The Trinity Lives In Us

September 14, 2018

The Trinity Lives In Us

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:12

In 2007, Wm. Paul Young published The Shack. Within a few years, the book became a phenomenal success around the world, due in part because people were able to find so many points of identification within his story. One of the enduring memories I have of the book is the lively, very personal, edifying and uplifting relationship within the Trinity. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit were not abstract depictions of a complex, distant and unknowable deity; the Trinity was very much alive. The Apostle John is pointing to this truth as he encourages us to love each other.

If God lives in us, then the lively, very personal, edifying and uplifting relationship within the Trinity lives in us as well. This reality brings forward the teaching of Jesus and Saint Paul: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36 NRSV) and, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). Can it really be that simple? Is sharing each other’s burdens how we obey the law of Christ? Yes! When Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment, he said their fulfillment of the commandment would be their witness to the world that Jesus was the Messiah. (See John 13:34-35)

Love is more than just putting up with one another. The love of God that is brought to full expression in us is lively, very personal, edifying and uplifting as we are merciful to each other, as we joyfully share each other’s burdens. It has been my experience that revealing the full expression of God’s love is the most difficult part of life for the followers of Jesus. When we try to think of others, instead of protecting our own self-interest, it cuts across the grain of every natural instinct within us. Maybe that’s why Paul kept urging his congregations to crucify their flesh.

My Takeaway: God has not given us an impossible assignment, because it is possible to do with training, what is impossible to do by trying. Take the first step and meditate on this passage for a week, or month, or maybe a year or so:

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. . .” (Philippians 2:3-5).  

Sē’lah

Alex

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.