The Holy Trinity 'n Me!

In the early mornings I have beside me my Bible and a pile of chosen works by chosen disciples who have gone before, Charles Spurgeon being one of my very favorites.  No, I’ll admit it; my favorite.  He was a remarkable servant of God on so many levels.  His humility, his perseverance despite steep personal obstacles in his life, and his depth of Biblical knowledge, remind me very much of the character and gifts of the apostle Paul.  Critically important, he was a champion of the importance of solid biblical doctrine.  But it was his passion for Jesus Christ – for the cross of Jesus Christ – that pervaded every one of his sermons and every single piece of his writing that, in my view, puts him in the highest tier in the Heroes-of-the-Faith Hall of Fame.  His influence for the gospel of Jesus Christ worldwide -  not only during his time on the earth but continuing to this day (extending to wee people like me!) - is evidence of the unmistakable supernatural nature of the work of one who wholeheartedly embraced the special call of God on his life.  (That, alone, should encourage all of us who endeavor to live our lives in the same way!) 

Given that, among my pool of morning resources to choose from are several of his books, a collection of all of his sermons, and for smaller morsels to chew on and savor, his daily devotionals Chequebook of the Bank of Faith and Morning & Evening.    

In Chequebook, April 12, his entry began with the text:

“For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”  Jeremiah 31:34

I didn’t read any further.  I began to think, ponder, meditate, muse on that truth; slowly chewing, tasting, savoring.  Don’t you find it remarkable that God, who knows everything – absolutely everything and all the time – describes Himself as not remembering our sin! 

How can that be!?

 God surely knows everything about our sin, but it would seem He doesn’t remember our sin so as to allow it to offend Him any longer, to break His heart any longer, to incite His anger against us, or to keep us from His friendly, cheerful, and enlightening company.  He does not hold our sin against us.  Even though He is spotless, holy, perfect, and pure, and we are naturally given to sin – from our thoughts to our words to our actions – He is willing to live with us on a daily basis while we are here on the earth in perfect harmony and later to gather us into His arms for all eternity. 

This is all on His side, and every Person of the Holy Trinity that make up “God” plays a critical role in this “Divine Amnesia;” forgetting our sin when it comes to eternal consequence or vengeance while at the same time leading us out of sin on a gradual basis as we mature in the faith through that gradual, freeing process called “sanctification.” 

It is vital that God not hold our sin against us, because our relationship with Him is based solely on just that:  Jesus died on the cross paying for my sins, then I humbly and gratefully receive His sacrifice so that when the Father looks at my soul, He sees the purity of Christ’s soul, and we – God and I – can live in harmony.  However, it is equally important for the purposes of God in His children that He be keenly aware of our sin, which sins each of us tend to gravitate to more easily, and, then, that He provide us with the power to overcome sin practically in the day to day and to gradually become more and more like Christ in our nature and character. 

Now, you will probably agree with me that wrapping our heads around the concept of one person being three people is one of those God-concepts that can make your head feel really funny as you think about it!  Similar to “God has always been and will always be; He had no beginning or end.”  “But where did He come from?”  “How did God get to be God in the first place?”  “Oh!  There was no ‘first place.’”  

If you will, for the moment think of it this way.  I ask you to think of it “this way” because the three Persons of the Holy Trinity are inseparable, but when it comes to how God interacts with us, this is how I see this topic; at least how I sort it out in my mind to make sense of it. 

To lay the groundwork by means of review, please bear with me:

God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit lived in harmony with Adam and Eve - the first created humans not born from other humans but created by God out of soil from the earth – until Adam and Eve sinned.  Until that fateful moment, they could enjoy one another’s company (the created humans and God the Creator) because they were all “perfect,” “holy,” “without sin.”  God was their Father, and they lived in joyful, vibrant, intelligent community together.  They talked with each other as friends do.  I can picture God basking in their admiration of all of the plants, foods, animals He had made; talking about what He was thinking when He designed this particular species or another.  I can imagine Adam using his gigantic intellect talking with God as he named all of the animals. 

