Thinking About the Trinity

I have been thinking about the Trinity. Christians believe that God is eternally self-existent in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

One of the best proofs of this is love. Love requires a giver and a recipient. It is relational. It is reciprocal, Love has no meaning otherwise.

The New Testament teaches that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). God is love in his very essence. To deny that God is three persons in one divine being, is to deny that God is love. In eternity past, before the creation of the world, if he was only one person, he could not love.

From eternity to eternity, the Father loves the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Son loves the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit loves the Father and the Son, in a mutual, self-giving reciprocity. This is how the Son glorifies the Father, the Spirit glorifies the Son, and the Father glorifies both the Son and the Spirit.

Creation was an act of self-giving love. God needed nothing outside of himself to be complete and completely satisfied. But in extravagant love he created the universe and created human beings to experience his love.

Unfortunately, the disobedience of the human race resulted in alienation, death and judgment. According to the opening chapters of the Bible, humans became self-centered instead of loving their creator, and the relationship was spoiled by sin. The self-centeredness which plagues the human condition is the opposite of the love of God.

Fortunately, God provided a way back into his love through his Son. Jesus came into the world to put divine love on display in the ultimate act of unselfishness. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Those who believe in him become part of a new God-centered community in which it is possible for us to love one another as he has loved us. Just as the members of the Trinity pour love into one another, so the Holy Spirit enables the new community of Christ to live in love for one another.

I have been thinking about the Trinity. One of the strongest evidences for the Trinity is the love of God.

Pastor Randy Faulkner