Greetings once again to you, my Friends! Ever since mankind walked this earth, human life has been defined by the natural attributes they aspire and seek through the shared lens of their common humanity. These attributes are, freedom, dominion or identity, and physical and material resources.
These three attributes reflect humanity’s common heritage given by the Creator. Freedom means the individual’s right to choose, mainly where one resides geographically, one’s occupation, the right to free speech, gathering, education, well-being, and other affiliations and relationships. Dominion means the human identity that’s identified to the earth as a domain that’s distinct to a people, nation, tribe, ethnicity, culture, language, etc. It is usually geographical. Physical resources mean the material riches, tangible or otherwise, that’s particular to a dominion and enjoyed by its people.
No matter who we are, or whatever our nationality or color, wherever we live, these three attributes define our commonality as humans. Without any one of these three attributes humans cease to enjoy having a substantive and meaningful existence as humans upon this earth. They define who we are as a people. That these attributes are claimed to be God-given, is never disputed by people throughout the world. The unique expression of each attribute may differ from people to people, nation to nation, depending to a large extent upon their geography and resource, nonetheless, they are identical attributes which form the foundation for human existence in all peoples.
At the beginning of creation, the Creator said this after creating humanity, Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So, God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Gen.1:26-28).
So, here we see two distinct truths: humanity was created in the Creator’s likeness, and second, mankind is given dominion over the earth and all of the creation upon it. The second comes after the first, meaning the two forces interface and are part of each other and cannot do without the other. Humanity must first live and behave in God’s Love image…only then dominion over creation is assumed by the caveat of Love. In other words, there is a rider stipulation to humanity’s dominion over the earth. That is, humans are stewards of this earth by being stewards of God’s Love-nature first. (1 John 4:8)
However, we must first reflect on God’s image and likeness. Who is God? The Bible states categorially and clearly, “God is Love” (1 John 4:8, 16). Use it as a noun (name) or verb (act) it conveys the same meaning. So, dominion over the earth is to be administered with Love. Not human love that lacks, but God’s divine Love that’s edifying and complete.
Love is completely outgoing and other-centered in its outlook and disposition. God has always been like that in His nature and character. He has never been anything else, but Love. Everything He creates He does exclusively out of, and for Love. His mind is completely immersed in thoughts and proclivity of Love. So, dominion over creation is given to humanity so God’s Love (likeness) can flow through mankind to everything created.
God created the first human, Adam, and gave his very first dominion decree with these words, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Gen.2:15). Adam was to take care of the Garden of Eden with care and Love. That is how humanity’s dominion began – looking after a garden.
Of course, this was no ordinary backyard garden, it was a garden planted with God’s own hands, and handed to Adam and Eve as their dream home, an unparalleled gift to look after and cherish, but most of all where God’s Love was ever present where they frolic and bathe in. It was a celestial garden with abundance where Love was the anchor of all that was done and seen, for God lived in it with Adam and Eve. There were all kinds of animals that were gentle and non-violent by nature, never ferocious and man-eating. The wild and ferocious proclivities came later resulting from Adam and mankind’s fall.
This caring decree given to Adam and Eve was to extend to the whole earth over which they were given dominion. But history was not so kind with humanity. For since Adam’s fall to the devil’s temptation, mankind has shown how peoples have disregarded the divine triune decree to administer earth’s dominion with God’s Love. Humanity, using satanic fear instead of the divine Love abused their God-conferred dominion and mandates.
Sadly, Adam’s disastrous and corrupting rebellion was the nexus which heralded humanity’s impoverishment of spirit and consequential untold suffering ushered upon all human generations that followed. Instead of being helpers of one another as Love prescribes, humans have coveted dominions not theirs, subjugated and destroyed people’s God-given freedoms, and raped the natural resources of others and regrettably their own. (1 Thes.5:11; Mar.12:31; Lev.19:18)
When God created humans, He not only gave us free-will to make choices and decisions, but supplied us His nature of Love to guide our liberties so we will not misuse much less abuse our freedoms. God did this so humanity will show respect and honor for each other in these three attributes that God has so richly blessed peoples everywhere. In short, God wanted humans to Love others as they Love themselves. (John 13:3; Matt.22:39; Gal.5:14) If everyone did that, individually and collectively, the ‘golden rule’ would form the cornerstone of our human relationship: “Therefore, whatever you want people to do for you, do the same for them, because this summarizes the Law and the Prophets” (Matt.7:12, ISV).
