May 25, 2021 / Trinity
Pastor Brian Mclaren once taught:
“I learned that the early church leaders described the Trinity using the term perichoresis (peri-circle, choresis-dance): the Trinity was an eternal dance of Father, Son and Spirit sharing mutual love, honor, happiness, joy and respect. Against this backdrop, God’s act of creation means that God is inviting more and more beings into the eternal dance of joy. Sin means that people are stepping out of the dance, corrupting its beauty and rhythm, crashing and tackling and stomping on feet instead of moving with grace, rhythm and reverence. Then, in Jesus, God enters creation to restore the rhythm and beauty again.”
Have you ever thought of the Trinity like this? A circle dance of Father, Son and Holy Spirit with the same purpose, the same joy, the same goals? It’s a beautiful image as the Trinity invites us all to join the dance in harmony with each other.
When trying to explain the Trinity to someone who is just coming into the faith, it can be a challenge. So are many of the things that are of God and not of man. How can our God be one entity in three persons without hierarchy or rank? How can they be constantly of one perfect mind and intent? It’s certainly not something any three persons of this world could ever be.
Yet, when you take the time to think of it, it’s the perfect arrangement. Each person has the same goal to bring salvation to all who believe, but they each also have their own roles to play in the process.
Jesus said in John 10:30, “I and the Father are one,” yet they both play their part in the play of life. The Father prepares His people for eternal life and the Son provides the path. The Holy Spirit, in turn, keeps our eyes set on the prize. Together their purpose is in perfect unison, to bring all believers from death to life, but their parts in the process compliment each other towards the goal.
We see the work of the Trinity play out during the Baptism of Jesus, all three persons on hand for the big event. We read of it in Matthew 3:16-17, “And when Jesus was Baptized, immediately He went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, with whom I am well pleased.” All three on hand to play their part as Jesus begins His ministry.
From the beginning of time, God has worked in perfect harmony even though we had rejected Him. Today and every day He is hard at work, Father as Provider, Son as Mediator and Holy Spirit as Guide. Still today their one intent is that all people would come to the truth and be saved.
The great commission in Matthew 28:19 is still out calling today, “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.” We don’t make disciples in the name of the Father alone, we don’t spread the Good News of Jesus Christ alone nor do we Baptize in the name of the Holy Spirit alone. Each person of the Trinity is of equal importance toward salvation. Each person that makes up the one true God deserves equal portions of our worship and thankfulness.
Yes, the concept of three in one can be a hard one to grasp, but for Christians the understanding is vital. If we want to truly “know” God, then we need to how He works, the lengths he will go to make our paths straight and the complexity and unity within the Trinity to make all things right.
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2 Corinthians 13:14). “According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for the obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with His blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you” (1 Peter 1:2). Please pray with me:
Heavenly Father, thank you for Your Son and for Your Holy Spirit who work in harmony with You to bring us to salvation. Help us to more fully understand the lengths You have taken to save us and the unity by which You have done it. Increase in us a true knowledge of You and forgive us for the ignorance of our past. Amen.
