The Divine Family
The Divine Family
From eternity, the triune God has existed. Indeed, the self-sufficient Trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit have existed from eternity in their free, mutual self-giving and self-receiving love. Relationship or communion is intrinsic to this “household” (or economy) of divine persons who, though distinct from one another, are inseparably united in other-oriented love. This divine inter-(and inner-) connection of mutuality, openness, and reciprocity has no individualistic competition among the family members but only joy, self-giving love, and transparency. Rather than being some isolated self or solitary ego, God is supremely relational in His self-giving, other-oriented nature. Within God is intimate union as well as distinction, an unbreakable communion of persons. The persons of the Godhead can be distinguished but not separated. God is both community and unity.4
Although some analogies of the Trinity can be problematic (e.g., water's three states, which implies modalism), other analogies may prove more accurate, useful, and illuminating. Consider the mythological three-headed dog Cerberus that guards Hades's gates. Though a single organism (substance), one dog (not three dogs), he has three distinct centers of awareness, each with the same canine nature. (In the world we have comparable analogies in, say, two-headed snakes or even inseparable Siamese twins; in such cases we have distinct centers of awareness within one unified organism.) Likewise, God is one immaterial soul (substance) with three distinct centers of consciousness, rationality, will, and agency (persons) who are deeply and necessarily interconnected, and they share the same unique divine nature.
Because a relational God exists and chooses to create humans in His image, relationality is central to our identity as humans. No wonder the Ten Commandments divide into two tables—our relationship to God and our relationship to fellow human beings. Jesus Himself summarizes our twofold duty: “love the Lord your God” and “love your neighbor” (Mark 12:30–31). We have been made for communion with God first and foremost, but how we regard fellow human beings reflects our spiritual condition (1 John 4:20). We recognize what love is by the model of the self-giving God in Christ (1 John 3:16).
Christians have long pondered the mystery of the Trinity, and we're not here trying to demystify the God whose nature and purposes can't be reduced to tidy formulas or manageable boxes. We should celebrate the unfathomable God, who's under no obligation to human demands to clarify everything about Himself (Deut 29:29). And why think our puny minds could grasp these “secret things” (NASB) anyway?
Paul reminds us that we know partially and lack the clarity about God's nature and ways (1 Cor 13:9; cf. Isa 55:9). “The great things of the gospel” (as theologian Jonathan Edwards put it) are astonishing, but mystery or partial knowledge doesn't imply contradiction. Let's keep this in mind as we consider the divine Trinity.