But humans have disregarded their Maker’s Love and rebelled against His Loving will through the Love-mandates. Of all species created by God, only humans are given the mind with the freedom to choose between good and evil. Other species are given preset instincts to live according to the Maker’s distinct and intended purpose for them. From herbivores and carnivores, from the avian to the insect species, from reptiles to marine life, and all the variant species in between, every species are gifted differently and magnificently to live according to God’s purpose for them, and for mankind’s learning. Of all species, only humans have lived in rebellion to his Maker. Why is this? This can be explained through the three Love-mandates given to humanity at creation.
In the beginning when creating humans, God gave mankind three Love mandates to live by which would guide them in their relationship with God and with other humans and the created world around them. The three Love mandates are found in the Book of Genesis which records human creation. They are: 1. the ‘Triune Love mandate,’ 2. the ‘dominion Love–mandate,’ and 3. the ‘helper Love-mandate,’ Let me expound upon them.
1: The “Triune Love Mandate” – The Father: The first mandate was centered in God the Father. The “Triune Love Mandate” speaks of the purpose of human creation in relation to mankind’s primordial nature with the divine Love-nature of the Creator. God said this about humanity, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them. Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen.1:26-27). This mandate can also be called the “likeness mandate” for mankind was created in God’s Love-image.
So, God created humans in His Love-likeness. What is God’s likeness or image? John tells us this, “God is Love” (1 John 4:8). Love is God’s image and likeness. Love is His divine nature. We can say it in the reverse, ‘Love is God,’ and it conveys the same inseparable meaning. God is not made of Love, He is the uncreated everlasting Creator Being who is Love. So, humans were created in God’s divine Love – that is mankind’s primordial nature. God said at the creation of humanity, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Gen.1:26-27). If God’s divine image is Love, then there is no other way humans could reflect God’s likeness except, in His Love!
There is another aspect of God’s nature which defines His Love-nature, God is a Trinity. That’s to say, God consist of three free Persons in one Godhead – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Matt.28:18-19; 2 Thess.2:13; 2 Cor.13:14; Act.7:55; John 10:30; 17:21-22) When Jesus commissioned His disciples to take the Gospel message into all the world, He told them, “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt.28:18-20). See also Peter’s affirmation, “God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and His Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed Him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace” (1 Pet.1:2, NLB).
To ‘baptize’ means to ‘induct’ into the life of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, or in short, the Trinity, as Jesus prayed for the disciples and by extension all believers, to the Father, “So they may be one as We are one” (John 17:22). Recall what God said at creation, He said, “Let Us…Our image…Our likeness.” This highlights the plurality of God’s Trinitarian divine nature. He is not a solitary God, He is the triune God. Paul said this about God’s Tri-Personal nature, “For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.” (Eph.4:4-6; also, Jud.1:20-21). God is not a solitary Being, but is the Triune Godhead in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is not three Gods, but three persons in one Godhead. (Mar.12:29; Deut.6:4)
Jesus told His disciples, “These things I command you, so that you will Love one another” (John 15:17). He said further, “Love one another. As I have Loved you, so you also must Love one another. (John 13:34). So, Love is the first mandate, or The Triune Love Mandate.
2. The “Dominion Love-Mandate” – Jesus Christ: The second Love-mandate is centered in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The “dominion Love-mandate” was given to humanity at creation. Let’s read it, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So, God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen.1:26-28, KJV, italics for emphasis).
The word “dominion” is here mentioned twice as it relates to man’s dominion over God’s earth. Other translations have rendered this term, as, “Let them be masters…” and, “They will have power over…” The “dominion Love-mandate” is centered in Christ for He is the Creator who brought the earth and all things into existence. All of the creation, both seen and unseen, arise from God who is Love by nature. Therefore, the dominion mandate is a “Love-mandate.”
The Father created at the hands of His Son, and also gave Him dominion, the Kingdom of God. The Psalmist makes this clear and repeats humanity’s dominion in Christ, “You have made Him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under His feet, All sheep and oxen—Even the beasts of the field, The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!” (Psa.8:6-9). So, dominion relates to rulership of God’s Kingdom over creation.
The inclination and aspiration to rule and dominate is inherent in humans. This desire was placed in the heart of humanity by God to carry out the “dominion Love-mandate” upon earth. Ambitious people have driven themselves to great lengths motivated by the “dominion Love-mandate” to do great things upon this earth. (Gen. 1:26, 28; Ps. 8:6-8). Whether they are all good and done in the service of, and for good of all, or for human harm, is the burning question. In the exercise of human dominion upon earth, the rider clause of doing and acting in God’s Love in all before us must be utmost and highest in our hearts and minds.
