The Triune God
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."—Matthew 28:19-20
God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4), but He is also triune (Matthew 28:19-20), which means that God reveals Himself in tri-unity, or in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Or as Wayne Grudem defines it, “God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God”—Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 226.
The Father is God (John 20:17), the Son is God (John 1:1,14, 18, 20:28, Romans 9:5, Titus 2:13, 2 Peter 1:1), and the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4; Ephesians 4:30). The three are one in essence, but different in role and relationship. They have eternally existed in interdependent relationship as Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, equally God, yet distinct in function, overflowing in love to one another. God has always been in community with Himself, in total relational harmony and expression without division, without conflict, and without confusion. There is no need in God; He is completely happy and satisfied within Himself, but out of His overflowing love and desire for glory, God made man. He didn’t need us. As the Scripture says in Acts 17:24-25,
“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”
Perhaps C.S. Lewis can help us here. He wrote,
“It is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence to men. It is not of course the only way. But for many people at many times the 'fair beauty of the Lord' is revealed chiefly or only while they worship Him together. Even in Judaism the essence of the sacrifice was not really that men gave bulls and goats to God, but that by their so doing God gave Himself to men; in the central act of our own worship of course this is far clearer – there it is manifestly, even physically, God who gives and we who receive. The miserable idea that God should in any sense need, or crave for, our worship like a vain woman wanting compliments, or a vain author presenting his new books to people who never met or heard him, is implicitly answered by the words, 'If I be hungry I will not tell thee' (50:12). Even if such an absurd Deity could be conceived, He would hardly come to us, the lowest of rational creatures, to gratify His appetite. I don't want my dog to bark approval of my books.”—C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms, p. 93.
It is through the revelation of Himself that He receives glory, for as He reveals Himself for who He is, what He has done, and why He has created us to be, we respond to Him in adoration and worship and He is made known. It is our joy to worship Him and we are only able to worship Him as He has made Himself known. After all, we can’t worship what we don’t know. And God has made Himself known through nature, His Word, and supremely through the person of His Son. But, He has only made Himself known because of the relationship He has within Himself. God, as Trinity, exists in relationship, and relationship can only exist among persons. It is out of the delight that He has within Himself that He has chosen to reveal Himself to us, and so that we might experience the joy of praising Him. Here is Lewis again: “I think we praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation”—C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms, p. 95.
God, as the Triune God, has given us the opportunity to delight in Him by being in His presence forever. And this was made available by redemption, which He made possible through the revelation of His Son, Jesus Christ. As the Scripture says in John 1:18, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known.” While the Godhead purposed redemption, it was the Father who sent the Son and the Son who accomplished redemption on the cross. And it is the Spirit of God who applies redemption to our hearts. As Jesus said,
“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see Me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged”—John 16:7-11.
All three persons of the Trinity were involved in redemption: “…how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God”—Hebrews 9:14.
God loves us, and through the giving of Himself He has brought about our redemption. It is through Christ that God’s love was displayed (1 John 4:9) and it is our joy to know, trust and hope in Him. May we consider the doctrine of the Trinity anew, relishing the God who has made Himself known, knowing it was to His delight and to our joy. Amen.
God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4), but He is also triune (Matthew 28:19-20), which means that God reveals Himself in tri-unity, or in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Or as Wayne Grudem defines it, “God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God”—Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 226.
The Father is God (John 20:17), the Son is God (John 1:1,14, 18, 20:28, Romans 9:5, Titus 2:13, 2 Peter 1:1), and the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4; Ephesians 4:30). The three are one in essence, but different in role and relationship. They have eternally existed in interdependent relationship as Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, equally God, yet distinct in function, overflowing in love to one another. God has always been in community with Himself, in total relational harmony and expression without division, without conflict, and without confusion. There is no need in God; He is completely happy and satisfied within Himself, but out of His overflowing love and desire for glory, God made man. He didn’t need us. As the Scripture says in Acts 17:24-25,
“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”
Perhaps C.S. Lewis can help us here. He wrote,
“It is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence to men. It is not of course the only way. But for many people at many times the 'fair beauty of the Lord' is revealed chiefly or only while they worship Him together. Even in Judaism the essence of the sacrifice was not really that men gave bulls and goats to God, but that by their so doing God gave Himself to men; in the central act of our own worship of course this is far clearer – there it is manifestly, even physically, God who gives and we who receive. The miserable idea that God should in any sense need, or crave for, our worship like a vain woman wanting compliments, or a vain author presenting his new books to people who never met or heard him, is implicitly answered by the words, 'If I be hungry I will not tell thee' (50:12). Even if such an absurd Deity could be conceived, He would hardly come to us, the lowest of rational creatures, to gratify His appetite. I don't want my dog to bark approval of my books.”—C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms, p. 93.
It is through the revelation of Himself that He receives glory, for as He reveals Himself for who He is, what He has done, and why He has created us to be, we respond to Him in adoration and worship and He is made known. It is our joy to worship Him and we are only able to worship Him as He has made Himself known. After all, we can’t worship what we don’t know. And God has made Himself known through nature, His Word, and supremely through the person of His Son. But, He has only made Himself known because of the relationship He has within Himself. God, as Trinity, exists in relationship, and relationship can only exist among persons. It is out of the delight that He has within Himself that He has chosen to reveal Himself to us, and so that we might experience the joy of praising Him. Here is Lewis again: “I think we praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation”—C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms, p. 95.
God, as the Triune God, has given us the opportunity to delight in Him by being in His presence forever. And this was made available by redemption, which He made possible through the revelation of His Son, Jesus Christ. As the Scripture says in John 1:18, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known.” While the Godhead purposed redemption, it was the Father who sent the Son and the Son who accomplished redemption on the cross. And it is the Spirit of God who applies redemption to our hearts. As Jesus said,
“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see Me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged”—John 16:7-11.
All three persons of the Trinity were involved in redemption: “…how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God”—Hebrews 9:14.
God loves us, and through the giving of Himself He has brought about our redemption. It is through Christ that God’s love was displayed (1 John 4:9) and it is our joy to know, trust and hope in Him. May we consider the doctrine of the Trinity anew, relishing the God who has made Himself known, knowing it was to His delight and to our joy. Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment