OTHER THAN JOHN 3:16 AND THE 23RD PSALM, WE HAVE PAUL CONCLUDING HIS SECOND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS WITH SOME OF THE MOST QUOTED WORDS IN ALL OF SCRIPTURE. IT IS ALSO THE ONLY PLACE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT WHERE GOD THE FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT ARE CLEARLY MENTIONED TOGETHER IN SUCH A BLESSING.
THIS BLESSING HAS BECOME OUR “MARCHING ORDERS” AND OUR AUTHORIZATION TO GO OUT INTO THE WORLD PROCLAIMING THE LOVE OF GOD IN THREE PERSONS: THE UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, FROM GOD THE FATHER, SACRIFICIAL LOVE IN GOD THE SON, JESUS CHRIST, THAT IS EMPOWERED AND MADE CAPABLE BY GOD, THE HOLY SPIRIT.
THE TRINITY! THIS HOLY UNION IS A BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY THAT HAS BEEN THE VERY ROOT OF THE CHURCH’S LIVING FAITH. WE ARE BAPTIZED IN THE NAME OF THE TRINITY. WE CONFESS OUR BELIEF IN THE TRINITY IN BOTH SACRAMENTS AND OUR CREEDS.
OUR DENOMINATION, THE FREE METHODIST CHURCH, IN OUR ARTICLES OF RELIGION OF THE 2015 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, STATES THIS: “THERE IS BUT ONE LIVING AND TRUE GOD, THE MAKER AND PRESERVER OF ALL THINGS. AND IN THE UNITY OF THIS GODHEAD THERE ARE THREE PERSONS: THE FATHER, THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. THESE THREE ARE ONE IN ETERNITY, DEITY AND PURPOSE; EVERLASTING OF INFINITE POWER, WISDOM AND GOODNESS.”
AS SIMPLISTIC AS WE CAN POSSIBLY SAY IT: GOD REVEALS HIMSELF TO US AS ONE GOD, BUT IN THREE DISTINCT WAYS: FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT. THESE ARE ALL DISTINCT BUT INSEPARABLE NATURES OF GOD.
INSTEAD OF TRYING TO FIGURE IT ALL OUT, WE CAN, BY FAITH, ACCEPT IT AS TRUE AND THEN PRAISE GOD FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THESE WAYS THAT HE REVELS HIMSELF TO US.
THE REASON WE CHOOSE TO PRAISE GOD FOR HIS REVELATION IS BECAUSE, AS AUGUSTINE STATED, "IS NOT BECAUSE WE CAN SAY SOMETHING ADEQUATELY ABOUT IT, BUT RATHER BECAUSE, IN THE ABSENCE OF ADEQUATE SPEECH, WE MUST SAY SOMETHING!"
SOMETIMES, IN THE ABSENCE OF FULL UNDERSTANDING AND THE INABILITY TO TRULY FATHOM GOD’S MYSTERY, THE ONLY THING WE CAN DO IS STOP TRYING TO REASON WITH FACTS AND CONCEPTS, AND JUST DECIDE TO ACCEPT IT BY ACTS OF PRAISE TO OUR TRIUNE GOD AS FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT.
SO, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? THAT MEANS, GOD, AS THE FATHER, WE PRAISE HIM THAT HE IS NOT ONLY OUR LOVING FATHER, BUT THE ONE TRUE, HOLY AND LIVING GOD ABOVE ALL OTHER GODS. PSALM 96:4-5 “GREAT IS THE LORD! HE IS MOST WORTHY OF PRAISE! HE IS TO BE FEARED ABOVE ALL GODS. THE GODS OF OTHER NATIONS ARE MERE IDOLS….”
WE PRAISE HIM BECAUSE HE IS OUR CREATOR, KING, LORD, JUDGE, REDEEMER, SHEPHERD AND THE PRESERVER OF ALL THINGS. WE PRAISE HIM THAT HIS LOVE, POWER, WISDOM, AND JUSTICE IS DISPLAYED THROUGHOUT ALL OF HIS CREATION.
MOST OF ALL, WE PRAISE HIM FOR RECONCILING US THROUGH HIS LOVE AND GRACE BY THE BLOOD OF HIS SON JESUS. HE DID THIS SO THAT WE COULD LIVE AT PEACE WITH HIM. ROMANS 5:8, “BUT GOD DEMONSTRATES HIS OWN LOVE FOR US IN THIS: WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US.”
2 CORINTHIANS 5:19, “FOR GOD WAS IN CHRIST, RECONCILING THE WORLD TO HIMSELF, NO LONGER COUNTING PEOPLE’S SINS AGAINST THEM. AND HE GAVE US THIS WONDERFUL MESSAGE OF RECONCILIATION.” ALL OF THESE THINGS, AND SO MUCH MORE, ARE WORTHY OF PRAISE AS GOD THE FATHER!
AS THE SON, JESUS CHRIST, WE CAN PRAISE GOD FOR HIS WILLINGNESS TO BE “GOD IN THE FLESH” BY JOINING TOGETHER THE DEITY OF GOD WITH THE HUMANITY OF HUMANKIND. HE WAS BORN OF THE VIRGIN, MARY AND WAS TRULY GOD AND TRULY HUMAN.
HE CAME TO SAVE US. THROUGH OBEDIENCE, HE LIVED AS A SERVANT TO SUFFER AND DIE UPON THE CROSS TO BECOME OUR SAVIOR. HE TRULY POURED OUT HIS LIFE AS A BLAMELESS SACRIFICE FOR OUR SIN AND TRANSGRESSIONS.
