May 12 I Friday

2 Kings 15-16

John 3:1-18

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”     —1 John 4:7-8

How does knowing the Trinity affect how we live as Christians? There are at least two vital truths we can deduce from the doctrine of the Trinity given that we are created in the image of the Triune God.

       Firstly, just as the Trinity exists in relationship, we were made for relationship. When God created the world, He said each day that what He had created was “good;” that is, until the last day, when it was “very good.” Yet, upon closer examination of the creation of man, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone...” (Genesis 2:18), and thus He made a woman. Having been created in the image of God, part of being “good” is that it is “not good” for us to be alone. If we are not living in wholesome relationships, we are not satisfied as people because we were created for relationships, and the mutual interdependence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is to be expressed in our interdependence on God and others.

       Secondly, we were made to love and to be loved because God is love and loving. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit were in a love relationship with each other before they ever created the world. As Jesus tells us, “Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see My glory, the glory You have given Me because You loved Me before the creation of the world” (John 17:24). Some people say that God created humans because He needed someone to love, but God has no need inherent within Himself. Before the creation of the world, the Father was in love with the Son, the Son was in love with the Father, the Father was in love with the Spirit, the Spirit was in love with the Father, the Spirit was in love with the Son, and the Son was in love with the Spirit. There was a love relationship within the Trinity.

       The practical consequences of God being Trinity is that we were made in His image for relationship and we were made to love and to be loved. This is not something we need to fight or overcome because this is how we were created: to love God with all our heart, soul and mind, and to love our neighbours as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39). We are created for relationship and love—not just in the romantic sense—and it is something we should embrace as a reflection of the Trinity.

Prayer: Lord God, thank You for teaching me that I am made for relationship and love as the Trinity embodies these concepts. May You grow my relationship with and love for others.