The Bible utters God as saying, “The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty” (Hag.2:8). Further God says, “For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird on the mountains, and all the animals of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for all the world is mine and everything in it” (Psa.50:10-12). Therefore, the Bible speaks about stewardship, hence, our God-given dominions exists as a responsibility of stewardship – the stewardship of Love. (1 Pet.4:10; 1 Cor.4:1-2).
If we were to allow history to be our judge, we will have to say that much harm than good has flowed under the river of time in our human history. This is the legacy of the fallen “Adamic humanity” and the rebellious spirit inherited from Adam’s fall. The history of humanity concerning the God-given dominion upon earth has been one where people’s freedoms have been trampled upon with impunity.
Thus, we are reminded of God’s Love which can never be divorced from His freedom. Both Love and Freedom are flip sides of the nature of God and one cannot be applied without the other, for they are one and the same. (You can read more about the fallen “Adamic Humanity” inherited from Adam’s sin, and the glorious “Immanuel Humanity” humans can be reborn into through Jesus, the second Adam, at: http://bulamanriver.net/9718)
With Adam and Eve, God gave them an immediate stewardship over the Garden of Eden which God personally planted for them. God brought various species of animals, of birds, and other life forms to Adam to give names for them. (Gen.2:18-20) Then God instructed them, “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Gen.2:15, KJV). So, the dominion Love-mandate came with God’s direction to “dress and keep” their dominion.
That command is still valid today where we are responsible stewards of this earth to look after all life forms and species, the resources of the earth, and respecting people and their God-given domain and natural resources. Yes, this earth and all in it is given under the stewardship to mankind to dress, keep, and protect. Today, humans celebrate ‘Earth Day’ in honor of our blue planet which hangs like a jewel in outer space. Yet, today mankind faces serious environmental issues which threaten life as we know it upon this earth.
In the final analysis, God has determined that dominion of this earth will ultimately be given to humans who have the heart and Love to do what is necessary to save it from destruction – beginning with His Son, Jesus. He came to save us – not only from human sin, but for all things that has to do with human dominion upon this earth, for both cannot be separated but are inevitably connected by divine Love-mandates. (Rev.11:18) Today, Jesus sits glorified at the Father’s right hand in heaven as mankind’s Savior and Mediator High Priest, and future coming King of this earth. (Rev.1:5; 19:16; Mar.16:19; Heb.10:12; Psa.110:1)
At the climax of human dominion and civilization upon earth, the Book of Revelation declares that the Seventh Trumpet is blown, and we read, “The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: ‘The kingdom (dominion) of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign for ever and ever’” (Rev. 11:15). Revelation goes further, and says this, “On His (Jesus’) robe and on His thigh He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev. 19:16). Yes, Jesus will reign over all the dominions of earth forever, and humanity will reign with Him. (Rev. 22:5).
3. The “Helper Love-Mandate” – Holy Spirit: The third mandate is centered in the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Triune Godhead. What is the “helper Love-mandate?” Like the previous two Love-mandates, this third Love-mandate was uttered by God in Eden at the creation of humanity. The word helper conveys the existence of other human beings with whom the ‘helper Love-mandate’ may be established and carried out.
However, Adam was alone when created. Then God created the second human upon earth, the woman Eve from Adam’s side (rib) to be his wife. From thence, the helper Love-mandate was born, this time, specifically in human relationship. Essentially, the “helper Love-mandate” was framed to picture God’s participatory triune nature of a life of union and Love.
This is how the Love-mandate was decreed and given by God, “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him…So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.” “At last!” the man exclaimed. This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man’” (Gen.2:18, 21-23). I emphasize what God said, “I will make a helper who is right for him.” Therein, the “helper mandate” was born and established.
The “helper Love-mandate” is not merely confined in a filial or matrimonial context, as this passage is often quoted in matrimonial ceremonial occasions between a man and woman. Rather the “helper Love-mandate” refers to the next human being and every person who is a neighbor. The creation of Eve brought into existence the very first human neighbor for Adam. It is on this basis, that the command to “Love your neighbor as yourself” gives birth. (Mar.12:31; Eph.5:28)
The “helper Love-mandate” is heritably a trinitarian way of life in the Being of the Triune God, who is first inherently neighborly and helpful in His triunity in the Father, Son, and Spirit. So, the “helper Love-mandate” has its origin and foundation in the hypostatic union of the Triune Being of God.
