Perfect Community
One Christian doctrine that sets it apart from other religions is that of the Trinity. The idea here is that there is one God that is made up of three Persons--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are each distinct, with their own characteristics, but also unified as one. An analogy I've heard to explain it is the three parts of the egg--the white, the yolk, and the shell, and how they are each separate, but they all come together to make just one egg.
One consequence of this is that God has as a fundamental characteristic the value, desire, and even need for community. But that need is fulfilled within Himself, since He, in His very essence, is Three. When John writes, "God is love" (1 John 4:8b), he hints at this idea, since one cannot love without something to love.
And as so very often happens where there is love, the love overflows:
At first, humanity and God spent time together in the garden, but it was not long before humanity broke that relationship. Not only did we break the boundaries that God put in place for us, but we tried to hide our actions, and pushed the blame on others.
Such actions would put a strain on any relationship. But still, God longed to be with His people:
"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing." (Matthew 23:37 NIV)
So God created a covenant with the people of Israel, as a way for them to interact with Himself. He had them build a temple, and His presence dwelt in a room of that temple called the Holy of Holies. At the entrance to this room, there was a curtain separating it from the Holy Place--experts estimate the curtain was around 60 feet (18 meters, or over 5 storeys) tall and 4 inches (10 cm) thick. This room could only be entered once a year, on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and only by the High Priest, to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people.
But this was only an imperfect solution, a temporary solution that needed to be repeated over and over, year after year. After all, how can the blood of animals heal a broken relationship?
How can a perfect God be in community with an imperfect people? I sometimes think of it as oil and water--two things that just won't mix--but that's not quite it. It's not that we can't mix, it's just that it's not a good idea. So then I think it might be like mixing pure water with dirty water. You can, but, once you do that, all of the water is dirty. But it's not like that, either, like we could ruin God. Rather, I think that it is dangerous for us to be with God--like flying too close to the sun.
When Moses asks to see God's glory, God replies:
“But [...] you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” (Exodus 33: 20 NIV)
When the prophet Isaiah has a vision of Heaven, he cries out:
"Woe to me! [...] I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty." (Isaiah 6:5 NIV)
This is where Easter comes in:
"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." (Hebrews 6:19-20 NIV)
When I left off the Easter story last week, Judas had just slipped away to betray Jesus, but Jesus and the rest of the disciples went to the Mount of Olives to pray. Well, Jesus went to pray; the disciples fell asleep.
What did Jesus pray for? Among other things, He prayed for restored community, both with each other and with God:
“I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." (John 17: 20-23 NIV)
Judas soon showed up, Jesus was arrested and put on trial, and the crowds demanded that He be crucified--the method of execution that the word excruciating comes from. But, as Jesus died, an amazing thing happened.
"It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.' When he had said this, he breathed his last." (Luke 23: 44-46)
The curtain of the temple--60 feet tall and 4 inches thick--tore in two. The presence of God was no longer confined to a room that only the High Priest could enter.
"Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?" (1 Corinthians 3: 16 NIV)
But the story does not end there! On the third day--Sunday morning--Jesus rose from the dead. By His death and resurrection, Jesus was able to heal the divide between God and man.
The doctrine of the Trinity might seem like some irrelevant theology, but it was necessary for this to work, especially the nature of the Son, Jesus.
First, it was necessary that Jesus, the final sacrifice, be perfect, blameless, pure. In order for Him to defeat death, He must be God, the source of life. Thus, Jesus must be fully God.
"Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever." (Hebrews 7:23-28 NIV)
But also, in order to be a bridge between us and God, in order to heal that divide, He also needed to be fully human. How could he intercede on our behalf if He was not one of us?
"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." (Hebrews 2: 14-18 NIV)
So there it is--another paradox--a God that is fully human, a human that is fully God. A single entity that is three, three Persons that are One.
One consequence of this is that God has as a fundamental characteristic the value, desire, and even need for community. But that need is fulfilled within Himself, since He, in His very essence, is Three. When John writes, "God is love" (1 John 4:8b), he hints at this idea, since one cannot love without something to love.
And as so very often happens where there is love, the love overflows:
"Then God said, 'Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.' So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1: 26-27 NRSV)
I believe that part of what it means to be created in the image of God means that we desire, long for, and even need community. Yes, there are introverts--but even the most introverted of introverts gets lonely sometimes and needs human company from time to time. At first, humanity and God spent time together in the garden, but it was not long before humanity broke that relationship. Not only did we break the boundaries that God put in place for us, but we tried to hide our actions, and pushed the blame on others.
Such actions would put a strain on any relationship. But still, God longed to be with His people:
"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing." (Matthew 23:37 NIV)
So God created a covenant with the people of Israel, as a way for them to interact with Himself. He had them build a temple, and His presence dwelt in a room of that temple called the Holy of Holies. At the entrance to this room, there was a curtain separating it from the Holy Place--experts estimate the curtain was around 60 feet (18 meters, or over 5 storeys) tall and 4 inches (10 cm) thick. This room could only be entered once a year, on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and only by the High Priest, to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people.
But this was only an imperfect solution, a temporary solution that needed to be repeated over and over, year after year. After all, how can the blood of animals heal a broken relationship?
How can a perfect God be in community with an imperfect people? I sometimes think of it as oil and water--two things that just won't mix--but that's not quite it. It's not that we can't mix, it's just that it's not a good idea. So then I think it might be like mixing pure water with dirty water. You can, but, once you do that, all of the water is dirty. But it's not like that, either, like we could ruin God. Rather, I think that it is dangerous for us to be with God--like flying too close to the sun.
When Moses asks to see God's glory, God replies:
“But [...] you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” (Exodus 33: 20 NIV)
When the prophet Isaiah has a vision of Heaven, he cries out:
"Woe to me! [...] I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty." (Isaiah 6:5 NIV)
This is where Easter comes in:
"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." (Hebrews 6:19-20 NIV)
When I left off the Easter story last week, Judas had just slipped away to betray Jesus, but Jesus and the rest of the disciples went to the Mount of Olives to pray. Well, Jesus went to pray; the disciples fell asleep.
What did Jesus pray for? Among other things, He prayed for restored community, both with each other and with God:
“I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." (John 17: 20-23 NIV)
Judas soon showed up, Jesus was arrested and put on trial, and the crowds demanded that He be crucified--the method of execution that the word excruciating comes from. But, as Jesus died, an amazing thing happened.
"It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.' When he had said this, he breathed his last." (Luke 23: 44-46)
The curtain of the temple--60 feet tall and 4 inches thick--tore in two. The presence of God was no longer confined to a room that only the High Priest could enter.
"Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?" (1 Corinthians 3: 16 NIV)
But the story does not end there! On the third day--Sunday morning--Jesus rose from the dead. By His death and resurrection, Jesus was able to heal the divide between God and man.
The doctrine of the Trinity might seem like some irrelevant theology, but it was necessary for this to work, especially the nature of the Son, Jesus.
First, it was necessary that Jesus, the final sacrifice, be perfect, blameless, pure. In order for Him to defeat death, He must be God, the source of life. Thus, Jesus must be fully God.
"Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever." (Hebrews 7:23-28 NIV)
But also, in order to be a bridge between us and God, in order to heal that divide, He also needed to be fully human. How could he intercede on our behalf if He was not one of us?
"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." (Hebrews 2: 14-18 NIV)
So there it is--another paradox--a God that is fully human, a human that is fully God. A single entity that is three, three Persons that are One.
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