making sense of the TRINITY

I heard some really good reaching on the Trinity today at Church (I meant 'teaching' but 'reaching' is a good twist on 'teaching'). JP, our associate Pastor, presented some thoughts on Trinity I would like to share. Trinity means "3 in 1". There have been many analogies formed over the years to explain this, but all analogies fall short in capturing this reality. There has been the analogy of a man who has multiple roles, husband, father, professional. But in this case the roles are not distinctly different persons as the Trinity is. There's the analogy of water in three forms, ice, gas, and liquid, but the different forms do not co-exist. One analogy appeals to me because it has a mathematical logic to it. take a box, it represents one space. the box is defined by three distinct dimensions, height, width, and length. If you take any one of the three dimensions, such as height, and compile all lines along the height, you get the whole box. Similarly, if you take width and do the same or length and do the same, each would represent the entire box. yet it takes all three to determine the box.

The word Trinity is never used in the Bible. It is a word early church scholars applied to what the Bible describes. The old testament is fully furnished but dimly lit. That is, the Trinity is described and supported but in more covert ways. In Genesis 1 we see that God created and the Spirit hovered over creation. When man was created, God said "let US create man in OUR image." Elohim, a Hebrew word for God is plural. Psalms 110 starts with "the LORD said to my Lord." The New testament is explicit often, but no where more succinct than John 1:1, "the Word was God."

If God is love, he must be in relationship. there must be three distinct entities. CS Lewis describes the Trinity this way in Mere Christianity. The Triune God is having a love party amongst Himself. Its like a bond fire, drawing people to Himself by the light and warmth of the party. Love does not have meaning absent relationship. God IS love. three distinct person's in perfect love (Grace, mercy, and affection).

Yet God is one, in perfect unity with Himself.

There is somethings about Himself God has let us in own, the rest is His mystery :-)