Introduction
I remember back when I was a newborn Christian, like so many others I was fascinated with the concept of the Trinity of God. I think the reasoning behind my fascination was mostly in that it was and is such an enigma. It seems we are always drawn to the unknown and the seemingly unsolvable. It was sort of funny how when I first came to the realization that Christ Jesus was God, I was afraid to open my mouth and let the words come out. “Jesus is God… Jesus is God?” I could almost hear the sound of the mobs coming ever closer and screaming the words “Die, heretic die”, for that very thought, ready to hang me from the nearest tree.
At some point on my walk with Christ, I came to the realization that one of the main keys to better understanding the Trinity was in understanding the relationships involved in the members of the trinity. There were two analogies that came to mind at the time.
If you think back to Government class in High School, you should hopefully remember that the US Government has 3 separate and distinct branches that make up the governmental body. The Legislative Branch is in the place of making the laws of the country. The Executive branch is charged with carrying out those laws. And then the Judicial branch interprets and upholds them. Each of these is its own separate entity, but because of the system of Checks and Balances that are in place, they are bound in a truly interdependent relationship. This relationship is what draws them together into a single governing body.
The other is a similar example that is more than alluded to in the Bible.
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I send it.
Isaiah 55.11
This is a picture of God communicating His will to His creation. As you see in this passage, God is the origin of the thought, the origin of the word being spoken. Christ Jesus, He would be the word that proceeds from the fathers mouth (Matthew 4.4). Carrying that word is the Holy Spirit, the very breath of life that God breathed into Adam in Genesis 2.7. In order for a word to be spoken and heard, that word must have the authority of the one speaking it and the breath to carry and give that word power. If the word is missing the authority of the mouth or the power of the breath, then the word cannot be spoken and is of no effect. As you can see, there is an intricate relationship between the three. Because of this relationship, these three separate entities must function so closely together as one that it is almost impossible to differentiate between them or separate one from the collective whole. Each has its own identity or personality, but that personality is defined within the bounds of the whole.
My hope is that through this work I will be able to explore the persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, both individually and collectively, bringing out the relationships that bind them together into the Godhead that we know as the Trinity. I will also try to bring to light the importance and beauty of who it is that we were created to be through Christ Jesus, as the Bride of Christ.
Bone of my bone
In the creation account of Genesis 2, God had finished creating the world, and after creating Adam He placed him in the garden at its center. God gave Adam only one commandment. That was to not eat of the Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil. In verse 18, God says that “It is not good that man should be alone.” This is a loving creator showing concern for His creation and wanting him to be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. So they go on a search to find Adam a “helper”. After going through every animal of the land and air, Adam realizes that there was none that was suitable for him. So God puts Adam to sleep, takes a rib from Adam’s side and fashions a woman that is comparable to him.
The rib was an interesting choice of parts to take and form woman from. I see two different applications for the use of the rib in this story. Someone once mentioning to me how that the rib God took from Adam could have been part of his genetic makeup. Have you ever noticed how men have XY chromosomes while women have XX? When God took the rib, could it have been a chromosomal “rib”, making an X into a Y chromosome? The other is that the word rib means a literal rib. The original word for rib in Hebrew is tseòlaòwhich can mean rib, plank, timber, side, chamber, etc. Where it starts to get interesting is when you look at the usages of the word. The rib is the part of the body that protects, or more accurately houses the heart, and the heart is considered the temple of God. Likewise of the 32 instances that tseòlaò is used in the Old Testament, all but two (other than the references to Adams rib) are in reference to the framing material used to build either the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, the Temple, the alter in the temple or chambers of the temple. These are all either parts of Gods temple, the place where His Spirit resided, or instruments used in His worship. As you notice, both applications for rib are in reference to the building blocks in which the Temple of God is built.
After God removed the rib, He “closed up the flesh in its place”. I always thought this meant that God closed up the flesh through which the rib was removed. That is what a doctor would do after removing an organ, for example, through an incision. That may be part of it, but I believe this verse is talking also of the filling in of the void where the rib once was. Though the void doesn’t seem to be present, the body still remembers and must compensate for its missing member, ever desiring to be reunited. Also the rib that has since been transformed into the body of woman yearns to be returned to the body from which it once was taken. To put it another way, God made us whole in the presence of our individual lack, so in turn we may be made complete through the participation in community.
When God presented the woman (Eve) to Adam, he said “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”, this is that reunion of the flesh and bone, the refilling of the individual lack through relational means. This is the first marriage in the history of humankind. Adam had to give up his rib as a dowry, so that he may be united with Eve.
In our Image and likeness
It seems that every time I read Genesis 1.26-27, it felt odd the way it is so repetitive. I never really thought twice about it though, until I realized that in those two verses, there are four very unique and distinct statements. Looking at them, they seem a lot like the beginning of a geometric proof.
