As Christians, we believe in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Thanks to the innovative creativity of Tertullian, we call this beautiful paradox the ‘Trinity’ (he invented this word in Latin to help people think and talk about this idea). The difficulty of understanding the way Scripture describes this reality of one God in three persons has been the source of great confusion throughout the Church’s life, not to mention the lives of many individuals.
I won’t try to explain here how our Heavenly Father is unified with, yet distinct from the Son and Spirit--that is a massive undertaking which I have no intention of taking under presently. I want to look here at how we act towards the triune God in our everyday lives.
A Theology professor of mine once said, “Though we say we believe in one God in three persons, we usually treat him like he is only one and not three or only three and not one.” I’ve noticed something similar in most Church gatherings. Usually, a church focuses prominently on one person of the trinity, while the other two sit hidden in the background nearly forgotten. I grew up in the mainstream protestant side of the Church, where Jesus was the central focus. The Father took a back seat, and Holy Spirit was so far back He was barely holding on to the emergency exit door of the bus as He flailed out the back. Most of the songs, teachings and answers in my Sunday gathering were about Jesus. Many Christians know that the ‘Sunday-school’ answer to every question, no matter what, is ‘Jesus.’
This may not sound like a bad thing, Jesus being the grand focus and all. But everything has a place and a measure it functions in best. When it is out of its place or experienced in a measure other than its best, there is something lacking in our experience, even if we don’t recognize it. For example, an action or idea may not be wrong because of being vile or wicked, it may be wrong simply because it pushes another thing out of its proper place and causes imbalance in your or another person’s life. If we focus solely on Jesus, we miss out on who He was always emphasizing: His Father. Or we might even be neglecting the very one He sent to us, the one He implored us to look to after He was gone: The Holy Spirit.
Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection was wholly for the purpose of connecting us, through adoption, with The Great Father. The means by which Jesus did and still does this is through the Holy Spirit and living continually in the Holy Spirit. This is what we were made for. It’s exactly what Jesus worked for and preached His whole life on earth: life as children of the Father in, by, and through His Holy Spirit.
My point is certainly not that we need to value Jesus less. My point is we need to value the Spirit and the Father more. Or, perhaps it’s the other way around for you. Who in the Godhead do you talk with the most in prayer? With whom do you most often relate? Who do you connect with the least out of the Trinity?
Are you relating to the Father as His son, or daughter?
Are you living as a highly valued child of God?
Are you being led into all truth and empowered to do great things by his Holy Spirit?
Do you recognize and respond to the Spirit’s voice throughout the day?
Are relating to your rescuer, brother, and King; Jesus?
Who do you know the most deeply, and who might you be neglecting?
Though it’s most simple to focus just on Jesus or the Father, or the Spirit, we mature most fully as we grow in our relationships with all three members of the Trinity. Practice addressing each person in the Godhead individually. Ask The Spirit to show you what is lacking and what is off balance for you here. Ask him to give you a balanced and more full view of life with Him.
This may not sound like a bad thing, Jesus being the grand focus and all. But everything has a place and a measure it functions in best. When it is out of its place or experienced in a measure other than its best, there is something lacking in our experience, even if we don’t recognize it. For example, an action or idea may not be wrong because of being vile or wicked, it may be wrong simply because it pushes another thing out of its proper place and causes imbalance in your or another person’s life. If we focus solely on Jesus, we miss out on who He was always emphasizing: His Father. Or we might even be neglecting the very one He sent to us, the one He implored us to look to after He was gone: The Holy Spirit.
My point is certainly not that we need to value Jesus less. My point is we need to value the Spirit and the Father more. Or, perhaps it’s the other way around for you. Who in the Godhead do you talk with the most in prayer? With whom do you most often relate? Who do you connect with the least out of the Trinity?
Are you relating to the Father as His son, or daughter?
Are you living as a highly valued child of God?
Are you being led into all truth and empowered to do great things by his Holy Spirit?
Do you recognize and respond to the Spirit’s voice throughout the day?
Are relating to your rescuer, brother, and King; Jesus?
Who do you know the most deeply, and who might you be neglecting?
Though it’s most simple to focus just on Jesus or the Father, or the Spirit, we mature most fully as we grow in our relationships with all three members of the Trinity. Practice addressing each person in the Godhead individually. Ask The Spirit to show you what is lacking and what is off balance for you here. Ask him to give you a balanced and more full view of life with Him.
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