Triplets of Unity: Triune God, One Will – Christ’s Earthly Ministry and Church

 

Each member of the Trinity played a special role in the incarnation. God the Father gave His only begotten Son (John 1:14; 3:16, Hebrews 1:5-6), Jesus Christ, Who was conceived through the Spirit’s power (Luke 1:35). The Word, or Christ, was God (yet distinct from God the Father) and present from the beginning (John 1:1-2), He was the Creator, the Life-Giver, and the Light Who overcame the darkness (John 1:3-5)

The Word became flesh so that man could experience His grace and truth (John 1:14) and see the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). God the Father was pleased that in Jesus Christ the Son would be the fullness of the Godhead, or all Three Persons of the Trinity bodily (Colossians 1:19; 2:8,9), As Isaiah foretold, the Name of the Son would also be the Counsellor (the Spirit Who guides us) and the Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6-7).

Those who walked the earth with Jesus were privileged to see God in the flesh, and subsequent believers have been blessed to read of Him in Scripture. When we realize that we are sinners in need of a Savior (Romans 3:23) and that Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), we are indwelled from the moment of salvation by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14) Who teaches us that we are children of God the Father (Romans 8:16).

Just as we now know Christ through the revelation of the Spirit, it is through our knowledge of and relationship with Jesus that we can know the Father (John 14:8-9). From an early age, Jesus knew that He must do His Father’s business (Luke 2:49), and in His earthly ministry, His very food was to do His Father’s will and to finish His work (John 4:34).

The Scriptures are largely silent on much of Jesus’ childhood, but Luke tells us that the Child grew not only physically but strong in Spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God (the Father) was upon Him (Luke 2:40). Thus we see in Jesus the effects of and interaction with the other Two Persons of the Trinity

Jesus faithfully honored His Father (John 8:49), did good works in His Father’s name (John 10:25,32), and prayed to the Father (Matthew 11:25; Luke 10:21; John 11:41). In His model prayer, He also taught His disciples to pray to the Father (Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:2). He told the Samaritan woman at the well to worship the Father in Spirit and in truth, just as she was coming to realize that He was the Messiah, or Christ (John 4:21-26).

At Gethsemane, Jesus prayed to the Father for the cup to pass from Him if that were possible; for the Father’s will to be done; and for the Father to keep you and me (John 17), giving us eternal life by knowing “thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (v. 3). Thus, Jesus Himself clearly recognized the distinction between Himself and the Father.

When Jesus was on the cross, He prayed to the Father to forgive those who crucified Him (Luke 23:34), and His last words acknowledged the other Two Persons of the Trinity, as Jesus commended His Spirit to the Father (Luke 23:46).

Yet at that moment that He became sin to appease God’s wrath at all sinners (2 Corinthians 5:21), Jesus could not call out to His Father, but only to His God (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34), because Holy God the Father could not look on all the sin Jesus Christ bore for us. After Jesus died, the Father raised Him from the dead through the power of the Holy Spirit. Without the Trinity acting as Three distinct Persons united in one will, the crucifixion and resurrection that is the defining miracle of Christianity would not be possible.

After He arose from the dead, Jesus Christ told Mary Magdalene that He would ascend to His Father (Who was also her Father), and to His God (Who was also her God; John 20:17). Jesus told His followers that after He ascended to Heaven, the Comforter, or Holy Spirit, would be with them always, remind them of Jesus Christ, and teach them (John 14:16,26;15:26; 16:7). This promise was realized at Pentecost, when the Spirit descended on the apostles like cloven tongues of fire (Acts 2:1-4), giving power to Peter and the others to preach truth. .

By Divine inspiration, Peter then spoke clearly of the Trinity: This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. 33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear (Acts 2:32-33).

Paul also clarified that God the Father raised Jesus from the dead using the power of the Holy Spirit, and that same Spirit gives believers new life and power to mortify the flesh (Romans 8:10-11) when they trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to the Father (John 14:6).

Since His ascension, Jesus Christ the Son has been seated at the right hand of God the Father (Hebrews 1:3), mediating and interceding for us, hearing the prayers brought from believers to Him through the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us that through Christ, we have access by one Spirit unto the Father (Ephesians 2:18).

In Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles, he was constantly led by the Spirit, Who inspired his preaching (Acts 18:5)  and instructed him not only in spiritual matters (Acts 17:16) but in highly practical decisions regarding his ministry, such as where to travel and where not to go (Acts 19:21; 21:4). Paul describes the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ (Colossians 2:2,3) which was not revealed before the incarnation.

2 Corinthians 13:14The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. 

© 2013 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

Salvation’s Ongoing Transformations

Photo by Tamilan pugal 2021

As we saw last week, salvation has an instant rewards program beyond compare! We are positionally justified in Christ, a new creation in Him, and sealed and indwelled by the Holy Spirit Who gives us at least one spiritual gift. We have instant and continual access to God the Father through prayer, and we are His adopted children and joint heirs with Christ.

