At church Lord’s Day, Douglas Jones preached a sermon that taught me to see the presence of God, not just in Spirit, although certainly that is so, but in a much more tangible way: in imitating the Trinity to one another. Christ is with us in His Body, the people of God, His Church. We are one people, many members of Christ, brought into the body, grafted into the life of the saints and connected to our head, Jesus Christ. What does this mean without relationships? What does this mean without accountability and loyalty and love for to one another? And how can this be done without the Trinity?
In our American churches there is no lack of talk about the Trinity, no lack of affirmation in this doctrine, this life of God. But where we lack greatly, is our ability to see how the Trinity ought to transform our lives. This three-in-one relationship is meant to be imitated in our callings, whatever that may be: father, mother, friend, spouse, boss, brother and sisters in Christ, etc. This doctrine is meant to teach us how to live beautifully amongst one another, imitating the ultimate relationship between Father, Son, Spirit. Imitating unity, maturity, loyalty, honor, graciousness, submission, sacrifice; and it teaches us what it means to truly love, as defined by God himself, for He is love and He is three-in-one, He is relationship perfected.
Doug Jones points us to the Trinity for the example of how this is done. We are to imitate and join the Trinity, to be the Trinity. We are to incarnate, here on earth, the Trinity before our eyes, to behold its glory and relationship amongst ourselves. And in this we are to manifest a community of loyalty and love: a community of sacrifice, of comfort, of beauty, of confirmation of who we are and where we’re going as the people of God. May we behold the goodness of the Lord by imitating the Trinity and presence of God to one another: to be like the Father, creating and confirming (Mt 25:21), to be like the Son: present, living sacrifices, never forsaking and fiercely loyal, and lastly, to be like the Spirit: comforting, completing, beautifying, prophesying, and giving our voice to one another. We are to be the Trinity and thus behold the goodness of God.
In our American churches there is no lack of talk about the Trinity, no lack of affirmation in this doctrine, this life of God. But where we lack greatly, is our ability to see how the Trinity ought to transform our lives. This three-in-one relationship is meant to be imitated in our callings, whatever that may be: father, mother, friend, spouse, boss, brother and sisters in Christ, etc. This doctrine is meant to teach us how to live beautifully amongst one another, imitating the ultimate relationship between Father, Son, Spirit. Imitating unity, maturity, loyalty, honor, graciousness, submission, sacrifice; and it teaches us what it means to truly love, as defined by God himself, for He is love and He is three-in-one, He is relationship perfected.
Doug Jones points us to the Trinity for the example of how this is done. We are to imitate and join the Trinity, to be the Trinity. We are to incarnate, here on earth, the Trinity before our eyes, to behold its glory and relationship amongst ourselves. And in this we are to manifest a community of loyalty and love: a community of sacrifice, of comfort, of beauty, of confirmation of who we are and where we’re going as the people of God. May we behold the goodness of the Lord by imitating the Trinity and presence of God to one another: to be like the Father, creating and confirming (Mt 25:21), to be like the Son: present, living sacrifices, never forsaking and fiercely loyal, and lastly, to be like the Spirit: comforting, completing, beautifying, prophesying, and giving our voice to one another. We are to be the Trinity and thus behold the goodness of God.
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