How can God be 3 people at once?

He’s not. God is NOT 3 people at once. What He is, though, is 3 persons in one. Stick with me & let me explain - - - it’s really not that complicated.

The idea that God is 3 persons in one is called the trinity. The word trinity means three together. A trinity is three persons together in one. (A tricycle is three wheels on one cycle; a triangle is a shape with three angles.)

The Bible doesn’t actually use the word trinity. (BTW, the Bible also doesn’t use the word Bible, so don’t let that bug you!) So where does the idea come from? Check this out --- The Bible is the Word of God. God inspired certain men (Moses, Joshua, King David, Paul, John and others) and their words were recorded and became our Bible. One of the big deals about the Word of God is that it does not contradict itself. This means it does not say one thing in one place, and then the opposite in another.

So check out this verse --- James 2:19 NIV. What does it say? It says that there is only one God.

Now check out this one --- 1 Peter 1:2 Msg. God the Father has his eye on each of you, and has determined by the work of the Spirit to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus. May everything good from God be yours! Who has His eye on everyone? God the Father.

And this verse --- Romans 1:1-4 NIV. Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. What did the Spirit declare? That Jesus is God. Jesus is the second person of the trinity.

And this verse --- Acts 5:3-4 Msg. Peter said, "Ananias, how did Satan get you to lie to the Holy Spirit and secretly keep back part of the price of the field? Before you sold it, it was all yours, and after you sold it, the money was yours to do with as you wished. So what got into you to pull a trick like this? You didn't lie to men but to God." To whom did Ananias lie? To the Holy Spirit who not a man but is God. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity.

Three persons in one God is a little bit (not exactly though) like five fingers on 1 hand! Or 3 wheels on one cycle. Or three angles in one shape. Each is separate but makes up the whole.

Extra evidence! Read Matthew 28:19; Matthew 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 13:14. Do it, OK?

And here’s the deal for those who want to know ---

There is only one God.
There is a person called “the Father” and He is God.
There is a person called “the Son” (also called “Jesus” or “Christ”) and He is God.
There is a person called “the Holy Spirit” and He is God.
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three separate persons.

So, our one God is three persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit! This is what the Bible says. And now you know!

If God and Jesus are the same and God can't see us because he is so holy, how can Jesus come and not make God not holy because they are the same?

Hmmm…this is a very well thought-out question. And, to be honest, I’m not quite sure what you are asking but here goes:

First of all, God and Jesus are the same person. In fact, God is a…get ready for a new word…triune being. Triune (pronounced tri-yoon) means that God is three separate and distinct personalities in one being. He is God, the Father; God, the Son; and God, the Holy Spirit.

This was one of the hardest things for me to grab hold of when I first became a Christ Follower. But, here’s a simple way to explain it: your dad is a father to you. He is also a husband to your mom. And, he is also a teacher in T.R.A.C.K. One person but three different and distinct personalities. Does that make sense?

Okay, the next part of your question suggests that God can’t see us because He is so holy. I think this is where the confusion is setting in. You are correct in that God is holy and perfect. But, God is also all-powerful, all-knowing and ever-present. Not only that but God is aware of everything and can perceive everything too. So, God can see us. Not only can He see us, He knows everything about us! God knows every little detail about you all the way down to the number of hairs on your head and the thoughts in your brain! He is with you all the time when you are awake and when you are sleeping.

So, now that we know God can see us, let’s look at the last part of your question. You asked, how can Jesus come and not make God not holy because they are the same? Remember, Jesus, even though He was a man, lived a perfect and sinless life. Jesus was holy just like God. I know that is hard for you to imagine because it is hard for me to imagine! I mean, c’mon! Jesus was a carpenter! You don’t think at some time when he was building something He didn’t hit his thumb with a hammer and get mad at the hammer??? But, you know what? According to the Bible, Jesus was without sin. He was perfect.

So, Jesus never made God “not holy.” And (here comes another confusing part), remember what we said about God earlier, that He is a triune being? Because God is holy and perfect and without sin, Jesus is also holy and perfect and without sin. And, because Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is holy and perfect and without sin.

So, just to wrap this up in a workable package, Jesus is God and is holy and perfect. He came to earth as a man but is still holy and perfect during His life. Because Jesus is God but is also a man, He sees us and experiences all the same emotions and feelings that mankind experiences and feels. Jesus, all the way up to His death on the cross, never sinned but took the sins of the world on his shoulders.

Now picture this. Here is a perfect, sinless man who ends up taking the sin of the world on His shoulders and dies on the cross for us. Here is a man who was with God His entire life but who had to be separated from God in order to take that sin for us because a holy and perfect God can’t even be in the presence of sin. Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, experienced the separation from God that sin creates. This is the same separation from God that occurs when we sin against Him. Every time we sin, at that very moment, we are separated from God.

But, here’s the great news. Jesus redeemed us. All that means is that Jesus traded His life for us so that we wouldn’t perish but have eternal life. Because He gave His life for us, He provided a “bridge” for that separation from God. Remember what Jesus says in John 14:6? He tells us all that, “I am the truth, the way and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”