The
love of God, the same love shared from eternity between the members of the
Trinity, was not just expressed to the world in the giving of God’s Son[1]
but his divine nature of love has “been clearly perceived, ever since the
creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”[2]
All that God has created bears the mark of his infinite divine love. All that
is love originated from the one who is Love. All who love do so because of the
love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in them.[3] In
contemplating this mystery Julian of Norwich (1342-1423) writes;
I
am he, the light and the grace which is all blessed love; I am he, the Trinity;
I am he, the unity; I am he, the great supreme goodness of every kind of thing;
I am he who makes you to love; I am he who makes you to long; I am he, the
endless fulfilling of all true desire.[4]
This
is why the doctrine of the Trinity is not meant to be comprehended as much as it
is meant to be apprehended through the experience of the believer. Love can
only truly be understood through experiencing it. It is an experience that
surpasses cognitive knowing such as Paul prays for the Ephesians;
that you,
being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength
to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length
and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that
surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of
God.[5]
It is through this experience of love that we become one with
God and become “partakers of the divine nature.”[6]
It
is time to dust off the doctrine of the Trinity, not just from our academic
libraries, but from our church belief statements. It is not just the scholars for
whom the doctrine is important, but the very life of the Body and experience of
the believer is dependent on it. The
reality of the Trinity should be a felt presence personally and corporately; “We
need to see and feel that we are surrounded by the Trinity, compassed about on
all sides by the presence and the work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit.”[7] The primary way we do this is by experiencing the love of
God, and in turn learning to love each other. Seeking to prove or comprehend
the meaning of the Trinity leads to frustration, but continuing to contemplate
the mystery of God’s three in oneness, his eternal love, and his invitation to
become one with himself leads to an encounter with the living God; Father, Son
and Holy Spirit.
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