I’ve worked in kid’s ministry for a while, and there is one thing that kids can never understand. They can grasp the concept of God, Jesus, sin, redemption, and the Bible. But the concept of the Trinity is something I’ve had to explain and reexplain.

The thing is, as I’ve done this, the realization hit me that I don’t understand what the Trinity is.

C. S Lewis talks about the Trinity is his book Mere Christianity. He describes the Trinity as the three-dimensional concept. For instance, if it was just God, there would only be one dimension to interact with- a dimension that is unreachable for us as humans. With Jesus as well, there is a human connection to God- but it is still a connection independent of our souls.

The Holy Spirit- C. S. Lewis names the Holy Spirit as the glue, conduit, and mind that connects us and draws us into the Trinity. We become a part of that three-dimensional being that is the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the part that gets misinterpreted. Either we skim over the Spirit completely, or we mis-worship the Spirit to the point of cooky insanity. The Holy Spirit was sent as a gift, and as a way for us to participate in the Trinity. So, who and what is it?

I’ve pulled out two verses to break down- John 14:16, and Galatians 5:25. (I would recommend using a Strong’s Concordance when studying these, the Greek is very enlightening!)

John 14:16

“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;”

What does this verse tell us?

1. The Spirit is given by the Father– the Greek translates Father as the author of society, and the generator of the family. The Father of the universe gives us a Spirit. To connect us to Him.
2. The Spirit is a Comforter, which is translated into a few things. First, one who is summoned or called to one’s side. The Holy Spirit was sent to be by our side and guide us, and to speak for us as Comforter is also translated ‘one who pleads in a case’. My favorite translation is that the Comforter is someone who leads to a deeper knowledge of the gospel truth. The Comforter is not only sent to guide our soul, but also our minds to knowledge.
3. The Spirit abides with us. Like how we are to abide in Christ, the Spirit abides in us. Abide is translated as ‘to continue to be present’, or ‘to remain as one’.
4. The Spirit is given to us. Give is translated into a lot of things, but the most interesting is ‘deliver, or to return’. The Spirit is returned to us, which implies that we were separated from it at some point in time.

John is writing about the time where Jesus told his disciples that he would send another Comforter. The Holy Spirit, the knot that ties us to God, a knot that was severed before by sin, and is retied by the blood of Christ. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the guide to God and the knowledge of the gospel truth.

What does this mean for us? That to be connected to God we need to be in the Spirit, who abides in us.

Galatians 5:25

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” It is a simple verse, but packed with a lot of meaning when you look at the Greek

1. Live here means to breathe, and to be brought to life. When we are retied to the Spirit we are brought back to life, resurrected, further tying us into the image of Jesus.
2. Spirit– the most important word here, one that means wind, but also a ‘mental disposition and state’. The Spirit is a mental state we put ourselves in, one that guides us, as John wrote, to the truth.
3. This meaning paints this picture of this Spirit meant to connect us to the Trinity, and to put us in a mental space of truth. But how should we approach this Spirit? Take it for granted? Use it as a way to act insane? The answer is in one word in Galatians 5:25: walk. The translation in this verse is to walk in order, or to march like a soldier, and to direct one’s life.

All we need to do is to direct and order our walk in the Spirit, and in the way of the Spirit. Which is to Christ. To walk orderly in the way of the Lord. The picture these verses make of the Spirit is a beautiful one. It is not this mysterious entity that gets mentioned in prayers, or one that makes people go mad. Rather it is a leader to Christ, a companion, and a mind to guide us to knowledge. The Holy Spirit is what makes us an individual in Christ, yet a seamless part of the Trinity.

Now I wouldn’t go explaining this to a child, but it is important for them and us to realize one thing. Because of the three-dimensional aspect of the Trinity, there is room for us. That room is created by the Holy Spirit, and that Spirit is something we are called to walk in, for all eternity.