· Let Us make man (humankind) in Our Image, according to our likeness. (v.26)
· God created man (humankind) in His own image. (v.27)
· In the image of God He created him.
· Male and female, He created them.
When I read the first statement, “Let Us make man…” I see a picture of God having a meeting with the other members of the Trinity where He is revealing the next step in his grand design of creation. It is not so much a statement of action, but one of intent.
Each one of these statements seems to have its focus on what God Himself is saying or what He is doing, yet in verse 1.26 He says “Let Us make man in Our Image, according to Our likeness.” Though it seems, by the context of 1.27, that God (the Father) alone was doing the creating, 1.26 says otherwise. Thinking back to the illustration of the spoken word, God was the one who spoke to His creation and through His spoken word brought it into existence. Yet the very act of speaking implies an effort by all three members of the Trinity. God spoke the word, Christ was the word being spoken; relaying the very heart and image of He who was speaking (Matthew 15.18) and the Holy Spirit is the breath that carries the word, giving it power and making it of effect.
In “My Utmost for His Highest”, Oswald Chambers makes an invaluable comparison between individuality and personality. Simply put, individuality is that which separates us from the rest of humanity while personality is the realization of our own personal gifts in light of the whole. The flesh says that it is good to have our own individuality, being our own person and not conforming to society, but when you think about it, this separation is isolation, sin and death. Personality, on the other hand, is being the proverbial “cog in the corporate machine”. That cog has taken on some negative connotations and is largely looked down upon, yet it plays a very important role in the functioning of the machine as a whole. Only when it realizes the role it is meant to play and accepts that role does it know its true place and understands the meaning of its existence. Also, when it starts to function as it was meant to function, it is able to work as part of the machine instead of in opposition to it. In much the same way, when God starts to move the other members of the Trinity work in unison with His moving, and through their combined efforts His will is accomplished.
Now let’s look at the last three statements. These are very similar in appearance, but in their minute differences, they speak volumes. In verse 27 it says that “God created humankind in His own image”. This seems to be a blanket statement. In a general sense, all of humanity was created in His image. Now if we go on we see that “In the image of God He created him.” This statement goes a step further than “humankind” being created in His image and states that more specifically “man” was created in His image. So man, in a greater sense, was created more in Gods image than woman was. Then the statement “Male and female, He created them” reemphasizes and points back to His creating man in His image and poses a more interesting question “What does that say about woman?”
If all of humankind was created in God’s image and more specifically man was created in the image of God, then what about verse 26 where it says “let Us make humankind in Our image, according to Our likeness”? To answer that, we should first ask what it means to be created in the image of God.
In Genesis 2.7 we see that “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the Breath of Life; and man became a living being.” The act of God forming man out of the dust of the ground is no different than when in verse 2.19 “Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air.” The difference lies in the breath of life that was breathed into his nostrils. That is what gave Him life.
What we are talking about is the difference between power and authority. God is a god of order. When He created man out of the dust of the ground He was giving that dust the authority to live and the standards by which that dust must abide. The problem is that authority without power is dead. The Breath of Life was the act of giving the dust the power that was needed for it to live up to the authority in which it was given. At the same time, in order for the dust to live up to the potential that was bound to the authority bestowed, it had to both stay within the boundaries connected to that authority and work hand in hand and live in relationship with the power of the Breath of Life.
Let’s look at this in a different light. God is love (1 John 4.8). If God is truly love, then His authority is His capacity for love and the standards in which that love may exist. When God created humankind in His image, He gave them the same capacity to love and an understanding of His standards by which we may share in His love. Furthermore, God created man in His image and in this He bestowed upon man a limited authority to define what he saw love as being. Of course this authority has to exist within the bounds of Gods authority. This authority is what we would term “free-will”. The Holy Spirit on the other hand is the source of all power, the Breath of Live, the only one able to fulfill the depths of Gods capacity to love, yet She still respects and lives under Gods authority. The relationship held by God and the Holy Spirit is that of a “covenantal relationship” or marriage.
You may ask, isn’t this a rather one-sided relationship with God determining what love is and isn’t, and the Holy Spirit simply trying to fulfill His desires? As Gregory Boyd states in his book Repenting of Religion, “Love (agape)…is the act of unconditionally ascribing worth to another at a cost to oneself.” In other words, love is a choice. One can either choose to live under authority or try to set their own standards outside of that authority. They can accept the richness of the love that God has to offer or let their emotions or self will dictate the standards that love may take. I believe that part of the reason in Colossians 3.19 Paul says “husbands, love your wives”, is to remind us that a love relationship takes into account the needs of all parties in the relationship.