But that is only the beginning! Throughout our Christian life, from the moment we are saved until the moment the Lord takes us home, we are progressively sanctified, meaning that we become more like Christ and progressively conformed or shaped into His image (Romans 8:29-30). He is the Potter, and we are the clay (Isaiah 29:16; 64:8; Jeremiah 18:6; Romans 9:21), continually molded and reshaped into a vessel of honor increasingly useful for His service (2 Timothy 2:20-21).

The process of progressive sanctification occurs through meditating on God’s Word, through prayer, through obedience, and even through trials causing suffering. God may allow trials into our life to increase our faith in and reliance on Him (2 Corinthians 12:9); to give us compassion and experience to be able to help others going through similar trials; and to help us identify with and understand Christ’s suffering on the cross (Philippians 3:10) as He paid our sin debt.

Beginning at the moment we are born again, the Holy Spirit is there to guide us (Romans 8:9;Galatians 5:25), to teach us from God’s Word, to let us know through our conscience when we are sinning, to comfort us in difficult times and to give us wisdom (John 14:16-26).

As our Guide, the Spirit teaches us to understand and know the Word, both the Scripture and Jesus Christ (John 14:26; 1 Corinthians1:18-31;2:9-15;13:9-12), Who is the express image of God the Father (Hebrews 1:3), Through the Spirit, we know that we belong to God evermore (Romans 8:16; 1 John 4:13-16). The Spirit keeps us in communication with Jesus Christ, and with the Father through Christ (John 14:17,20), allowing us to be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19).

At the moment of salvation, our indwelling by the Holy Spirit gives believers the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:5). As we die to our sin nature and yield to the Spirit, we gain more and more access to that perfect Mind, and we are more able to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16,25). We increasingly subject our body to His will, offering it to Him as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) and recognizing that it is the temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

We receive God’s grace upon grace, in a never-ending stream (John 1:16). Not only did His grace save us (Ephesians 2:8) and justify us (Romans 3:24), but it allows us to serve Him and work to bear fruit for His kingdom (Hebrews 12:28; 1 Corinthians 15:10). His grace strengthens us in our weakness and allows us to endure trials (2 Corinthians 12:9). It is a limitless resource, flowing more abundantly as our need increases (James 4:6; 2 Corinthians 8:7) and as we grow closer to Him in our Christian walk (1 Corinthians 1:3-5; 2 Peter 3:18).

We become His ambassadors through the work of the Holy Spirit! (2 Corinthians 5:20). As the saying goes, we are the only Bible many lost people will ever read, and the only Jesus many lost people will ever see. God has placed every believer in a unique sphere of influence and equipped each of us in a unique way to represent Him and to spread His Word in that community as we fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28: 19-20).

We grow and have opportunities for service to the community of believers. Led by the Spirit, we support one another in love (1 Peter 1: 22) as a church family, bearing one another’s burdens and so fulfilling the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2).  As we become more like Christ, we begin to love self-sacrificingly, as He did, showing that love not only toward God and toward fellow believers, but also toward the unsaved and even toward our enemies (Luke 10:27).

Just because we are saved does not mean that our problems will go away. Our health and financial condition may not improve, but our attitude will change toward our life circumstances. The Spirit helps us to realize that our earthly life is temporary and transient (James 4:14), and that we can look forward to eternity with our Lord and Savior! (1 Corinthians 2:9; Revelation 21:23)

Through the fruit of the Spirit, we will have peace that passes all understanding about whatever happens, because we will have faith that God is working it all out for our good and His glory (John 14:27, Romans 8:28). To unsaved people, that peace will be incomprehensible, because they rely on themselves alone to work out problems, and they cannot have peace when there is no apparent solution (Philippians 4: 6-7).

As part of the fruit of the Spirit, we will have joy in the Lord. The apostle Paul told us to rejoice always (Philippians 4:4), and he himself was able to do that despite being imprisoned, shipwrecked, beaten, and suffering from his thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 11:24-30; 12:7-10). 

Happiness is based on circumstances, but true joy comes from knowing that Christ died and rose again to give us the gift of eternal life (John 3:16). Nothing and no one can ever take that away from us (Romans 8:38-39. 

Whatever sorrow we experience on earth will disappear once we are with Jesus in Heaven (Romans 8:18). Earthly sorrow lasts a very short time, but the joy of being in His presence will last forever.

That is our blessed hope (Titus 2:13), of spending eternity with Christ and with fellow believers (Romans 15:13). We hope, not in the sense of wishing for it to happen, but in the faith-filled anticipation that it will come to pass, for He has said it and it is so! Our hope is in all the eternal rewards of salvation, which we shall discuss in a future post!

© 2013 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

No Small Parts

Photo by Ed Sward Photography 2016

As renowned actor and drama coach Constantin Stanislavski said, “Remember: there are no small parts; only small actors.”

