What does a perfect relationship look like?

The sky is one whole, the water another;

        and between those two infinities

                 the soul of man is in loneliness.1

 

God is never lonely.

 

He lives in a perfect community, the Trinity.

We have all heard someone close their prayer or pronounce a blessing with, 'in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,' right?  That is the first way in which we have some knowledge of the notion called the Trinity-that while God is One, he is also three.  Wait-right there-'Holy Spirit, one of three?'  What does that mean?  Outside of 'the Church' we have never considered such a possibility, such an entity . . . and even though we entertain the concept, it is so very difficult to comprehend. 

 

Truthfully, we will never fully grasp the Trinity,

yet understanding is vital to not just our

understanding of God,

but perhaps our emotional well-being as well. 

The word "Trinity" comes from the Latin noun "trinitas" meaning "three are one."1 The Godhead eternally exists in three persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit -  - and these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes and perfections, worthy of precisely the same honor, confidence, and obedience. 

Let's look at how we see the Bible capture the 'us' and 'one' of God:

Genesis 1:2, 26 - The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."NKJV     

 

Notice: this was before mankind, so

when God was saying us, he was referring to the Trinity.

Deuteronomy 6:4- "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!

Matthew 28:18-19- And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Mark 12:29- Jesus reiterates Moses' teaching in Deuteronomy - "Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one."

John 1:1,14- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

->The Greek word for John's name for Jesus as 'the Word' is from the word 'logos' and would have been familiar to his readers-both Greek and Hebrew.  Logos was a description of Jesus being the personification of God to the world.  Reread it then replacing Word/Logos with Jesus - In the beginning Jesus already existed ...  and further that God created everything through Jesus.

And from Paul, my beloved:  2 Corinthians 13:14- The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

All of those verses are illustrative of the trinity, eternal God, three in one.

One current day preacher and thinker penned, "I was raised in some ways to think of God as a proud, almost arrogant being who could get away with his pride because he was God. The doctrine of the Trinity tells me it is not so. God exists as Father, Son, and Spirit in a community of greater humility, servanthood, mutual submission, and delight than you and I can imagine. Three and yet One. Oneness is God's signature."2 

 

All of us at times find ourselves living an isolated existence in a lonely world, and yet, we are meant for life with God, life in his love with one another, we are meant to belong-to be a part of a community-and we have the greatest example of that in the Trinity.  More to come.

 

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1 - Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish novelist, 1846-1916