This is the essence of their existence in each Person of the trinitarian God reinforcing the hypostatic oneness and unity of God. Therefore, when we help other humans, we are in effect helping our self, and by extension all other human lives, for we reflect Him and His helper image based upon His Love nature. It must be appreciated that it is from the foundation of families proceeding from the matrimonial bond of a man and a woman in Eden, that humans are raised from childhood to become “helpers” in the larger human community.
Paul reinforces this beautiful ‘helper’ principle when he said this to the Ephesian Christians, “Husbands ought to Love their wives as their own bodies. He who Loves his wife Loves himself…This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ” (Eph.5:28, 32). Each person is called to emulate and reinforce the oneness of our common unity in the triune God as a people of Love and helpers. Therefore, when we help other humans, we are in effect helping our own self, making us one humanity in Christ, as Christ is One God with the Father and the Spirit in the divine hypostatic union. (Matt.28:18-20; 2 Thess.2:13; 2 Cor.13:14; Act.7:55; John 10:30; 17:21-22) )
What was Paul saying? When God made Eve, He did not create her separately and directly from the soil of the earth, as He did with Adam. No, God took a rib from Adam’s side and created Eve from it. (Gen.2:18-23) Thereby, all of humanity proceeded from Adam’s single creation and through Eve who was created from Adam. Hence, after Eve was created Adam declared and uttered, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” Hence, Eve was not foreign or indifferent from Adam’s being. She was not taken from a separate patch of mud and dust of the earth. She shared in the equal humanity of Adam who inherited the divine image from God, which Adam now passed on to Eve and by extension all mankind. We are, in the true sense of the word, originate from the one single human creation of Adam.
Therefore, by extension every human is indivisibly part of the greater Adamic humanity, and our own bodies proceed from the single creation of Adam through Eve made to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Gen.1:28). This shows that God created humanity to reflect Himself, where He is One in three hypostasis in the Father, Son and Spirit. Each reinforce their separateness but oneness in unity of God, just as humans are separate human beings but originate from the single creation of Adam through Eve. We are many but one, just as God is trinitarian but one Godhead. Therefore, when we help other humans, irrespective of our backgrounds, we are in effect helping our self for we are one and the same creation in Adam’s single creation after God’s Love image. This is the ‘mystery’ of our humanity, shaped in the very likeness of the divine which Paul speaks of.
Many today don’t have a clue, much less conceive of the sheer wonder of this awe-inspiring ‘mystery of our one humanity consisting in one body’ from the single creation of Adam. Paul calls it a mystery. (Eph.5:31-33) It is from the mystery replicated in the divine ‘hypostatic’ union of the Triune God in whose image the one humanity in Adam was founded, framed, and continues to this day. It is from this divine Triune Being of God (Love) that the “helper mandate” was founded and springs forth. (1 John 4:8)
That’s to say that all humans are part of each other in the same body, and what we do to others, we do to our own selves – a mystery that is divine at its very core. This is a principle based upon God’s trinitarian principle: “the act of one is the act of all, and the act of all is the act of one.” In short, the “helper Love-mandate” regulates and facilitates the ‘dominion Love-mandate’ where humans are inherently precluded and constrained from exercising self-centered dominion over another human, but rather become “helpers” of one another in their God-given dominion upon earth.
Therefore, humans are subjects of God’s dominion (kingdom) under Christ, not man’s self-driven, self-imposed, solitary dominion imposed by fear, but rather by God’s divine Love. God is humanity’s Savior and therefore answerable to Him, not another human. God is mankind’s Ruler, not another man or woman. Therefore, we violate the dominion Love-mandate when we try to include humans when there is no mention of humans in the dominion mandate. The dominion mandate is over God’s created earth, but not another human. What then should govern human to human relationship. Paul gives us a peek which we will cover in depth later in the helper Love-mandate. He told the Romans, “Owe no man anything, except the debt of Love” (Rom. 13:8; Gal. 6:2, KJV).
Why is this human proviso important to observe? Of all the species, only humans were created in God’s Love image and likeness. Therefore, humans are deserving of nothing less than God’s Love. Only humans were created to live this outgoing way that is based upon God’s Love. (Gen.1:26-27; 1 John 4:8) God has Loved us dearly and did not spare His Son, but gave Him up for us. That is how the Father helped mankind – by giving up His Son for us (John 3:16) We must be willing to do the same for each other. Humans were created to be composed and driven by the “helper Love-mandate” inspired by Love. Paul said, “Owe no man anything, except the debt of (to) Love” (Rom.13:8).
