Three in One

The Hadji (use local term for one who has been to Mecca) was talking with his Christian friend. He said to him, "But my friend, you say Jesus Christ is the Son of God. God is one. He was not born and He does not bear. How can you say the 'Son of God?'"

His friend replied, "Sir, we are not of the same tongue, and there are thoughts which I may say clearly in my own tongue, but which require much explanation when I express them in your language. So it is with God. His truth cannot be contained perfectly in human thought. When God speaks of His Son, He does not mean a son by the birth of man, as we think of it."

The two men stood in front of an open window. The sunlight poured into the room. The Hadji's friend put his hand into the sunlight, and asked, "Sir, what is this?" He replied, "That is the sun." His friend said, "But is this the sun, or is the sun that ball of light we see up there in the sky?"

The Hadji replied, "There is no difference. It is all one light."

His friend said, "Let me ask you another question. Is that radiance in the sky the real sun? Or is there something behind it (inside) that is making the light?" The Hadji answered, "I suppose there is a material behind the light that we cannot see, but the light reveals that it is there."

His friend said, "So it is also with God. As the sun is only one, so God is only one. There is God the Father. He is like the material behind the light of the sun. We cannot see Him. There is God the Son, Who is the brightness which reveals the Father. There is God the Holy Spirit. He is that power, like the warmth of the sunlight, which brings forth all life. Without the sun there could be no life on the earth. Likewise, without God's Holy Spirit our souls can have no eternal life. In the sun there is the material, the light, and the power; but the three are one. So also is God. God loved man and wished to show Himself to him. He reveals Himself to man by the brightness of Himself, which He calls His own Son, Jesus Christ. He is called the Light of God. It is God the Holy Spirit Who comes out from the Father and the Son. He brings into our hearts the life of God. He draws us out of all darkness and evil and brings us into the light and life of God. My friend, if you would close the window, (the shutter) what would happen?"

The Hadji said, "We would stand here in darkness."

His friend said, "Yes. A person by his own choice may also shut out the light of God, which is Jesus Christ, and it is this light alone which can give him eternal life. In the same way, by his own choice, a person can open his heart to the light of God. Thus it is: he can repent and confess his sins to God and believe on Jesus Christ. When he does this and leaves his evil ways, God will forgive him. At that time God's Holy Spirit comes into his heart to live. He is like a light to the path, and helps him to walk in the way of God."