Tag: theology

Categories
study

Knowing that Our Triune God is Graciously Grace Filled

snow top mountain under clear sky
Photo by Stephan Seeber on Pexels.com

In one sense, to be grace-filled means that God is favorably disposed. But it is so much bigger. God’s grace or favor is free, more than enough, and overwhelming. If you put problems, pain, suffering and death on one end of a scale, God’s grace is infinitely above, over and beyond (Romans 5:15-16)!

  • God’s overwhelming grace is decided and sourced in the Father (Ephesians 1:2-18)
  • God’s outstanding graciousness is worked out and multiplied through the Son (John 1:17)
  • God’s otherworldly grace is eternally perfecting and sanctifying by the Holy Spirit of Grace (Heb. 10:29)

No matter what “direction” we look at Him, God, in all three persons, is graciously grace-filled—especially towards us who can’t earn this eternal hope (Eph 2:8).

Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,

Deeper than the mighty rolling sea

Higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain, all sufficient Grace for even me

Broader than the scope of my transgressions

Greater far than all my sin and shame

Magnify the precious name of Jesus, praise His name!

Categories
Meditations

Knowing that Our Triune God is Eternal

galaxy wallpaper
Photo by Alberlan Barros on Pexels.com

When we think about God and His creation, we sometimes let our ideas become as wild as something from a space movie. But the Bible gives us the real story. God tells us:

  • That He lives forever (Isaiah 57:15)
  • That He exists from everlasting to everlasting (Psalm 93:2)

When we see God at work in the Bible we see that:

  • God was there at the start (Genesis 1:1) and will be there at the end (Revelation 22:13)

And when He speaks of Himself in all three persons he says:

  • God was here before everything and will last through everything  (Psalm 90:2)
  • The Son was here before everything and keeps everything going (Col 1:17)
  • The Holy Spirit was there at the start (Genesis 1:2) and always knows what God is thinking  (1 Cor 2:11)

We should not mistake what 2 Peter 3:8 says—that one day is like a thousand years to God—to mean that one ‘God day’ is actually a thousand years for us. What Peter means is that God, who knows everything, is all-wise, all-powerful, and lives forever, doesn’t keep our agenda! This is great news! It means God, who created everything, isn’t far away. He’s here with us now, will be there waiting for us at the end, and promises to be with us always.

Savior, our only joy be though, as Thou our crown shalt be; Be Thou, O Lord, our glory now, and through eternity!

Categories
Meditations

Knowing the Triune God Who is Spirit and Can Access Anywhere

body of water under blue and white skies
Photo by Matt Hardy on Pexels.com

Our Triune God, in His nature, is spirit. This means that the triune God isn’t made of physical stuff. Jesus explained this when He spoke to a woman from Samaria. He taught her that God is not limited to a specific place in time and space.

  • Jesus said, “God is spirit, and when we worship Him, we must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24).

When Jesus came back to life after His death, He told His followers that a spirit is different from what they were seeing:

  • He said, “A spirit doesn’t have a body that can be touched!” (Luke 24:39).

Some people may think that God is like a cloud or a ghost from a movie, but those ideas are wrong. When we say that God is spirit, it means that He is not like anything we can imagine. Physical things have limits, but spirit is limitless. Physical things can be hidden from our sight, but spirit doesn’t need to be seen to be there. The Bible tells us the truth:

  • God cannot be seen (1 Timothy 1:17)
  • No one has ever seen God (John 1:18)  
  • God is immortal (Isaiah 31:3)

Don’t jump ahead and think about Jesus becoming a human just yet! Know that because God is spirit, He can be present everywhere, at any time, always. This means that no matter how lonely or hopeless we feel, God sees us (Genesis 16:13). No matter how quiet our voice may be, He hears us (1 Peter 3:12)! No matter where I am, God is there with me (Psalms 139)! These facts should bring us to our knees to worship the greatness of our invisible God.

Categories
Meditations

Knowing that Our Triune God is Love

All of God’s character and attributes perfectly and eternally exist none greater than the other. Yes, God is holy, light, and good; and yes, God’s holiness is seen through His love and his love seen through his holiness. Yet, for us humans, created in God’s image, made to exist in community, love is the attribute that so often resonates in our hearts.

God, when inaugurating Christ to His mission, introduces the relationship as loving Father to obedient Son.

  • Matthew 3:17 “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased! Hear Him!”

Jesus, when he clearly wanted to explain God, didn’t refer to Him first as creator, king, judge, fire, or ruler—all of which are true. Jesus perfectly reveals God as a loving father.

  • The Father loves the Son and shows Him all he does! (John 5:20)

Our Lord then showers us with this love when he prays to the Father:

  • Father…in this relationship of I in the believers and they in me….the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me! (John 17:24)

John revels in this wonder writing, almost in amazing “Look at the great love the Father poured out on us: that we should be called the sons of God!” (1 John 3:1). Christian, let your heart join in the resonating song that the triune God is love (1 John 4:8)!

Categories
godhead Meditations

Knowing that Our Triune God Is Good

Parents have bad days. I might say “My dad had his rough spots, but he was a good dad.” Our God, on the other hand, wants us to know that only He is perfectly good. The Son says:

  • No one is good except God alone (Luke 18:19)

Jesus makes a connection that most of us haven’t thought about. Goodness is more than not evil. An unhelpful person is not evil. He might not kill the poor but the person who gives for the poor does better. He might be unhelpful because he lost his job. We don’t know how we’ll act in future situations. For someone to be top-of-the-line good, he or she can’t ever stop being perfectly good. If we manage to do good every single moment, we still die and there ends goodness!

These verses show that our trinitarian God is perfectly and unchanging good:

  • God is perfectly light absent darkness and our fellowship with the Father and Son (1 John 1:3,5)
  • Every good gift comes from the Father of lights who has no variation or shifting shadow and he gave the Son and another comforter like the Son (the Spirit: who convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment) (James 1:17; John 3:16; 16:7-11)

Be happy and be in awe Christian! We are in a relationship with the God of no rough spots, who alone is good, and his love endures forever!