Let us be clear, the dominion mandate was given to be exercised over the earth and over species and resources excluding humanity. Every single human is given a shared dominion over the earth under Christ, even on an individual basis, as God reminds us, thus, “Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken” (Mic.4:4; Psa.24:1; Eccl.5:9, NKJV) That brings us to the third attribute in Genesis of the “helper Love-mandate.”
Let me ask, are these three Love-mandates still applicable today? All we can and must do is look all over this earth and see the situation of present predication as the human species. We have more than enough weapons and technology to exterminate each other from the face of this earth. Our earth, like a very sick person, gasping for breathe, is choking to death environmentally. We are assailed on all sides by a deadly pandemic. Of course, these three Love-mandates are very much applicable as it was when they were first given by the Creator. The very essence of the Gospel message Jesus brought from the Father is essentially that humanity will return to its roots in these three Love-mandates. In the final analysis, God’s image is that He is immortal and eternal, hence, the core of Jesus Gospel message was the gift of immortality. (John 3:16; 1 Cor.15:53; Rom.2:7; Matt.25:46; ) That is the ultimate divine gift humans must aspire to reach – human immortality like Christ. (1 John 3:2)
Make no qualms about it, our relationship with God, our fellow humans, and this earth and its resources, are governed by these three Love-mandates that was given to humanity at creation, and shows our way forward as a species given to inherit this earth. Though humanity has failed miserably at carrying the Love-mandates due to Adam’s fall, the good news is God has sent His Son, Jesus the second Adam, to take our humanity upon Himself (Immanuel), and take our place in fulfilling these Love-mandates, thus mediating for all our human deficiencies and the poverty of our human responses so we may stand perfect before the Father in Him. (You may read more about Jesus’ role as our mediating High Priest in heaven who is our substitute. Got to: http://bulamanriver.net/25846)
Petition: Friends, as I have closed my post in the past, I customarily give our readers the opportunity to give their lives to our Maker. I thank you for investing your precious time with me in the sharing of the good news of Jesus who has enabled us to live the Triune Life*. Jesus is alive today as our High Priest in heaven seated at His Father’s side, and ceaselessly mediating for us. I hope that in your heart of heart you will receive Him as your personal Savior, receive God’s Spirit, and be part of living this glorious humanity made children of God forever.
You can privately and quietly pray the prayer below in your heart. I am asking you to pray this prayer as a human being Christ died for, regardless of your background. All are inducted into the one mankind Jesus saved, not into any religious sect or denomination, or divisions one may espouse – but into the glorious humanity that Christ is preparing as the holy temple for God’s dwelling:
Prayer: “Almighty God, Father of all humanity, forgive me of all my sins for I receive Your Son, Jesus, as my personal Savior. In Your incalculable grace, grant Your promised celestial life in Your Son through Your Holy Spirit, and open my eyes to the wondrous gifts you have conferred upon me and all humanity. May Your Love guide and protect me and my Loved ones always, and bring us all into Your beloved and divine Kingdom. I praise and thank You, Amen.”
Welcome to the celestial life of Love in God’s holy, eternal Family. (1 Tim.6:19) Then keep in touch with God’s Word for you by reading and studying your Bible, and visiting this blog and website and look at various subjects that may be relevant for your situation – go to: http://bulamanriver.net. You can email me with your questions at the address shown below.
Personal Blessing: Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessings of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you always. May the Spirit enliven your spirit and make all things concerning you possible as you live the “Triune Life” as a Bulamanriver.* Be strong in the Lord’s joy.
Farewell for now!
