GOD: They is One

(While on vacation this week I plan to have time to sit and think deeply on Who God is and how my tiny story fits in His great Story. Here are some reflections on the Trinity, and us as image-bearers.)

First, a snippet of an old hymn:

Holy Father, holy Son,
Holy Spirit, three we name you,
though in essence only one;
undivided God, we claim you,
and, adoring, bend the knee
while we own the mystery.
(Holy God, We Praise Your Name ; Latin text, 4th century; English translation by Clarence A. Walwort)

“The Trinity isn’t a technicality but the central relationship of the Christian faith.” — J.I. Packer

Because God is a tri-unity of co-equal, co-eternal persons, we could rightly say They is one and He are three

He is a community of persons, which sets the Christian God of the Scriptures apart from any other deity in religion or elsewhere. The Trinity is the distinct and mysterious basis of all of our relationships. God is both knowable yet incomprehensible. He is bigger than us. We do not worship three gods, but one God who although He dwells in inapproachable light, has by His own initiative come near to us. God seeks to be known, as Father, Son and Spirit.

At this point it may be helpful to say that Christians have no need to apologize for the Trinity. In fact, it is a key feature of the self-revealing God that He let’s us relate to Him in all three Persons. Don’t apologize for the Trinity because you can’t understand it. I don’t understand the Gospel of grace; but that won’t keep me from exploring it and speaking of it always. The Trinity provides us the clue to all relationships. Don’t ignore the Trinity (as merely an idea); explore the Father, Son and Spirit!

God, a community of persons

Community as a divine-human phenomenon is traced back to the nature of God. God is not, as many assume, a disinterested Scientist, a removed Observer or an impersonal Energy. According to the Bible, God is three Persons in relationship—God the Father, Son and Spirit. God has always existed as a community of persons, self-sufficient, self-delighting, self-honoring, with no need of others. When He created the universe, he made man like Himself, “in His image.” This means many things. In particular, it means is that man was created with a need for community. This can be observed among abandoned children. Kids that are abandoned in the wild make friends with animals. We are social creatures.

The Trinity shows us that God existed before all things, in complete harmony with Himself (Themselves), and lacking nothing. Creation comes out of the overflow of His love and joy, rather than be necessary to meet one of His needs (or Their needs).

God is also purposeful. He designed the universe for redemption. New life comes out of dying stars. In a divine covenant, the Trinity agreed that Jesus would die to rescue the world that humankind would mar. Jesus died “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). As a result, Jesus put the creation project back on track. He began restoring it right away. Healing lepers, stilling storms, balancing the unstable, drawing people back into community with God and with one another. God is missional; He sent Himself. One of His purposes is to redeem and restore community by saving humanity from their broken relationships with Him and with one another. Will you join in His/Their Story?