Greetings Friends!
God’s nature, and the motivations for all His actions through His creation has always been Trinitarian in every way, shape and form. Although humans may not have understood God in His infallible triune expression, and even if man conceptualize God in forms other than Trinitarian, He nevertheless cannot deviate from who He truly is in His spontaneous Loving Trinitarian Being. He inhabits eternity in His triunity of Love – without beginning of days nor end, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Matt.28:18-20; 1 John 4:8)
God is not human to live in physical structures. The Bible states He already has a physical temple – the whole of creation is His physical temple. The prophet states, “Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where is the house you will build for Me?” (Isa.66:1-2).
We could not build anything close to what He has already created. We have heard people having visited many natural phenomenon that takes their breadth away and holds them spellbound because of their sheer wonder like the river Cano Cristales in Colombia with waters which appear like rainbow, as example (see picture below). There are waterfalls, tropical beaches, and many unknown and untold natural wonders to experience the celestial presence of God. In our humanity, we fail to appreciate how God has gifted us with the natural beauty of His creation to dwell with Him upon His earthly temple.
The Rainbow River of Cano Cristales in Colombia.
“Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where is the house you will build for Me?” (Isa.66:1-2).
Why did God reveal Himself as the God who is Love by nature? (1 John 4:8; 16) He is not made of Love; He is Love. Love is God and God is Love – there is no distinction between the two. God and Love are one and the same substance. Now consider this revelation of God in relation to man’s concept of a solitary God. Is it possible for Love (God) to exist in isolation, in solitude, – unaccompanied, secludeds, alone in self-absorbed existence?
Rublev’s famous icon of Holy Trinity (Wiki Commons)
If God were One solitary “Person,” with no one to Love and share His divine Being, then His affirmation that “God is Love” would have no meaning. (1 John 4:8) Can Love cannot exist in solitary mode and isolation? Only the opposite, fear, can thrive in such a condition. So, right off the bat, and unhesitatingly, we encounter two philosophies of life which define God, and His antithesis – Love and fear. One is Trinitarian and collaborative (Love), while the opposite is solitary and alone (fear)!
Love exist and thrive exclusively in relationships and collaboration. Love and relationship are inseparably one. Fear and solitude are bedfellows. Therefore, Love cannot be compatible with the image of a Loving God who declares Himself as solitary! but it’s completely viable with a God whose nature is Trinitarian or Tri-Personal. (Matt.28:28-30).
“God Is Love” 1 John 4:8
The Scriptures affirms us this … picture of God Himself, “Perfect Love (God) cast out fear” (1 John 4:18a).” There is no place for fearful existence (fear) in a life that is committed to a relationship of Love. Be that as it may, the Bible speaks of a “proper fear” that can exist within the Love of God. It does not make us afraid of God, but instills a deep reverence of everything God is and stands for. But highest of all, that God took upon Himself our human form as the “Immanuel,” lived a perfect and sinless life and sacrificed Himself to become humanity’s Savior and High Priest. (see Phi.2:4-8; Isa.7:14; Matt.1:23) Hence, we hold a deep reverential fear for God. Then there is the fear that is the antithesis of Love, for John said, this “fear hath torment, and he that fears is not made perfect in Love” (1 John 4:18b). Torment is contrary to God’s Love and living in joyful vitality.
One of the most important and overlooked aspects of Jesus’ mission was He came to reveal to humanity the true Trinitarian nature of God. Throughout His mission, Jesus made reference to God as His Father (John 17, 1:1-5, 14-8). John attests to this Father/Son relationship, quoting Jesus as saying, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is the closest relationship with the Father, has made Him known” (John 1:18). Jesus also mentions another personage in the unified Godhead – the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-18, 25-26; 15:26-27; 16:7-15; Matt. 28:18-20). Jesus came to reveal the true nature of God by revealing the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, and to show that God is Triune in His nature, not solitary nor reclusive.
God’s Perfect Love is Outgoing and Collaborative
Our God exists in ONE Triunity. In his book, “The Trinity and Human Personality,” author Jon T. Murphree, said, “In the Trinity, Each Person “occupies” the Others’ personalities. Each of the thee Persons becomes a “home” for the other Two. One is Host and the Others are Guests. As Each inhabits the Others, Each is a Host to the other Two, and Each is a Guest to the other Two. It is so reciprocal that each One feels more ‘at home’ with the Others’ personalities than His own. Trinitarian Persons do not exist in isolation, they live in and through One another, which makes their personalities relational and collaborative” and unified. (Page 135).
