Life in the Trinity
This past Sunday, our church – like many congregations – observed Trinity Sunday. This is the day that Christians remember that God is triune in nature – that is, He is One God and three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
For many, the Trinity is not much more than an abstraction. But the triune nature of God is at the foundation of life and love.
One way to see this is to notice how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all work together to bring restoration to humanity.
In the beginning, God created all things (Is.45:12). But because of man’s failure to trust Him, sin entered the world and marred all that He had made. Yet God did not leave mankind and the world in this fallen state, but initiated a plan to bring about renewal and restoration.
Each member of the Trinity has a role to play in bringing this grand plan about.
First, the Father ordained that He would re-create all things. He chose those who would be part of a new humanity from before the foundation of the world, and draws people to Himself to have new life – a life with a future and a hope.
Part of this plan is that the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for sin and raise up all who believe to everlasting life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn.3:16).
Because of this, the second person of the Trinity – the Son – serves as a Redeemer. By way of His death and resurrection, Jesus reclaims all who trust in Him from the clutches of sin and introduces them to a life of renewal by the grace of God.
The third member of the Trinity – the Holy Spirit – brings into effect that which the Father has planned and the Son has secured. So, it is the Spirit who brings us to the Father and conforms us to the likeness of the Son.
It is also the Holy Spirit who enables us to persevere and develop proven character in hope because it is He who pours the love of God within our hearts (Rom.5:1).
From all eternity the Holy Trinity has lived in union and communion – a relationship where the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all live in mutual love and submission to one another.
Now, by grace, the same God incorporates us into this relationship through faith. As we believe that the Father has called us, that the Son has redeemed us, and the Spirit is renewing us, we experience the life and love of God, and become what He wants us to be.
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