The first and probably weirdest thing about God is the mind-bending paradox that God is Three Persons yet One God. That is why I call God “God” rather than “He or She.” Even though I’m avoiding gender pronouns, I will use the traditional language of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit simply because it is biblical language used by Jesus. There are people who have a problem calling God “Father” and it has nothing to do with political correctness. Too many people are coming to God to heal from the abuse inflicted by their earthly parents. To them a father is a drunk, violent, abuse monster, words that can never describe the Triune God who invented the nurturing love of parents for their children. “Father” is the role played by the First Person of the Trinity which goes far beyond a family relationship. It is also the role of the commanding officer who develops the plans for the redemption of the universe. Even though God the Father assumes command, all three are equal. God the Father is not somehow “More God” than the other Two. It is a matter of the role being filled and the functions being carried out. God the Father creates plans. God the Son carries out those plans. “Son” is a role played by the Second Person of the Trinity that, again, means much more than a family relationship. God the Son is one who is under the authority of another who leads but also loves, protects, and provides. God the Son is tasked to carry out the plans and complete the mission. God the Holy Spirit, or Third Person of the Trinity, is the mystical power used by God the Father and God the Son to make things happen. It is the power behind every miracle in Jesus’ life on earth from conception to resurrection and is the power by which God gives us faith and transforms us as we grow as followers of Jesus.
Our One God is a group, not simply one person. This idea of what we call the “Triune God” or “Trinity” is deep and complicated and makes the average human brain hurt. God is so different from us that our human minds can never fully understand. You can reconcile One God being Three Persons if you think of God as a family or a community. It is an imperfect analogy that fails to completely express the true nature of God, but it is at least a step in the right direction. Just like there are nine players on one baseball team, there are three persons in our one God bound by love and loyalty and working together for the common good. No player on these sports teams are better or more important than any other. They all work together in different positions to win the game. No one Person of the Trinity is better or more important than any other. They only differ in the parts they play in the eternal mission. That is also why we insist that no one person in Jesus’ Church is better or more important than any other. We only differ in the parts we play in the eternal mission.
Wouldn’t you like to be part of a family like that, bound together by love and loyalty and working together for the common good?
You can be. God created the universe and every single one of us so that we can be a part of this family too. This perfect Divine Family of Three has opened up the circle and invites us to join. God is a small group that is completely supportive and cooperative in everything it does, working together to accomplish the eternal mission that unites its members with a purpose worth living and dying for. It is no accident that Jesus began His work on earth by gathering the first disciples into a similar small group that learned how to be completely supportive and cooperative in everything it does, working together to accomplish the eternal mission that united its members with a purpose worth living and dying for. Jesus was born for this and died on a cross for this. The original disciples were born again for this and most surrendered their lives to the cause as martyrs. (As is repeated elsewhere on this blog, the Way of Christ is the Way of the Cross. The ability to suffer, while unfortunate, is a crucial skill of effective disciples.) This is how life is meant to be lived, not alone but together. Jesus continues to gather us into similar small groups to learn how to be completely supportive and cooperative in everything we do, working together to accomplish the eternal mission that unites us with a purpose worth living and dying for. That is what you will find in the Church of Jesus, the invitation to join not only a group of like-minded followers of Jesus, but to become an eternal part of the Family that is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in service to the rest of the world around us. That is a concept that so fills me with awe, I have tears in my eyes as I write. While the Triune God is hard to understand, the “Eternal Mission of God” is not. God really only wants three things from us:
First, God desires an intimate love relationship with us that lasts forever.
The love part is nice, but the forever part is a problem. God is immortal, which means God lives forever, but we don’t. We die. Compared to God, our lives are incredibly short. Thanks to the death of Jesus on the cross, we are forgiven for our personal part in screwing up the world, but it is His resurrection that opens up life beyond death for us. That’s great, but please remember, there is more to life than just waiting to die and go to Heaven. Life is to be enjoyed with God right now. If you keep reading, we will teach you how to love God, talk with God and grow closer every day.
Second, God wants to help us love and care for each other.
Human beings don’t seem to get along well. We grate on each others’ nerves. We get angry. We fight wars and stop speaking to each other. We are what’s wrong with the world. We are all God’s children, and God loves us equally. If only we could see in each other what God sees in us, we might stop treating life as a competition and begin to really look out for each other. That is what God wants and what God expects. Thankfully, God is making that happen by rewiring our selfish human brains and teaching us how to care for others.
Third, God invites us to help God change the world.
If we are what’s wrong with the world, then we are also and indispensable part of the solution. The world is repaired by us and through us. The world is repaired one life at a time. We will remind ourselves again and again that God is changing lives and making the world a better place. God is recruiting us to help influence the world for healthy change. That gives our new lives meaning, purpose and direction.
That is why we exist. That is what we join when we begin a relationship with God.
5x5 Discipleship 
This is a very powerful message, if more would see each other as God sees us our world would be a better place. If you haven’t taken that first step into a living relationship with God- do it now and see the many blessings you already have and will have, amen.Thank you Pastor Greg for sharing.
LikeLike
This is a very powerful message, if more would see each other as God sees us our world would be a better place. If you haven’t taken that first step into a loving relationship with God- do it now and see the many blessings you already have and will have, amen.Thank you Pastor Greg for sharing.
LikeLike