As an aside…

Remember, at this point the human brain was not influenced by sin and so it was immortal when it comes to “health.”  Think of the greatest geniuses throughout history and multiply their genius over and over again when contemplating the brain power of the first created humans before the ruin of sin that would ultimately lead to sickness and dying and death! 

God, the Father, to the rescue!

The fall of man changed everything.  Instantly, upon eating the forbidden fruit, innocence was gone, man became innately sinful, and long strolls with God in the garden were no longer possible.  Why?  Because God can’t “hang out” with evil, and sin is evil.  God – our Father – immediately conceived the most preposterous solution by figuring out a way to pay the price of man’s sin all by Himself.  And that plan would – at excruciating pain to Himself – involve…

God, the Son, to the rescue!

Remember that the “Son” part of the Trinity, who was thousands of years later to appear on the earth as a human – Jesus Christ – was actually the part of the Trinity bringing to fruition the acts of creation, and not just the creation of the earth and mankind but the creation of angels and the hierarchy of spiritual beings – absolutely everything!  The apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Colossians:

“For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created through Him and for Him.  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”  Col 1:15-16

God offered His Son to live a life as a man – but sinlessly – on earth so that, as a man, He could offer up Himself as the only possible spotless sacrifice for the sins of all the people who have ever lived and sinned:  all of us.  Until He accomplished this on the cross and then defeated death by coming back to life, God the Father instituted the sacrificial system looking forward to the ultimate and final – “It is finished” – atonement for sin on the cross by Jesus Christ, God the Son.

Remember that as soon as Adam and Eve sinned they became aware of their nakedness and were uncomfortable with it!  God – the Father – provided clothing of skins that came by the killing of an animal, because “without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.”  (Hebrews 9:22).

God, the Holy Spirit, to the rescue!

When a person first understands the gospel of Jesus Christ and receives it for himself,

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life,” (John 3:16),

…the relief is overwhelming and beyond amazing!  It's like being born again! No, wait, we have it on good authority, it IS being born again!

“My sins are forgiven?”  “God isn’t angry with me?”  “God loves me and is taking care of me?”  “I am going to live forever and ever and ever with Him?”  I do not have to be afraid of death?”

But then, there's "the rub.”  The sinful nature is still present within.  Thankfully, God doesn’t save us and then leave us on our own to “try to do better.”  While sin is no longer our driving force, and we are no longer its slave, we are still sinful, and we will always be sinful until we – again, in the words of Hamlet – “have shuffled off this mortal coil.”  

The Holy Spirit:  God as our Savior from Ourselves

And this is where God the Holy Spirit comes in – God as our Savior from ourselves!  The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit comes to reside within the regenerated believer at the moment of salvation.  Jesus spoke of Him to His disciples as “the Comforter.”  (John 14:16)  He also said that when the Holy Spirit took over after His departure from the earth that He would “convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.”  (John 16:8).  It is the Holy Spirit who first makes us aware that we are guilty before God in the first place, and when it comes to the believer, the Holy Spirit – Who lives inside us! – is there to check us when we sin.  He works within our spirit and our conscience to steer us in a holy direction, a righteous path; a path we would be incapable of walking without His supernatural help moment by moment by moment. 

It is God the Holy Spirit who constantly prompts us within our spirits to love and adore the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father - Jesus said "He shall glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and give it to you." (John 16:14) 

It is God the Holy Spirit who fills us with “joy and peace in the Holy Ghost,” (Rom 14:17), and it is God the Holy Spirit who – even when we stray into depths of sin when we should know better – doesn’t let us go and brings us back into a right relationship with God the Father, doing whatever He knows will work best for us and to the glory of God the Father and Jesus Christ, the Son.

It is God the Holy Spirit living in us that makes us pure and holy and righteous and spotless in the sight of God the Father through the sacrifice of God the Son!  AND… here’s something I’ve thought about as quite remarkable lately: 

When the Holy Spirit lives in me, Jesus Christ the Son lives in me, and the Father lives in me!  (chew on THAT one for a while!) Jesus said:

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (John 14:23). 

