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Three in unison
Three in Oneness Where the Bible mentions "God" it does not mean a single being, in the sense of an "old man with a long white beard," who is called God. In the Bible, God who created us is recognized as a union of three distinct or "distinct" persons, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The father is not the son and the son is not the father. The Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son. Although they have different personalities, they have the same motives, intentions and love, and possess the same essence and being (1. Moses 1:26; Matthew 28:19, Luke 3,21-22). The three God Persons are so close and so familiar with one another that if we know one person of God, we also know the other persons. This is why Jesus reveals that God is one, and that is what we should have in mind when we say that there is only one God (Mark 12,29). To think that the three persons of God were anything less than one would be to betray the unity and intimacy of God! God is love and that means that God is a being with close relationships (1. John 4,16). Because of this truth about God, God is sometimes called "the Trinity" or "Triune God." Trinity and triune both mean "three in unity." When we utter the word "God," we are always speaking of three distinct persons in unity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3,16-twenty; 178,19). It is similar to how we understand the terms "family" and "team". A "team" or "family" with different but equal people. This does NOT mean that there are three gods, because God is only one God, but three different persons in the ONE essence of God (1. Corinthians 12,4-6; 2. Corinthians 13:14).
Adoption
God the Trinity enjoys such a perfect relationship with one another that they made a decision not to keep this relationship to themselves. She's just too good for that! The Triune God wanted to accept others into his relationship of love so that others would enjoy this life in abundance forever, as a free gift. The purpose of the Triune God to share His joyful life with others was the cause of all creation, and especially the creation of mankind (Psalm 8, Hebrews 2,5-8th!). This is what the New Testament means with the words "adopt" or "adoption" (Galatians 4,4-7; Ephesians 1,3-6; Romans 8,15-17.23). The Triune God intended all of creation to be included in every aspect of God's life! Adoption is God's first and only reason for everything created! Just think of God's good news as Plan "A" where "A" stands for "Adoption"!
incarnation
Because God the Trinity existed before there was what we call creation, God first had to bring creation into existence in order to adopt it. But the question arose: "How could creation and humanity be included in the relationship of the Triune God, unless the Triune God Himself brought creation into that relationship?" After all, if one is not God, one cannot access any wise to become God! Something created CANNOT become something uncreated. In some way the Triune God would have to become and remain a creature (while also remaining God) if God were to permanently bring us into and keep us in His common relationship. This is where the incarnation of Jesus, the God-man, comes into play. God the Son became man - this means that it is not at all up to our own efforts to bring ourselves into a relationship with God. The triune God in His mercy drew the whole of creation into His relationship with Jesus, the Son of God. The only way to bring creation into the relationship of the triune God was for God to humble himself in Jesus and take creation into himself by a voluntary and willing act. This act of the triune God to include us in their relationship through Jesus of his own free will is called "grace" (Ephesians 1,2; 2,4-7; 2. Petrus 3,18). The triune God's plan to become human for our adoption meant that even if we had never sinned, Jesus would have come for us! The three Gods created us to adopt! God did not create us to save us from sin, although God did indeed save us from sin. Jesus Christ is NOT "Plan B" or an afterthought of God. He is not just a band-aid to plaster over our sin problem. The stunning truth is that Jesus was God's first and ONLY thought to bring us into a relationship with God. Jesus is the fulfillment of “Plan A” put in place before the world was created (Ephesians 1,5-6; Revelation 13,8). Jesus came to involve us in the relationship of the Triune God as God planned from the beginning, and nothing, not even our sin, could prevent that plan! We are all saved in Jesus (1. Timothy 4,9-10) because God was intent on fulfilling His plan of adoption! The Triune God established this plan of our adoption in Jesus before we were created, and we are ALREADY God's adopted children (Galatians 4,4-7; Ephesians 1,3-6; Romans 8,15-17.23).
Secret and instruction
This triune God's plan to adopt all creation into a relationship with himself through Jesus was once a mystery no one knew (Colossians 1: 24-29). But after Jesus ascended to heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit of truth to reveal to us this reception and inclusion in God's life (John 16: 5-15). Through the teaching of the Holy Spirit, who has now been poured out on all mankind (Acts of the Apostles 2,17) and through the believers who believe and salute this truth (Ephesians 1,11-14), this mystery is made known all over the world (Colossians 1,3-6)! If this truth is kept secret, we cannot accept it and experience its freedom. Instead, we believe lies and experience all kinds of negative relationship problems (Romans 3: 9-20, Romans 5,12-19!). Only when we learn the truth about ourselves in Jesus do we begin to see how sinful it was not to see Jesus properly in his union with all people around the world4,20; 1. Corinthians 5,14-16; Ephesians 4,6!). God wants everyone to know who he really is and who we are in him (1. Timothy 2,1-8th)! This is the good news of his grace in Jesus (Acts 20:24).
Summary
Given this theology centered on the person of Jesus, it is not our job to "save" people. We want to help them see who Jesus is and who they are in Him right now—God's adopted children! Essentially, we want them to know that in Jesus they already belong to God, and this will encourage them to believe, do right, and be saved!
by Tim Brassell
