The Trinity, In Trembling Words {...and art...}

I finished a 16x20” canvas last week.

On the subject of The Trinity.

“Three In One - An Invitation”

I know. WHO TACKLES that as her subject matter, for a painting?!

I do. Apparently, I do.

The painting sold right away. Even though the canvas has already shipped out (as of this morning), the words on my heart won’t go away. I am utterly captivated, challenged, and inspired by the truth that Elohim, the Godhead, is plural.

Our Christian God is Three In One, friends.

We are invited into the warmest, wisest, most winsome circle of friendship in the universe. The King is my friend. The Father loves me. The Holy Spirit is my closest companion, He advocates for me fiercely, and He is my comforter. Together, these three move as absolute one. They are my “mastermind” group - and it doesn’t cost me a dime. I can’t believe my grace and blessing.

I have not earned and do not deserve to be placed in Christ and thus drawn into THIS circle of fellowship.

Most of us have an unconscious image of God as a rather solitary being: omnipotent, omnipresent, omni-basically-everything.

While it is true that “the Lord our God is one”, and He IS Omni-all-the-things, He is enthroned in the heavens; I fear we have been well-taught that He is three in ONE, to the detriment of the truth that He is THREE in one.

Emphasis on the THREE.

If our subconscious paradigm is “God, the great omnipotent, rather solitary being, ruling on high” - we come away with a very different picture than that of “God existing as a circle of friendship, in wide-open community, and in joyful, loving fellowship for all eternity past.”

Suddenly the remote Throne becomes a circle of three, each one facing the other, each one loving the other, each one distinct as a person yet “as absolute one” in execution - each one honoring and listening, each one with creativity that The Three then make various plans to execute those creative ideas into manifestation.

Two very different concepts of God, so different as to affect who I am! I now stand on the second one. God in three Persons is the only paradigm that is utterly true to Scripture, and makes sense of the universe and my design.

Creation didn’t arise from the boredom of a solitary Being who craved worship. Creation came from The Three deciding to share all they are, and all they have, with those they would create. The goal of The Three has always been inclusion.

But here’s where it gets difficult for some: the inclusion MUST BE on their terms, not ours. Why? Because they cannot lie, they will not deny who each is and who they are, as One. Father, Son, Spirit. They are faithful to one another’s essence. We don’t get to make up gods or goddess, or even “one God, not three”, or pretend there are many paths.

What a joy to realize that the passage, the great Shema Yisrael, “the Lord is one” does NOT mean one in the sense of a singular number. It means one in function and eternal purpose and creativity. They have never been, will never be, at odds.

When you meet God’s desire to include you in THEIR life, with your utter belief in who He has declared Himself to be, coming to Him through Jesus the son, you are then placed IN Jesus (thank God for His vicarious act, dying as us, so that we could be raised as in Him - what a plan!) and drawn into the most wonderful, warm, wise, witty circle of friendship in the universe.

It’s beyond your imagination, the things that The Three have cooked up for you! (“…the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.”)

Truly, nothing is impossible with those Three. They have conspired as One to create and have a family of humans with all the rights of sonship given to Jesus - because He willingly became us so that we could be “as He is”.

“As He is, so are we IN THIS WORLD”. 1 John 4: 17

OH THE RICHES OF THE TRINITY!

Life in Fellowship With The Trinity

Your heart really can, in real time, be reclined and at rest, in relationship with a fascinating God, untroubled in another realm - a realm where nothing is impossible, and you are seen, known, and well and rightly loved.

Another way of putting it, is you really can, in real time, be “seated in heavenly places with Christ.” Ephesians 2:6

In the midst of a pandemic, in walking out an exhausting journey of a father’s health decline, falls, rehab (in COVID times), hospice, and eventually death, in the midst of upheaval untold, my day-to-day reality is one of more peace and creative inspiration than ever.

How? By immersion in the doctrine of the Trinity. The Trinity teaches me that God is intensely and personally relevant. He is not a Biblical concept, He is more than an awe-inspiring Diety to be studied, He is a friend to be loved. He is an omniscient, enthusiastic coach, teaching me what my strengths are (basically, everything Christ paid for me to have) and developing every facet of my life, and is to be obeyed without hesitation.

I’m studying the doctrine of the Trinity. See, I used to think that the doctrines of grace were foundational - and they are. But now, I think I am finding that the doctrine of the Trinity even undergirds ones understanding of the grace of God and the Finished Work of Jesus.

If it all sounds heady and high minded, it isn’t. These things are as intensely practical (and necessary) as being well-stocked with toilet paper when your whole country is sick and riots are breaking out everywhere.

Here’s the truth: a vague, hazy understanding of the plan and finished work of the very human, vicarious man, the God-with-us-AS-us JESUS, can only lead to profound confusion and depression. Put bluntly: it leads to wrong thoughts, strained relationships, and very bad days.

Said another way: where there is despair, there is always a vague, hazy view of the vicarious finished, yet ongoing work - what Jesus did FOR us AS us, and what Jesus is presently doing FOR us AS us (as a human) in the community of the Godhead.

We are so complete in Him. We are so included in heavenly plans and places - right now! In real time! (“What’s next, Abba?!?”). Knowing this, deep in the marrow, increases satisfaction, it buries your “contentment meter” into the red zone. Knowing this unlocks creativity, because Jesus is a real human, with a real body, and yet is also Spirit and loves being in my studio with me.

Rock solid, yours is a justified, exciting human existence. Your time on this planet is just the establishment of your eternal position and reward. It is 80 or so years of the barest beginning of a life that lasts forever...AS a human with a body glorified! God the Father, God the human, vicarious man Jesus, and God the Spirit have conspired together to put you into the circle of their creative lives. In real time. As in….today. Right now.

What are you going to do next? They love to live life with you, through you, AS you; they love to direct and inspire and comfort and teach. This was their plan from before the foundation of the world - to connect you, to enfold you, to adopt you, through Jesus.

This aspect of Trinitarian doctrine has been all but lost in our day. Its recovery is profoundly critical. It is also quite practical in terms of what kind of day you will have, if your understanding becomes clear.