One of the books I read in preparation for this series, Experiencing the Trinity, has a most intriguing subtitle: “Living in the Relationship at the Centre of the Universe.” Of all the ways to consider the Holy Trinity, I don’t think I would ever have imagined a book describing Him as a relationship that anchors the cosmos.
Yet, as weeks that have been packed with new vocabulary and mind-bending ideas have flown by, my appreciation for Darrell Johnson’s approach has only increased. While he certainly offers doctrine about our three-in-one God to help us have some understanding, his real heart is to show us that we’re designed to experience the Holy Three.
So after a few of my own attempts at coming up with clever ideas that might help us better understand our Triune God, I find myself wanting, simply, to experience Him. Not so much knowing more about Him but actually knowing Him – and, in the process, realizing just how known and loved I am. How known and loved we are.
Considering all we’ve learned, it’s not a stretch to see the Divine Godhead as having always been rooted in the relationship that’s the heartbeat of all creation. Perhaps we could think of this Holy Heartbeat like the sun of our solar system, offering light and warmth in every moment of every day. Constant. Life-giving. Our source of power and strength.
Only we’re not meant to orbit God, round and round, stuck in His gravitational pull. Rather He, the Holy Heartbeat, draws near to us, inviting us to be part of this relationship with Him, drawing us “into the circle of His knowing Himself.”1 Into the circle of eternal, holy love.
Peering Inside the Circle
Scripture helps us see what it’s like inside this ring of holy presence; it’s the place of rooted relationship, of Holy Trinity abiding (John 17:21,23). Something like a joy-filled sphere where each Person freely serves the Others in humble holiness (John 17:13; Philippians 2:5-8). Like a power-packed prism of holy light that not only holds all things together but brings life and peace in the midst of chaos (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8; Colossians 1:17; John 6:63; 1 Peter 4:10; John 14:27).
This is what we’re invited into – every day. For all our days.
And why does all of this matter? Because God knows all we face and feel. He knows all the pain and panic, all the chaos and numbness, all the darkness and discouragement. He knows we need a Way in this life – it’s why the Son left the Inner Circle to come to earth. To experience life as a human, in humanity. To be our Gate and Door that leads us through all the troubles and dark valleys. To be our strength when we’re weak – and our hope when we don’t see a way or a reason for being.
Yes! The Son took on all our sins in order to redeem us, to open that final door into perfect eternal life with Him!! But we cannot miss the reality that Jesus’ coming opened the door for the Spirit to be in us now. The mission of our three-in-one God began at Creation and carried on to the Cross. Forever the Trinity has lived as One so that we might experience such oneness.
God breathed life into us and gave us new life in Christ so that we could step into this Inner Circle of holy intimacy to be part of who He is. This is a promise and an invitation that is for the ‘now’ as well as the ‘not yet’. Our ‘now’ includes relationship with the Holy Three, experiencing their abiding goodness, their perfect peace, and their holy mission right where we are.
Being Part of All the Love
Darrell Johnson would say that beyond all the goodness and peace that comes with dwelling in such a holy space, we are ultimately brought into the circle of the Trinity for love’s sake.1 Being ushered into the Inner Circle makes us one with the Godhead. Such loving, holy union speaks into our lives, reminding us that God is for us! That He doesn’t give up on us! That we are part of the Trinitarian Community of Love!1
To the best of our human ability, we understand that the Holy Three are coequal, coeternal, and corelational; we can now also see them as co-lovers in the way they love one another so well – with purity and goodness and righteousness. Our entering this holy circle of love does not elevate us to God’s status; we are not coequals with Him, nor are we coeternal or corelational in the way the Holy Three interrelate and subsist together.
However, we do become co-lovers with them!1
The tie that binds the Trinity together is shared love. It’s what Jesus is describing when He prays that the love of God that is in Him would be in us (John 17:26). The Holy Love at the center of the universe expands with every heartbeat, enveloping all who will draw near in faith to join in the love shared by the Godhead.
We recall that everything God does flows out of who He is. He is love – ever expanding love – and from that love, He invites us to participate in His love. We get to be co-lovers with God: of God, of others, and of the world.