PRAISE HIM THAT HE MADE FORGIVENESS, RECONCILIATION, AND ETERNAL LIFE WITH GOD POSSIBLE BY LAYING DOWN HIS LIFE IN OBEDIENCE TO THE FATHER. WE CAN PRAISE HIM FOR CONQUERING THE GRAVE BY RISING FROM THE DEAD. PRAISE HIM THAT ONE DAY HE WILL COME BACK FOR US AS HE PROMISED.
HE SAID, IN JOHN 14:2-3 “THERE IS MORE THAN ENOUGH ROOM IN MY FATHER’S HOME. IF THIS WERE NOT SO, WOULD I HAVE TOLD YOU THAT I AM GOING TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU? WHEN EVERYTHING IS READY, I WILL COME AND GET YOU, SO THAT YOU WILL ALWAYS BE WITH ME WHERE I AM.”WE PRAISE GOD THE SON, JESUS CHRIST!
AS THE HOLY SPIRIT, WE CAN PRAISE HIM BECAUSE HIS PRESENCE WITH US NEVER ENDS. HE IS THE ONE WHO REVEALS THE WORD OF GOD TO US SO THAT WE CAN BECOME A CHRISTIAN AND ALSO GROW AND BECOME FAITHFUL AND FRUITFUL WITNESSES (ACTS 1:8). HE IS OUR ADVOCATE, PRAYER WARRIOR, CONVICTOR, AND OUR GUIDING CONSCIENCE.
I LIKE WHAT OUR DENOMINATION, THE FREE METHODIST CHURCH SAYS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT! IN OUR 2015 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE IT STATES: “THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE THIRD PERSON OF THE TRINITY. PROCEEDING FROM THE FATHER AND THE SON, HE IS ONE WITH THEM, THE ETERNAL GODHEAD, EQUAL IN DEITY, MAJESTY AND POWER. HE IS GOD EFFECTIVE IN CREATION, IN LIFE AND IN THE CHURCH. THE INCARNATION AND MINISTRY OF JESUS CHRIST WERE ACCOMPLISHED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. HE CONTINUES TO REVEAL, INTERPRET AND GLORIFY THE SON.”
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR GIFT OF PENTECOST WHEN GOD, THE HOLY SPIRIT CAME AND FORMED THE CHURCH. ACTS 2:4, THE HOLY SPIRIT FILLED THE BELIEVERS TO GIVE THEM (AND US) LIFE AND WITNESSING POWER TO ACHIEVE THE COMMON GOOD, BUILD THE CHURCH, SPREAD THE GOSPEL AND TO GLORIFY GOD, THE FATHER.
WE PRAISE GOD, THE HOLY SPIRIT, AS HE IS OUR “KOINONIA” AS HE LAVISHES HIS POWER, AUTHORITY AND FELLOWSHIP UPON THE CHURCH BODY. KOINONIA MEANS “PARTICIPATION” WHICH TELLS US WHEN WE JOIN TOGETHER THROUGH THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE CHURCH IS IN TRUE PARTICIPATION OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE PLAN FOR THIS WORLD. THE HOLY SPIRIT, WORKING THROUGH US, CAN BE INSTRUMENTAL IN HELPING TO COMPLETE THE DIVINE PLAN FOR THE SALVATION OF ALL WHO WILL BELIEVE.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ALSO OUR ADVOCATE AND HELPS US WHEN WE EARNESTLY SEEK GOD IN PRAYER. ROMANS 8:26-27, “IN THE SAME WAY, THE SPIRIT HELPS US IN OUR WEAKNESS. WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT WE OUGHT TO PRAY FOR, BUT THE SPIRIT HIMSELF INTERCEDES FOR US THROUGH WORDLESS GROANS. AND HE WHO SEARCHES OUR HEARTS KNOWS THE MIND OF THE SPIRIT, BECAUSE THE SPIRIT INTERCEDES FOR GOD’S PEOPLE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE WILL OF GOD.”
THIS IS WHY WE JOIN THE PSALMIST IN CRYING OUT, "O LORD, OUR LORD, HOW MAJESTIC IS THY NAME IN ALL THE EARTH" FOR ALL THE POWER, STRENGTH, AUTHORITY, AND GUIDANCE GIVEN TO US THROUGH GOD, THE HOLY SPIRIT. THAT IS WHY WE PRAISE GOD AS HOLY SPIRIT.
LET US ALWAYS RESOUND WITH THE SOUND OF PRAISE FOR GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SON, AND GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE TRINITY, OUR TRIUNE GOD…THE THREE-IN-ONE!
I LIKE THE WORDS FOUND IN THE ANGLICAN CATECHISM WHICH SAYS, "FIRST, I LEARN TO BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER WHO HAS MADE ME AND ALL THE WORLD. SECONDLY, IN GOD THE SON WHO REDEEMS ME, AND ALL HUMANITY. THIRDLY, IN GOD THE HOLY GHOST, WHO SANCTIFIES ME, AND ALL ELECT PEOPLE OF GOD."
THEREFORE, BY FAITH, WE CAN HUMBLY ACCEPT THIS BIBLICAL TRUTH AND GROW IN OUR KNOWLEDGE OF IT. AS JOHN 16:13 ASSURES US, THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL COME AND BE OUR GUIDE TO TEACH US AND TO LEAD US INTO A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THIS WONDERFUL TRUTH ABOUT GOD. SO, WITH THAT, MAY WE ALL PRAISE OUR GOD, THE TRINITY, THREE IN ONE: FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN.
