Is there something in the deal for me? Remember, it's not all about you! Is it a win-win situation, as it were? These are normal questions. Symbiosis is defined as a cooperative venture in which all involved parties benefit from each other in a give and take relationship. There are several examples of symbiotic relationships in Scripture, including the husband-wife, the parent-child, and the employer-employee relationships. There are even examples in nature such as zebras and ostriches herding together because of the senses of smell and hearing of the zebra and the good eyesight of the ostrich, that they become mutually beneficial and complement each other. The phrase "You rub my back, I'll rub yours" takes on a whole new slant. Each party participates only because he gets something out of the deal--sort of like making a profit as a motive--they are all in sync, in cahoots, and on the same page!
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Cor. 13:14, ESV). This verse shows the cooperating work of the Trinity. There is subordination in the Trinity, but subordination does not denote, nor connote inferiority, but orderliness and respect for authority as voluntarily given. Christ voluntarily became subordinate for us (the doctrine of the kenosis, whereby He voluntarily submitted and emptied Himself of any independent use of His divinity), because we were insubordinate to Him!
God is a unity and exists in a tri-personality (three persons, personas, or self-distinctions), but is only one in essence or being--all members are equally God and have the same divine attributes, known as the tri-unity of God. God is thrice holy: "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD God Almighty, " it says in Isaiah 6. Even though the God the Father is called that and the Son proceeds from the Father in submission, doesn't define Him as domineering or of lording it over the Son, who voluntarily submits (submission does not mean inferiority).
Now The Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son and has another role. The fact that at creation God said, "Let us make man in our image" shows that God is a plurality (Deut. 6:4 says that the Lord is one as in echad) [Hebrew for unity, like in a cluster of grapes]. They act together and there is never any conflict of interest or selfishness at stake--it is like the Three Musketeers, who sang, "All for one, and one for all." It's a win-win-win proposition! We can no more explain the Godhead or Deity than why three lights on the ceiling all make one light in the room or why matter usually exists in three states (gas, liquid, and solid--each equally the same substance).
The whole issue is how does God have a symbiotic relationship? All members must be benefiting and working together for each other in love and not thinking of them self first. They all have different roles to fulfill and work in harmony to complete the unified will of God in them. For example: In salvation, the Father planned, initiated, originated, or purposed it; the Son revealed it, and the Holy Spirit applied and executed it. God the Father is the author of our salvation, God the Son is the agent who actually redeems and accomplishes it; and God the Holy Spirit is the power behind the work itself who sanctifies and regenerates. They all need each other and you cannot say one part of the effort is more important because they are all necessary for salvation to be complete. All members submit to each other within the confines of their "job description," if you will. They all know their roles to fulfill and do not interfere with each other's work--there is no conflict of interest and it is a win-win-win victory!
Truly it was revolutionary for the God the Son to incarnate and submit to the Father in completing His will--He had to relinquish in the Garden of Gethsemane and say "Thy will be done" to the Father. Jesus only said what the Father told Him to say and did what He saw the Father doing. Jesus so humbled Himself that He is exalted above all and all authority has been given to Him. Jesus also said, "I and the Father are one" (cf. John 10:30). All that we can know of God and see of Him is in Jesus, His personification. To say that God is three and He is one may sound like a violation of the law of noncontradiction; however, He is three in another sense that He is one and this is no contradiction. We do not say that God has three roles (like a man being a father, husband, and brother), and manifests Himself threefold, but that He is one in essence or being, but three in personhood--a three-in-oneness. Soli Deo Gloria!
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Cor. 13:14, ESV). This verse shows the cooperating work of the Trinity. There is subordination in the Trinity, but subordination does not denote, nor connote inferiority, but orderliness and respect for authority as voluntarily given. Christ voluntarily became subordinate for us (the doctrine of the kenosis, whereby He voluntarily submitted and emptied Himself of any independent use of His divinity), because we were insubordinate to Him!
God is a unity and exists in a tri-personality (three persons, personas, or self-distinctions), but is only one in essence or being--all members are equally God and have the same divine attributes, known as the tri-unity of God. God is thrice holy: "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD God Almighty, " it says in Isaiah 6. Even though the God the Father is called that and the Son proceeds from the Father in submission, doesn't define Him as domineering or of lording it over the Son, who voluntarily submits (submission does not mean inferiority).
Now The Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son and has another role. The fact that at creation God said, "Let us make man in our image" shows that God is a plurality (Deut. 6:4 says that the Lord is one as in echad) [Hebrew for unity, like in a cluster of grapes]. They act together and there is never any conflict of interest or selfishness at stake--it is like the Three Musketeers, who sang, "All for one, and one for all." It's a win-win-win proposition! We can no more explain the Godhead or Deity than why three lights on the ceiling all make one light in the room or why matter usually exists in three states (gas, liquid, and solid--each equally the same substance).
The whole issue is how does God have a symbiotic relationship? All members must be benefiting and working together for each other in love and not thinking of them self first. They all have different roles to fulfill and work in harmony to complete the unified will of God in them. For example: In salvation, the Father planned, initiated, originated, or purposed it; the Son revealed it, and the Holy Spirit applied and executed it. God the Father is the author of our salvation, God the Son is the agent who actually redeems and accomplishes it; and God the Holy Spirit is the power behind the work itself who sanctifies and regenerates. They all need each other and you cannot say one part of the effort is more important because they are all necessary for salvation to be complete. All members submit to each other within the confines of their "job description," if you will. They all know their roles to fulfill and do not interfere with each other's work--there is no conflict of interest and it is a win-win-win victory!
Truly it was revolutionary for the God the Son to incarnate and submit to the Father in completing His will--He had to relinquish in the Garden of Gethsemane and say "Thy will be done" to the Father. Jesus only said what the Father told Him to say and did what He saw the Father doing. Jesus so humbled Himself that He is exalted above all and all authority has been given to Him. Jesus also said, "I and the Father are one" (cf. John 10:30). All that we can know of God and see of Him is in Jesus, His personification. To say that God is three and He is one may sound like a violation of the law of noncontradiction; however, He is three in another sense that He is one and this is no contradiction. We do not say that God has three roles (like a man being a father, husband, and brother), and manifests Himself threefold, but that He is one in essence or being, but three in personhood--a three-in-oneness. Soli Deo Gloria!
No comments:
Post a Comment