As I am writing this, I find myself being brought back to a time in my past, long buried in the recesses of my mind. Back in the early 90’s I spent a year and a half going to school at the University of South Dakota. I ended up dropping out because I overextended myself with school and everything attached to it, trying to hold a relationship and also have somewhat of a personal life. While I was there, I got my girlfriend at the time pregnant. For the first couple weeks after finding out, nothing was really said about it. Once we got over the initial shock and we finally sat down to talk, she told me that she planned to have an abortion. Thinking back, I realize that the main motive governing her decision was fear. Of course, I couldn’t see that because I was feeling the same fear. Needless to say, she ended up getting the abortion. At the time, the thing that affected me most wasn’t the abortion, the reality of that struck later, but instead that she was unwilling to include me in the decision making process. My insecurities took that as a lack of trust which in turn festered and lead to the destruction of our relationship. No matter how hard we try, where there is un-forgiveness, we can never keep it hidden. It will always make an appearance in one form or another. In the end, I was able to forgive her and eventually myself, though it took a while. It is never easy to come to grips with the fact that you had a part in the death of your child, but even after that, God was gracious enough to bless me with a beautiful son.
Let’s go back to the relationship between God and the Holy Spirit. God is the authority, the standard by which the relationship is measured, the capacity to be loved, always making provision for those He loves. He is the great provider. The Holy Spirit is the power and the fulfilling of that love. She always works within the authority of God, but like un-forgiveness, real love will always grow and always needing a way to express itself. Out of the culmination of their love for each other came Christ Jesus. He was that love being directly manifested. Christ was the next generation through which God the Father and the Holy Spirit could further exhibit their love in their exclusively unique way.
Christ as the Son of God and the Holy Spirit would have been under the protection, authority and guidance of God His father, while being nurtured and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Can you imagine what it would be like to have God as your Father and the Holy Spirit as your mother? When we accept Christ into our lives, through our relationship with Him, we are in fact born of the Spirit. We have a spiritual rebirth into the family of God. We become children of God, which means that like Christ and through Christ, God is our father and the Holy Spirit is our mother. God becomes our provider and protector and the Holy Spirit is there to continually love, guide and empower us so that we may truly live. It is not possible to have greater teachers or role models than this.
Christ seeing the relationship between the Father and the Holy Spirit would at some point have to realize that He, in a sense, was alone and didn’t have a mate like His Father. “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father Do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5.19) God being the provider He is, would have had to see that it was time to find (or more accurately, create) His son a helper, like the Holy Spirit was His helper.
In pretty well every culture, the real sign of adulthood is the taking upon oneself the responsibility that was once left in the hands of their parents. It is walking in you’re parents footsteps. We become our own authority the day we leave our parents house. We become our own limited family and until we take upon ourselves a helper, mate and spouse, we must be both our own authority and the strength to live up to it. In reality, we have no authority outside of ourselves, we have no accountability, we are alone, naked and wandering in the wilderness. We are naked in the sense that we don’t have that covering of authority.
24 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”
Genesis 2.24-25
These two verses at first glance seem to be a single, related thought. When you look a little closer, you should notice that they may be similar, but the contexts are on opposite sides of the spectrum. Verse 24 is a blanket statement, while 25 is specifically in reference to Adam and Eve.
It was a Hebrew custom that the only reason to leave the covering of your fathers’ house was to be joined in marriage. Even then, in preparation for that marriage the bridegroom would prepare a room off of the fathers’ house, where the newlywed family would return to live. By doing this, the new family would be able to live under the authority of the bridegroom’s father during the process of building their relationship and further establishing each of their roles within the family.
In 1 Corinthians 7.8-9, Paul says “But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; but if they cannot exercise self control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” It can pretty well be assumed that when Paul refers to not being able to “exercise self control”, he is talking sexually. This verse can also be looked at through the larger spectrum of not being able to let God be your authority and the standard by which you live. In that case, it is best to remarry. Likewise, if a man doesn’t have the strength to be accountable to God, then he should be married. The point isn’t whether we should be married or not, but instead that if you can’t live singly with God as your one and only source, then you need to be in life-giving relationships that would help set the structure and empower you to live in right relationship with God. In humankind’s fallen state, marriage between man and woman become a point of grace; grace being a stepping stone from that fallen state into a right relationship with God. Now let’s look at Genesis 2.25. Adam and Eve lived under God’s authority and were naked and not ashamed, because they were not under each others rule. They were not judge over each other, but instead let God have that place, His rightful place, in their lives. In essence, they saw themselves as being equal and did not see their nakedness.
.
.
.
MrI.
Post Edited (MrIndifference) : 10/20/2005 1:34:26 PM (GMT-5)