This saying hit home for my husband Richard and me last week as we were blessed to perform in the Spectacular Senior Follies “Bravo Broadway,” an amazing production of more than 100 talented, veteran singers, dancers and actors. The five shows at the beautiful theatre entertained more than 4,000 people, and the “meet-and-greet” after each performance suggested that the audience was truly blessed, uplifted and inspired by what they had seen and heard.

As gifted and outstanding as the many soloists were, each performer in the ensembles could have also merited a solo performance based on their own talents. The excellence and artistry of the completed product depended not only on the brilliance of these performers, and on the superb artistic, musical, and choreographic direction of the renowned creative team, but on the coordinated efforts and faithfulness of every single person involved in every aspect of the production. And let’s not forget the prolific composers and lyric writers who created Tony award-winning musicals in the first place!

So much attention to detail was required! What if the sound team didn’t activate the right mics at the right time so every word and note would be clearly heard? What if the dressers didn’t help the Showgirls with their elaborate costumes and voluminous headdresses so they could be ready on time for their next number?

What if the stage manager and crew didn’t elevate the hanging mics out of reach of the high lifts Richard and I were doing, and I became entangled in a mic cord? What if there were no lobby staff to open the theatre, sell tickets and escort people to their seats? What if just one member of either of the two amazing bands played a wrong note, or got out of sync with the band leader?

Sometimes these details escape notice until something goes awry. During a rehearsal, one of the set pieces was misplaced just a little, changing where the lead singer had to stand by just a foot or two, and as a result, her spotlight no longer illuminated her to perfection when she first began singing. In another rehearsal, one of the cast inadvertently slightly changed the position of a streetlight on wheels, which was standing backstage in preparation for the next set. When the curtain came down, it caught the streetlight and crushed it!

But thankfully, the shows ran like well-oiled machines, everyone seamlessly functioning together to create a whole that was far, far greater than the parts. What a blessing to know that prayer warriors were also involved behind the scenes, praying for those who were ill or injured to recover completely for the shows; for all to perform to their highest potential to God’s glory; and for all who came to be blessed. Richard and I were privileged to pray for these needs as well, and even for the weather, as the forecasted storms on show days would likely reduce the walk-in crowds. Despite the predicted gloomy forecast, we had sunny skies and great audiences!

The success of the Follies depended not only on the faithful, consistent efforts of those performing or directing, but on so many more! From the financial patrons; to those who designed the costumes and sets, wrote the script, cast the players, donated bottled water and food; and even the bus drivers who transported the audience, all played a significant role. Without them, the show would not go on! We are so thankful to all those who united to make this happen!

God was so faithful in answering all these prayers, proving yet again that His grace is sufficient, His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9), and that with Him, all things are possible! (Matthew 19:26). The whole experience reminded me of how the church, or called-out assembly of born-again believers (John 3:3-8), is meant to function. God made each of us to be unique, to play a special role in His church that He foreordained since before the world began (Ephesians 2:10), and there are no small parts!

Jesus Christ loved the church so much that He gave Himself for it (Ephesians 5:25), dying on the cross to pay for all our sins, and rising again on the third day so that all who trust Him would have eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; John 3:16). Through the cleansing of His Word, He purifies the church from every wrinkle and blemish, nourishing and cherishing it (Ephesians 5:25-29), and His desire is that we would love one another in the same way (John 13:34-35; 15:12).

The church is the body of Christ (Romans 12:5). As we think of the human body, we might be tempted to place more importance on the eyes or ears, for example, than on what we perceive as less significant – perhaps our little toe (1 Corinthians 12:14-24). But if we break our little toe, our eyes shut tightly in pain, and we may even wish that our ears would not work sufficiently to capture the sound of our crying out in agony!

Most of our body parts we cannot even see with the naked eye, like red blood cells, but if these were absent, our eyes and ears would be deprived of oxygen and we would cease to see and hear (Psalm 139:14). In this year’s show, the orchestra members occupied the pit and were invisible to the audience. But that made them no less crucial to the singers and dancers, for the bands were the heartbeat and clarion call of the entire show (1 Corinthians 14:7-8).

So it is with the church – each member has a special calling, but none can fulfill it in isolation (1 Corinthians 12:4-14). The pastor, song leader, teacher or soloist might be more visible than the janitor, electrician, or faithful tither (Malachi 3:10), but without these, the local church would have to shut its doors. By bearing one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), sharing one another’s joys (Luke 15:4-9), and working together in love, we can let God use us to accomplish His perfect plan (1 Corinthians 12:25-28; Jeremiah 29:11).

May we not grow weary in well-doing, for the church will reap the rewards of our faithfulness (Galatians 6:9) if we keep on serving God! May we encourage and appreciate one another as each carries out the specific mission God intended. May we work together in one accord (Acts 1:14; 2:1,46, etc.), with unity of mind and spirit, dedicated to His glory!

© 2016 Laurie Collett