21st April 2022
Knowing God as Trinity
Like many people, I used to believe God is rather monolithic. I imagined him, as he is often described, as one God, a lone being handing out mercy or judgment as necessary according to his whim and our behaviour. Learning about the triune nature of God completely changed my understanding of who he is and how he relates to us. A solitary god by definition must be alone, so when we talk about God’s love and his nature of love, it would follow that he needs someone to love. He can’t just love himself so he must have created man to fulfil his need. Perhaps he was lonely. But that doesn’t fit, because an all powerful, self-sufficient being wouldn’t be either of those things if he were lonely and in need.
As I began to learn about God as three-in-one, my aha moment came when I discovered Father, Son and Spirit share an intimate, loving relationship, full of love, which means he wasn’t lonely or in need of anything. He never needed us, but he did want us. God is love and his love overflows. Creating the universe and all its inhabitants was a natural emanation of his loving, tender hearted, compassionate, and generous nature.
A few years after that aha moment, I had another one. For a long time, I was unsure about having a relationship with God. I had no idea how to go about it, mistakenly believing it was up to me to somehow create it. At a silent retreat, with loads of time to pray and listen for what God had to say, he opened my eyes to see that it wasn’t up to me – all I needed to do was jump in. It seemed as if he were saying, it’s like a river, alive, flowing, moving; don’t just get your feet wet, go all the way in. Join us in the circle of life.
God is so much more than a solitary being out there in space somewhere. He’s dynamic, 3D if I may, and vivacious. He is three-in-one in glory, light and energy unimaginable. All glory and praise to Father, Son, and Spirit, in us, with us and for us.
Study by Tammy Tkach
First published on 29 March, 2022, at www.gemsofgodsgrace.wordpress.com
About the writer:
Tammy Tkach is the Assistant Pastor of the Eugene, Oregon, USA congregation, and is the wife of former Grace Communion International President, Joseph Tkach. She is a speaker and writer, and publishes a blog at www.gemsofgodsgrace.wordpress.com
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