Unfortunately, most people don't think that the doctrine of the Trinity is practical. That couldn't be further from the truth. Enjoy this excerpt from A. Craig Troxel's article "Communion with the Triune God."
"Communion with God is an intimate, mutual, covenantal bond between God and his people. The biblical word for "communion" (koinonia) refers to participation in a fellowship or association in which one shares or enjoys things in common with others. It conjures up such ideas as intimacy, familiarity, or closely walking with someone else in a close and trusted alliance. So, with respect to God, communion or fellowship suggests that we walk with God as friends, truly knowing him. This is not merely knowing things about God or knowing what the Bible teaches concerning him, but knowing God as a person. And, as in any friendship, this means listening and speaking, loving and longing, and striving and drawing closer together.
Of course, such communion is impossible between God and sinful humankind. Our race has fallen from the original innocent state in which we were created and is now marked by sin and misery. How can a sinful people commune with a holy God? "What fellowship has light with darkness?" (2 Cor. 6:14). The Bible teaches that in this state people cannot worship God aright, have no regard for what God says, and do not seek after God or his intimate friendship. Rather, fallen creatures seek to distance themselves from God in a relationship of enmity and conflict (Rom. 8:7; Eph. 2:3). The breach between humankind and its Creator is so wide that it cannot be bridged–at least not by us.
But, by God's grace, what is impossible for man is possible with God. God has powerfully summoned us by the Holy Spirit, regenerated us, and enabled us to embrace Jesus Christ by faith as our Savior. Through our union with Christ in his death and resurrection, we stand before God in peace and in right relationship. Every barrier that once stood between God and us is now cast down by Christ. He has taken those who were covenant enemies and made them covenant friends. He has taken those who were far away and brought them near.
More than this, God invites us to draw ever nearer to him through Christ by the Holy Spirit and the means of grace (prayer, the Word of God, and the sacraments). And as we draw closer to him we are increasingly molded and renewed after the image of God in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, so that we mirror our God more and more, love what God loves, hate what God hates, and pursue what he commends.
Yet now that we see how this communion has been make possible, how is it lived out in actuality? What does it mean to have communion with God in three persons?"
More to come...
No comments:
Post a Comment