I mean, I’ve known intellectually that the full Godhead dwells in me through the Holy Spirit, but I love picturing it this way.  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are always inside me!  Wherever I go, whatever is going on, They are constantly INSIDE me! Not just in the room I'm in with me, not just in my car with me, but deep inside the depths of my very being. Always. 

I mean, we lift our eyes to heaven and pray, because God is in heaven, and we love to think of Him in all His majesty being adored in the heavens and receiving all of our worship from earth as sweet incense, and all of that is true, but He is also right here within my frame and person!  That is too wonderful to imagine, but it is true.  This is why God said be careful how you treat your body, because it is a temple.  A temple is where God dwells; the literal, flesh and blood bodies of the redeemed contain – if you will – the Uncontainable - the Shekinah Glory itself! 

The Result of all this Trinity Action?  Enjoying the Peaceable Fruit of Righteousness - "Ahhh......"

The process by which the Holy Spirit matures us in our faith and walk is called in the Bible “sanctification.”  It involves a Father’s loving discipline to keep us safe from our chief enemies; “the lust of the world, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life” (I John 2:16).  The writer of Hebrews wisely observed “no discipline for the moment is joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them who are exercised thereby.”  (Heb 12:11) 

Not only does the Holy Spirit use discipline in our lives, but He also takes the trials of our lives and molds and shapes us through them.  Some of our trials stem from our unwise choices and behaviors, and others are a predictable part of life on this fallen planet living in mortal bodies that are subject to sickness, trauma, and ultimately death.

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all." Psalm 34:19

And Jesus Christ said Himself that in the world we would have tribulation but to be of good cheer, because He has overcome the world.  (John 16:33)

The apostle Paul chimes in on the topic in Romans 8, assuring us that “All things work together for good to them that love God; to them that have been called according to His purpose.”  (Rom 8:28) 

But the Holy Spirit Speaks to Us Most Clearly Through the Bible

As we live day by day with the Holy Trinity inside of us – think of it! – we are being slowly changed into the image of Jesus Christ.  We must join in and participate for optimal result, however!  The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God within us to change us from the inside out.  In fact, the Word of God is described as His sword in Ephesians chapter 6 which describes the believer's spiritual armor.

Here are some key ways we can help the Holy Spirit help us to grow in grace, freedom, and power: 

·       Immerse ourselves in God’s Word – there is no substitute for just reading out of the Bible, then thinking, meditating on Scripture, asking the Holy Spirit to give illumination and help us apply it as He intends in that moment and as we reflect on its broader applications. Then systematically study the Word of God. Don't stick with your favorite cozy, comforting Psalms. Those certainly have their place, but I've been inspired and tutored reading endless genealogies and listing of temple items! Don't skip the "tough stuff;" it all has its place, and it is ALL usable by the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our understanding and ultimately in our sanctification and service to Him. And along those lines...

·       Bring ourselves under sound teaching.  Avail yourself of excellent teaching through the work of others whether authors, preachers, teachers, etc., just be sure that those you choose are solid in biblical doctrine.  Study the Bible like a scholar, get to know biblical history.  There are so many excellent resources.  Whether you are studying the Bible “as a scholar” – like the Bereans – or savoring some portion of scripture in worship, praise, or pleading, it is the living Word of God, and the Holy Spirit will use it within you to teach you, to guide you, and to change you from glory to glory into the image of Jesus Christ

·       Keep company with other believers, studying the Word together and praying for each other, worshipping the Lord together, speaking together of His wonders, etc. 

·       Listen to Him the first time!  Right?  How often we don’t!  Ugh!  When sin and temptation present, allow His check, and do not resist it.  It is the rod and the staff that bring us comfort and keep us out of trouble, safely on the path of pleasing Him, loving Him, and enjoying Him forever! 

“Holy, Holy, Holy – God in THREE persons, blessed Trinity!” 

This is absolutely beautiful - enjoy!