Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Today we celebrate the truth of our amazing TRIUNE God! Some people have difficulty with this mystery of the TRINITY. If I had a dollar for every time someone told me that this is not in the BIBLE, I would be rich. The reason that the word TRINITY is not in the Bible is that the Bible is written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, Trinity is a LATIN word. It is a theological Latin word that describes the God who is has made himself known to us in Holy Scripture:
Genesis 1:
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was[a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
John 1:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood[a] it.
Jesus' words in the garden of Gethsemane in John 13-17,
John 17:
6 “I have revealed you[a] to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. etc......
Don't we use words to describe things that happen, that we experience today. I think of the life cycle of the Butterfly at its METAMORPHOSES check it out ( http://www.flashclassroom.com/docs/flash/79_butterfly_emma.swf ) Do we find this word anywhere? Yet it describes the action and life of the Butterfly. Trinity is the mystery of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit Matthew 28:19
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
No matter what image, or images we use on this side of heaven we will never do justice to this "mystery" of the Trinity. It has caused so much heresy over the years when we try to figure out an ALMIGHTY God by bringing him down to our level, even though he warns us in Scripture:
Isaiah 55:8-9
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Yet in every age people try to limit, box or define our God and end up in heresy. The Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons etc... all struggle with these things, in the early church they had Arius and Modal-ism. We just studied the Gnostic and Cerinthians as we looked at 1 John.
It is acknowledging the weakness of every earthly definition, that we look at the Trinity like a Pizza today. I have used the Egg, the 3 states of H2O and other ways but since we are giving out the God and Family Scout award today we are using PIZZA.
The God and Family Course looked at our faith life as a Pizza with the Crust/foundation being our place in the family of God, the Sauce being our family and spiritual heritage, the toppings as our talents and gifts, the cheese as the LOVE of Christ, no matter what, baked together into one unique PIZZA, inseparable yet having many parts. It was a unique experience to look at all the parts that make up our family, faith and formation. We are one person but all of these parts make us a unique creation of God. I thought it was a great exercise in remembering that the Lord makes us as unique as snow flakes and yet we all are in need of his forgiveness, grace and salvation each day!
May this Trinity Sunday be a time for us to ponder how beautiful and wonderfully created we are and how Jesus, our redeemer, died for us and we are filled with the Holy Spirit to live for our God and be HIS Children, HIS royal priesthood, HIS Holy Nation, a people belonging to God.
2 Peter 2:
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
May this Trinity Sunday be a time for us to worship in awe and reverence the God who created all things and through Christ Jesus calls us his own children!
Love in Christ our Risen Lord and Savior,
Pastor Bryan
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