So, the Gospels makes clear to us that one of Jesus’ multifaceted earthly missions was to declare openly to the world that God is a Father to all mankind. By declaring the Fatherhood of God, He discredits all arguments that God is individualistic, much less solitary. A Father begets and nurtures children. Jesus declares Himself as the Son of God. He was born as the “Immanuel” (“God with us”) God who became one of us. (Matt.1:23).
Fear has Torment and is Self-centered and Exists in Solitude
Paul in his letter to the Philippians said this, “Though He (Jesus) was God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. Instead, He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, (“Immanuel”) He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death — even to death on a cross. For this reason, God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow — of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth — and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phi.2:6-11).
In the model prayer Jesus taught the disciples to pray, He begins with the words, “Our Father who art in heaven” (Matt.6:9). So, all of humanity are God’s children. Jesus was not declaring the Fatherhood of God to please the people or His followers, or to be controversial. He declared it because this is what Love does – Love tells the truth, Love cannot lie. By proclaiming God is His Father, and our Father, Jesus affirmed God is triune in His intrinsic divine nature.
“Jesus’ crucifixion to atone for mankind’s sin is the ultimate expression of God’s Love who knows no other way to live but through His inherent Loving relationship (John 3:16-17). Jesus’ sacrifice was the ultimate act of Love for He was both God and man or “Immanuel” (Matt.1:23). This is the key to the miraculous life humanity is privileged to live through Christ in the power of God’s Spirit.
“There they crucified Him, and with Him two Others” (John 19:18) The 3 Crosses Picture God in His Full Trinitarian Godhead, Surrendered and Died for All Humanity.
What then determines the proper concept of God’s divine nature? It starts with our belief as Jesus said – “Let it be done for you according to your faith!” (Matt.9:29). In other words, your life will be vocalized in accordance with the substance and anatomy of your faith about God’s divine nature.
As we have read earlier, Love and relationships are inseparably one because Love exists and thrives inherently in God’s collaborative nature: “God is Love” (1 John 4:8). Miracles are divine supernatural acts birthed out of God’s Love for His creation. Love and miracles cannot survive in solitary existence, but only through relationship for “God is Love” (1 John 4:16). God’s Loving relationship with humanity is what brought many miracles through the hands of Jesus. God has existed in His triune relationship from eternity through His Love as expressed and enunciated by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. (1 Cor.13:1-12; see appendix below *The “Love-Fruits of the Holy Spirit:” ) Through Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, He transported and brought humanity into fellowship with the very “Love-nature” of the triune God.
Because the triune God is of one substance (Greek, homoousios – “of one substance”) the act of one is the act of all three, making it singular and unified in the triune Godhead. God is the union of three Persons in one Triune Godhead. Man has not experienced this kind of integrated and collaborative life with the triune God ever since Eden, prior to Adam’s fall. And God created Adam and Eve and by extension all humanity, to reflect Him in His Love. (Gen.1:27; 1 John 4:8; John 17: 20-23)
God is not alone; He is not individualistic; He is not isolated or reclusive. Each Person in the Trinity “occupies” the others’ personalities, and become “home” for the other two. And God desires to bring man into the Loving fellowship of the Father, Son, and Spirit. The “fruits of Love” as Paul explained to the Corinthians, is the hallmark of the conduct they have lived and continue to live from eternity. (1 Cor.13:1-12). Here is where the miracle life humanity experiences and is birthed in God’s Love where it takes its stand.
Throughout history humanity has always tried to put God in a box to appeal to their short-sighted mindset. Yet, God tells us, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8-9).
How vital that we let the Spirit inspire and energize us in His Trinitarian nature to nullify our natural “solitary” attitude. We can do good things in a “solitary” mode and it will take us only thus far (Jer. 17:9). We see plenty of this in the world today. But by connecting to the triune God through His Spirit, His love will lead us in the way true life was intented to be lived. (Gen.1:27) He instructs us to choose His triune life, not our solitary life (Deut. 30:19). In other words, we will commune with a relational God, not a private God. God is not solitary and intolerant as many have assumed.
