One God, three persons (part 3)

In the last blog I said that while the Trinity is a complicated doctrine it is important that we do not ignore it. In this final blog on this topic I want to demonstrate four ways that thinking about the Trinity can help shape a Christian worldview.

The fact that God is three persons means that God enjoys relationship within himself. The relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is one of profound love and enjoyment. This means that God did not create us because he was lonely. It also means that a part of being made in image of God implies that we are relational creatures. ‘Our perception of life—that personal relationships are of the highest importance—is correct, for ultimate reality is . . . three persons in eternal relationship’ (Blueprint, Mathias Media).

The three persons of God are involved in people becoming Christians. Indeed if any of the three persons were not God this salvation would not be possible. The Father sent the Son in love for the world (John 3:16). The Son bears the curse for our rebellion on the cross—if the Son was not God then the Father was merely punishing an innocent third-party. Indeed the death of one man could one pay for the crimes of one man, the death of the Son of God is the atoning sacrifice for the world (1 John 2:2). The Holy Spirit convicts the world of guilt (John 16:8), brings about spiritual rebirth (John 3:8), mediates the presence of the Father and Son in our lives (John 14:23) and assures us of the Father’s ongoing acceptance (Galatians 4:6). It is God who saves and each person of the triune God is involved.

The three persons of God each have a role in our praying. Almost every prayer in the New Testament is addressed to the Father. While at times we might pray to Jesus or the Holy Spirit we should normally pray to the Father. The model prayer that Jesus gave begins Our Father. While we pray to the Father we pray in the name of the Son. Praying in the name of the Son involves recognising that it is only because of who were are in him that we can approach the throne of grace with confidence and seeking to make our requests in line with what the Son would approve of. We pray to the Father, through the Son, and in the Holy Spirit. We seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance as we pray and his strength to keep on praying. In Romans 8 we even read that the Holy Spirit interprets our groans when we don’t have the words to say. Each member of the triune God is involved in the Christians prayer.

Finally the relationship between the persons of the Trinity helps us understand the ordering of human relationships. The Son seeks to do the will of the Father, and together with the Father sends the Holy Spirit. Although the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have different roles they live in harmony as equals. Loving submission is illustrated in the relationship of God. For example in Ephesians 5:22 when the Apostle Paul teaches wives to submit to their husbands (and spends twice as long on teaching the husband to love their wives) he is not implying that the wife is not equal to her husband any more than the Son is not equal to the Father but simply that the husband and wife have differing and complimentary roles in marriage.