Kiang, (Your Servant in Christ)
*Triune Life: “Triune Life” speaks of the process of theosis or deification of humanity. What is theosis or deification? “It refers to apotheosis, meaning “making divine.” Theosis or deification is a transformative process whose aim is likeness to or union with God (as taught by the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Church).” (Wikipedia.org) The belief in the process of ‘deification’ is understood in accordance with Jesus’ teaching, when He said, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods” ’? If He called them ‘gods,’ to whom the Word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside (cannot be broken)” (John 10:34-35; Psa.82:6). (You can read about the Triune Life at: http://bulamanriver.net/9199, and other posts)
I have written about this subject of ‘deification’ in my blogs under the theme ‘substitution’ and ‘attribution’ (see, http://bulamanriver.net/564), where I showed how Jesus came as God incarnate (Immanuel) to assume our sinful humanity in order to save mankind from sin and death for the express purpose of human deification. (Matt.1:23; Rom.3:10-12, 18, 23; John 3:16; 1 Cor.15:50-55; Rom.8:29) Further, we read the following, “As a process of transformation, theosis is brought about by the effects of catharsis (purification of mind and body) and theoria (‘illumination’ with the ‘vision’ of God). According to Eastern Christian teaching, theosis is very much the purpose of human life. It is considered achievable only through a synergy (or cooperation) between human activity and God’s uncreated energies.” (Wikipedia.org)
So, the “Triune Life” reveals the intersection of human life and activity and the uncreated divine energy flowing from the Tri-Personal Being of God of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is a way of life which explains that process of theosis whereby humans are transformed in body, mind, and spirit by the Love of God. God’s uncreated energy is His Love. So, the foundational tenet of the “Triune Life” is based upon the Love of God, for “God is Love” (1 John 4:8, 16). Thereby, it can also be called aptly, the “Triune Love.”
I had coined the term “Triune Love” and “Triune Life,” to refer to a person who lives the three-dimensional life within the Tri-Personal Godhead of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Matt.28:19) This is opposed to the one-dimensional human way of life influenced by the devil. We see God’s Tri-Personal Love move in an inward, outward, and upward trajectory, in this process of theosis which I have called the ‘three ascents.’ The three ascents are three steps which dovetails into one another showing how all three Persons of the Godhead are in the relationship of Love with humanity – where God reveals the fullness of Himself to humanity, both individually and collectively. (2 Cor.13:14; 1 Pet.1:1-2) That’s to say, the act of one is the act of all three, and the act of three is the act of one, making them unified in Love. (Mar.12:29; Deut.6:4)
Every aspect of human living follows this three-step format revealing the three-dimensional aspect of how the Tri-Personal Being of God in the Father, Son, and Spirit, directly and collectively involved in the life of human believers, individually and collectively to bring humanity to salvation. These three steps move in an ascending order, so I will call them ‘ascents.’ Each ‘ascent’ dovetails into the next and finally reveals the ‘manifestation’ of the topic, which we will call the fourth step, in this case, Love!
Hence, all my articles are framed within this three-step format, or ascents. The subject of the article dovetails into each ascent and spontaneously lead to the manifestation of the divine Love and reveals how humanity is enlightened by God, and cleansed in mind, body, and spirit. The ascents reveal three doors one must enter to attain the manifestation of God’s Love relationship with humanity. The ascents are not to be misconstrued as some ‘secret knowledge’ or mystical activity. Rather, each ascent represents the relationship of Love a human enjoys with the Triune God in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, throughout a person’s life. In fact, the ascents are actually three Love relationships the believer encounters with the Tri-Personal God. This three-way relationship is what I have called by the term, “Triune Life” or “Triune Love.” These ascents represent the movement of God’s Love in an inward, outward, and upward, trajectory to bring God’s enlightenment in a person. The fourth step reveals how the article is made to manifest in the life of the person, both individually and then collectively in humanity.
Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living/Loving,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune Godhead. (John 1:1-2) He took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead by cleansing it of all sin and rebellion. To live the “Triune Love (Life)” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit (Love) in humans. (Rom.5:5) The miraculous life is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them” (Ezek.36:27).
The Bible states, “He (God) does great things that we cannot understand and miracles that we cannot count” (Job 5:9; 37:5). If God acts in ways that cannot be fathomed and is beyond human comprehension, then the miraculous life where humans are privileged recipients, cannot be deciphered by the human mind to its grandest manifestation. But we understand its meaning through divine revelation in that God reveals Himself as Love, and His miraculous activities are enveloped in His Love. (Jer.29:11)
The three-dimensional Triune Life/Love is opposed to living the one-dimensional solitary life of the fallen humanity inherited from Satan through Adam’s rebellion. For additional information about the Triune Life: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036. Also at: http://bulamanriver.net/9092.
**Bulamanriver: To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, you may obtain a copy of my book, “Bula” Man-River, from Amazon.com; xulonpress.com, barnesandnoble.com, and other online book stores. All proceeds will go towards furthering the work of Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world.
Mission Statement: Read the Triune Love Mission, Vision, and Value statements at: http://bulamanriver.net/8664
All scriptures are taken from the NIV Version 2011, unless stated otherwise.
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