Humanity exists in an attitude of isolation, in solitude, unaccompanied, secluded, alone in self-absorbed existence, due to Adam’s sin in Eden when he chose to follow Satan instead of God by eating the forbidden fruit. That is our human short coming. The last thing that humans can do is attempt to put God in a box of their own making. It is totally wrong for fallen humans to try to paint God with our corrupt human frame of reference.
By declaring the Father’s Trinitarian nature, we continue to affirm His Fatherhood as founded in Love, first amongst the three Persons of the Trinity, and then with all humanity God has created in His image and likeness. (Gen.1:27; John 17:20-23; 25-26). And that is what the ‘Second Adam’ or Jesus Christ came to bring humanity new life enabled in the Spirit’s power. (Gal.2:20; 1 Cor.15:45).
Matthew 28:19 – The Great Commission
Though a person may claim to believe in the Trinity, if he still lives the solitary and self-inclusive life in himself, he still lives apart from Christ and the triune life of God. This tells us that many Christians fail to know how to live the Triune Life in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul said this, “But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him” (Rom.8:9). By taking the name of Jesus as Christians, we automatically receive the Triune nature of God. (Matt.28:19) That is presumed to be a truthful affirmation. (John 17:20-23)
Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit in this way, “But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own, He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is to come. He will glorify Me for it is from Me that He will receive what He will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from Me what He will make known to you” (John 16:13-15).
“When Pentecost Came They Were Together In One Place…” (Act.2:1)
I sincerely hope that just as we have celebrated the day of Pentecost (refer my previous post), a day which pictures the birth of the new covenant church, we will embark on this journey in our earthly pilgrimage with a new mindset about God’s divine Loving triune nature. In addition, God through Jesus invites us into this fresh new way of life we have been called to take into our lives and mindset and make it part of our mode of living. Remember, whenever the name of God is mentioned, it always portrays Him as a Trinity with His Son and His Spirit in One Godhead. (Matt.28:27-30)
God is calling out to all of humanity to come swim with everlasting joy in the river of His Love – eat freely from the food He has prepared for our true well-being.” Jesus openly declared, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this He meant the Spirit” (John 7:37-39; also Isa.55:1-2).
Jesus prayed this prayer for the disciples before He was taken to be crucified, “I do not pray for these (disciples) alone, but also those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be ONE, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be ONE in Us, that the world may believe that You have sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be ONE just as We are ONE: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in ONE” (John 17: 20-23, emphasis added). Jesus told His disciples, “On that day you will realize that I am in the Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you” (John 14:20). Every word is uttered in its Trinitarian context in who God is in His Tri-Personal nature of Love. (Matt.28:19-20)
Jesus’ parting words to His disciples before He ascended to heaven was: “Go and tell the world about this wonderful Gospel, and unify (baptize) them into the name of the Triune God of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (Matt.28:19; 1 John 4:8,16).
Please share a prayer with me as we pray to God our Loving Father in heaven, Prayer: “Almighty God, Father of all humanity, forgive me of all my sins for forsaking your precious Love. I receive Your Son, Jesus, as my personal Savior. In Your incalculable grace, thank you for recuing me and my loved ones, and all humanity, from the enemy’s fearful and destructive waters, and bringing us home into the life-giving waters of your Ocean of Love.
“Forgive me if I possessed an inaccurate view of Your divine triune nature. Thank You that I stand before you, the Tri-Personal God in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who works in our lives to bring us salvation in Christ. Scripture tells us, “God is Love, and all who live in Love live in God, and God lives in them” (1 John 4:16).
“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 believers so we may serve one another in Your Love. May Your Love guide and protect me and my loved ones always, and bring us all into Your beloved and divine Kingdom. I will praise and thank You always, Amen.”
Prayer is A Solemn One-On-One Spiritual Love Dialogue Between a Person and God the Father
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.
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” of God. Be strong in the Lord’s joy.
