SpOL021
YOU’RE INCLUDED
Our rational minds may well
struggle with the biblical truth that God is a Trinity – three in one and one
in three. And it should be no wonder that many Christians call it a mystery.
Even the Apostle Paul wrote, “the mystery of godliness
is great.”
But whatever your level of
understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity, one thing you can know for sure:
The Triune God is unchangeably committed to including you in the wonderful
fellowship of the life of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.
There are not three Gods,
only one, and that God, the only true God, the God of the Bible, is Father, Son
and Holy Spirit. The Father, Son and Spirit, we might say, mutually indwell one
another, that is, the life they share is perfectly interpenetrating. In other
words, there is no such thing as the Father apart from the Son and the Spirit.
There is no such thing as the Son apart from the Father and the Spirit. And
there is no Holy Spirit apart from the Father and the Son.
That means that when you are
in Christ, you are included in the fellowship and joy of the life of the Triune
God. It means the Father receives you and has fellowship with you as he does
with Jesus. It means that the love that God once and for all demonstrated in
the incarnation of Jesus Christ is no less than the love the Father has always
had for you -- and always will.
It means that God has
declared in Christ that you belong to him, that you are included, that you matter. That’s why the Christian life is all about
love – God’s love for you and God’s
love in you.
Jesus said, “By this shall all people know that you are
my disciples, if you have love one for another.” When you are in Christ, you love others,
because the Father and the Son live in you through the Spirit. In Christ, you
are freed from fear, from pride, and from the hatred that prevent you from
enjoying the life of God -- and you are free to love others the way God loves
you.
The Father, the Son and the
Spirit are one, which means that there is no act of the Father that is not also
the act of the Son and the Holy Spirit.
For example, our salvation
comes through the unalterable will of the Father, who is unswervingly committed
to including us in the joy and fellowship he shares with the Son and Spirit.
The Father sent the Son, who for our sakes became incarnate – was born, lived,
died, was resurrected and then, as a human being, ascended to the Father’s
right hand as Lord and Savior and Mediator, having purified the sins of
humanity. Then the Holy Spirit was sent to sanctify and perfect the church in
eternal life.
That means your salvation is
the direct result of the Father’s ever-faithful love and power, proven
incontrovertibly through Jesus Christ and ministered to us by the Holy Spirit.
It’s not your faith that saves you. It’s God alone – Father, Son and
Spirit – who saves you. And God gives you faith as a gift to open your eyes to
the truth of who he is – and who you
are, as his beloved child.
I’m Joseph Tkach speaking of
Life.