That's a creature picture.
But we must remember, God is Spirit. Can you imagine a spirit sitting on a throne? That will help you to see the difficulty we have here. Actually, when we study this language, to be seated is language the Bible uses to indicate that we rule, or that God rules and has authority. "At the right hand" implies that . . . well, I'm not sure of everything that the right hand implies. It implies, actually, that He is equal in power, He is Number One in a relationship to this matter of rule or authority.
Now we can't explain God. And if anyone doesn't understand, simply say, "Well, join the party. No human being understands." Now there are plenty of people who claim they understand God. But invariably you'll find that they do not face, really, all kinds of verses in the Bible. They claim they can answer all the verses. But when they're really pinned down, they cannot face all the verses of the Bible, because we have very finite minds, while God is infinite.
The other question that was raised was concerning a phrase in Luke 16, where it talks about Lazarus, who was the beggar, whose only friends were the dogs that licked his sores. In other words, he was a poor man, without any helper of any kind on this side of the grave. And he ends up in Abraham's bosom. Now we use the word "bosom" in a feminine term, in a feminine context. But I'm not really sure. I have never researched this particular word, but I'm not really sure that it has to be a feminine word, necessarily, even though we normally use it as a feminine word.
I might do the same thing with the word breast. Now ordinarily the word breast is a feminine word. And yet we sometimes use it in relationship to a man. I think that's correct, if I know the English language at all. So I don't really think that bosom is necessarily a feminine word.
Abraham, incidentally, in this context, is a figure of God Himself. Now why do I say that? Remember what Romans 4 says? That Abraham is called the "father of all believers." Now who is our Father? Well, God is our Father. And if Abraham is called the "father of all believers," then we know that Abraham is a figure of God Himself.
And so Lazarus was brought into the very most intimate relationship with God Himself, typified in this parable that Jesus is offering in Luke 16 by Abraham.
Well, I hope this helps a tiny bit.