The Relational Trinity

Early-on in my Christian life, I was taught a solid view of the Trinity, although attempting to mentally grasp it bankrupted my human logic. The Bible teaches that the Trinity is one in essence or nature, although existing as three separate, yet completely equal and divine persons (possessing unique God-life). The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are each unique persons. All partake of the same infinite, eternal, uncreated God-nature, co-equal in every way. At the time, I tucked this belief in the back of my mind with little impact on my day-to-day life. Yet now I see this Three-in-One Reality as the central concept in all of Scripture, the single-most integrating truth in all of revelation. This is the image in which all humanity has been created to be His intimate allies.

 

As I began to look at life through the lens of Genesis 1 and 2, the Spirit of God revealed what I had minimized for decades! This one God is relational at His core, existing in community life as“Us” before creation (Genesis 1:26-28). God is relational Community, freely giving co-love to one another, living authentically in harmony with Himself. He is altogether loveable and attractive, always doing what is right and good because He is right and good. The Trinity is our model for community.

 

The Trinity discloses the fullness of life in eternal relationships and never-ending community. In attempting to bend our minds around the Trinity, at the very least the relational Trinity is equally God in an indivisible unity with the incredible diversity of the Father, Son and Spirit. Both/And/And! So three, inseparable, indivisible, essential concepts from Scripture form our understanding of God as relational Trinity. Equality. Diversity, Unity. All three are non-negotiable.

• Equality – all three Persons are equally and eternally divine in essence, glory, power and attributes, yet not excluding a difference in order or roles.
• Diversity - God exists eternally as three distinct Persons in intimate, cooperative relationship with each other.
• Unity - one and only one true and unique God exists, complete in every way. The equality and diversity in this Community-of-Three exists in united essence. His “Us-ness” is Equality-&-Diversity-within-an-incredible-Unity.

Let’s also  not forget how radical the concept of Trinity was to Jesus’ followers, all Jews. It scandalized their Jewish upbringing while ravishing their believing hearts. These early disciples experienced God’s Three-ness, struggling to make sense of it, like we do today. Yet this inability to categorize did not interfere with their intimate experience of this relational Reality, the image in which God fashioned us.

This is Reflection #32 in my book, Foundation Stones. I also have a web-site with tools, books and "more than Bible studies" that have helped me to live out of this spiritual DNA, www.JimFredericks.com

I also blogged additional thoughts on this transcendent, yet foundational, Reality standing at the center of the universe in another blog called http://beholdingthetrinity.blogspot.com/