In Love, 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)
The Resurrection to Immortality and Deification of Humanity Created In God’s Image
Adam was solitary and incomplete until God made Eve. He said, “It is not good for the man to be alone (solitary). I will make a helper suitable for him” (Gen.2:18, italics mine). So, God gave Adam a family to raise composed of a father, mother, and offspring, to reflect Himself in His plural Being. The Bible states that the Church’s or humanity’s destiny is to marry Christ, the second Person of the Triune Godhead, in the new age to come which will be an everlasting divine relationship. (2 Cor.11:2; Eph.5:23-27, 32; Rev.19:7) The Bible is abundantly clear about God’s nature and declaration of Himself in His relational Triune Being from the past, the present, and the future. God has never lived as a solitary Being, but a Tri-Personal Being.
It’s noteworthy to understand that Eve was not created an individual creation from the dust of the earth as was Adam. She was not created apart from Adam as an individualized separate human being, instead, she was taken out from Adam’s side to show she was biologically one and indivisibly part of Adam, like God is in His Tri-Personal Being of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. Eve was not detached (solitary) from Adam, but intrinsically inseparable from Adam’s innermost humanity, as God is in His divine triunity. When Adam saw Eve, he said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man” (Gen.2:21-23) God created humanity to reflect Himself in His unified Tri-Personal Being (Trinity)
Rublev’s Icon of The Trinity (Wiki Commons)
Each one of us was created as an indivisible relational human being incubated and given birth from Adam’s mold as one species, for God created humanity to reflect the eternal likeness in His triunity. We are born for relationships with the divine triune Love as our guiding principle. All this show that humans were created to be indivisibly one to reflect God’s Tri-Personal image of Oneness (Trinity), not solitary separateness. When God sent Jesus His eternal Son, He became human in order to unify humanity spiritually to the Triune Being of God through Christ once for all time. Hence, when the prophet Isaiah proclaimed Jesus’ coming, He was given the prophetic name, Immanuel. (Isa.7:14) The name means “God with us” (Matt.1:23). Humanity is ‘organically’ one with the Triune God through Christ, just as humanity is one with Adam who was created in God’s image and likeness. (Gen.1:26-27)
Most religions believe God as some solitary being. The true God is not solitary by any means, He is the one Triunity in His Tri-Personal Being. God consist of three Persons in One divine triune Godhead. (Matt.28:18-20) They exist in One “homoousion” meaning consisting in one substance, or “consubstantiality.” The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in One hypostatic union, One substance, like Eve was biologically part of and never physically separate, but of one substance from Adam, for she came out of Adam. Likewise, humanity is made of one spiritual substance with the triune God through Jesus Christ who took our humanity upon Himself and joined it to the divine triune existence forever.
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: is the metaphor describing the union of man with the Love of the Triune God flowing in humans, making possible the “Triune Life” – the source of the miraculous life in man. 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
“Bulamanriver” Book Cover
***Mission Statement: Read the Triune Love Mission, Vision, and Value statements at: http://bulamanriver.net/8664
*The “Love-Fruits of the Holy Spirit:” *the fruit of patience, *the fruit of kindness, *the fruit of contentedness, *the fruit of modesty (unboastful), *the fruit of humility, *the fruit of honor, *the fruit of unselfishness, *the fruit of calmness and dignity, *the fruit of forgiveness and compassion, *the fruit of delighting in good and shunning evil, *the fruit of tolerance, *the fruit of responsibility, *the fruit of enduring hope, *the fruit of steadfast perseverance, *the fruit of joy, *the fruit of peace, *the fruit of goodness, *the fruit of faith, *the fruit of gentleness, *the fruit of self-control, *the fruit of zeal and spiritual fervor, *the fruit of friendship, *the fruit of sharing and generosity, *the fruit of prayerfulness, *the fruit of hospitality, etc. (1 Cor.13; also Gal. 5:22-23; Rom. 12:9-21). These attributes may seem ordinary and mundane, but when empowered and propelled in the Spirit’s power, they are transformed into divine elements of transformation.
These Love-fruits speaks volumes and gives us a peek into the different tones of God’s Love. They are not rules to live by as if they are legalistic requirements to follow. They tell us how God in His Tri-Personal Being in the Father, Son, and Spirit, have lived in One unified shared Love-experience from eternity as God, and desires to share His “Triune Life” with believers. They reveal the holy emotions of the Tri-Personal Being of God. These are not human emotions, they reveal the divine passion and desire of how God lives “naturally” in an intuitive and spontaneous fashion amongst Them.
All scriptures are taken from the NIV Version 2011, unless stated otherwise.
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