Trinity Thoughts

Too often I have sat in churches where teachers have tried to illustrate the Biblical concept of the Trinity. The problem is that almost without exception, these illustrations are wrong. You name it I’ve heard it from the pulpit. The trinity is like an egg, like the properties of H2O, liquid, solid and gas. I’ve even heard a preacher explain the Trinity as a marble cake; I kid you not!

Trying to limit God to a tight definition is spiritually counterproductive. The essence of the pivotal incarnation of Jesus Christ is the revelation of God unfathomed love to humankind. This is what Paul shares within his latter to the Romans.  “But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being.” Romans 1:12

Dr. Nichols states, "There must be a difference between the knowledge that comes from the gathering of information, and that which comes by revelation. The Pharisees and Sadducees had the best information anyone could have in their day. If you asked them, they would tell you they were in touch with revelation as well.” Yet, when faced with the greater illustration of God’s love in the flesh, Jesus Christ, they failed to recognise him.

One preacher put it this way, “If we cannot see God in the commonalities that constitute daily life, we would not recognise Christ if he walked into the room and sat down beside us.”

Do you remember how Philip said t Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don't know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!” What other illustration do we need. 

Fred Beuchner puts it this way, ““It is not the objective proof of God’s existence that we want but the experience of God’s presence. That is the miracle we are really after, and that is also, I think, the miracle that we really get.”

O Lord, my God, teach my heart this day where and how to see you, where and how to find you. You have made me and remade me, and you have bestowed on me all the good things I possess, and still I do not know you. I have not yet done that for which I was made. Amen