The Christmas story has a bunch of colorful characters: a young engaged couple, an elderly couple, an evil king, angels, shepherds, and wise men. But the main character is God. This week we start a series where we will look at the Christmas story and see what it reveals about God.

The most basic thing we learn about God from the Christmas story is that God has a Son (Luke 1:26-35). … An Angel revealed to Mary that she would give birth to God’s son, Jesus.

When Jesus grew up, He spoke of God as His Father. He said there is a unique relationship between the Son and the Father (Matthew 11:27; John 3:35; 10:30). … Here we start to see what it means for Jesus to be the Son of God. They have a unique relationship where they are one and the same.

John explains in the introduction to his Gospel that the Son was with God in the beginning and the Son was and is God (John 1:1, 18). … John gives us an interpretation of what the Father and Son relationship means. They are the same and yet distinct, something that is difficult to imagine and explain. … Side note: yes, we are also sons and daughters of God, but Jesus is the unique Son of God.

The Old Testament hinted that there was some kind of multiplicity to God even though there it also states there is only one true God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Genesis 1:26; Isaiah 6:8).

What analogy does the Bible give to help us understand this two-in-one God? Marriage (Matthew 19:5-6) … In marriage there are two individuals who work together and often function as a single entity. … Here’s a couple more: scientists regard light as waves and particles. And then there’s pants, a pair of pants. Pants are a single garment even though they are also a pair.

As the Bible continues to reveal God, we learn that He is three-in-one--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--which we call the Trinity (John 14:16-17). … Jesus Himself tells us there is a third person who is part of this one true God. The Holy Spirit first appears in the Bible in Genesis 1:2.

What analogy does the Bible give to help us understand this three-in-one God? A body (1 Corinthians 12:12) … A body has multiple parts that work independently and together at the same time. It’s not a perfect analogy, but it’s the best we have and it helps us to see how the church should be too. … Sometimes people try to use water as a way to explain the Trinity because it has three forms: water, ice, and gas. But this comparison falls short and leads to the error of modalism where God is only one of the three at a time instead of all three all the time. … It’s not really possible to fully understand the nature of God, but what kind of God would He be if we could fully understand who and what He is?

What does this mean for our lives? God is relational. … God wants a father-child relationship with all of us. For those of us who grew up with good fathers, this is probably easier for us to accept than for those who grew up with a bad father or no father at all.