Co-loving God (with God) looks like being part of something greater than us. It’s divine relationship. It’s seeing the way God loves us, receiving it for ourselves, and then reciprocating it to Him. It’s experiencing the perfect love that is filling and freeing. It’s loving Him right back with our feelings and our actions, with our hearts and our minds, our bodies and our spirits. Co-loving God looks like worship.1
Co-loving others (with God) overflows from our love for God. It’s not us trying harder to love people. It’s allowing all that we do to flow from who we are – loved of God and lovers of God! As co-lovers in this eternal, love-soaked, inner circle, we have all the love we need to shape us and fill us – and to splatter all over our fellow brothers and sisters. Paul reminds us that “our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). And living from that holy union means that we love other believers from a well that runs deep – for fellowship. Because co-loving others looks like community.1
Co-loving the world (with God) is the collective heartbeat of God – all the children of God stepping out of the four walls of our homes and churches with hearts and minds united with Christ and one another to be the hands and feet of God. All the love flowing among the three Persons of the Trinity winds its way through us – until our hearts beat in rhythm with the Holy Heartbeat of our inner circle. Darrell Johnson says that the closer we get to the heart of God, the closer we get to what’s on His heart.1 And that’s why co-loving the world looks like mission.1
My friends, today is Pentecost Sunday! It’s the day the third Person of the Trinity expanded His reach and impact. In His marvelous, mysterious way, Holy Spirit remains in that Inner Circle of love while also dwelling in each of us, sharing with us the wisdom and words of the Father. Growing within us the hope of Christ, as well as His truth and grace.
But, mostly, the One who dwells in our spiritual hearts pours all the love of the Trinity into us (Romans 5:5).
It’s been a great practice to learn more about the Trinity. But I think the greater wisdom we ended up gleaning is actually recognizing that the three Persons of the Godhead abide in the kind of holy relationship that is meant to be shared and experienced – by all who will receive the love of the Father through His Son and by His Spirit. We can now picture them welcoming us into their Inner Circle of holy love and ourselves as co-lovers with them.
As we step past all the barriers to belief and into the Trinity’s warm embrace, an awakening happens within our souls, revealing how true it is that “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). We know with every beat of our hearts that we’ve found our truest place of belonging – within that relationship at the center of the universe.
XOXO
Today we enter prayer speaking the lyrics of a spiritual song aptly entitled, “Trinity Song.” I liked this song when I found it, but as the weeks of this series have gone by, my love for it has grown – because in its rhythms and lyrics my heart has been better able to receive the invitation of the Trinity. And so, may the words we pray usher us into the Inner Circle – in faith, by grace. May we experience God’s holy love.
Holy Father, Son, and Spirit
Holy communion, Three in One
Holy Father, Son, and Spirit
Holy communion, Three in One
Come with Your peace, with Your invitation
Bind us together in holy love
Come with Your peace, with Your invitation
Bind us together in holy love
Holy Father, Son, and Spirit
Holy communion, Three in One
Holy Father, Son, and Spirit
Holy communion, Three in One
Come with Your peace, with Your invitation
Bind us together in holy love
Come with Your peace, with Your invitation
Bind us together in holy love
Holy Father, Son, and Spirit
Three in One
Three in One
Three in One
In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.
- 1 – Darrell Johnson’s book, Experiencing the Trinity
- 2 – Here’s the link to our song-prayer, Sandra McCracken’s “Trinity Song.” It’s also on our Holy Trinity playlist on Spotify.
- Most Wednesdays I upload a “Teacup” teaching video that carries on the topic here; however, for this series, I’ve taken a wee break. You can, though, find all my previous videos on my Facebook Author Page, Instagram, and YouTube.
- Many of you have found me on Substack. Thank you so much! And, if you’d like to listen to (rather than read) these weekly posts, you can do so on Substack. It’s easy to see and use the audio bar across the top of each post. While you’re on Substack, check out the ministry I’m blessed to be part of, the Devoted Collective.
- My monthly newsletter, The Abiding Life, goes to email inboxes the first week of each month to those who have subscribed on my website. I also post them on Substack. My most recent edition can be found there, and you can subscribe for future newsletters on Substack, here.
Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days. I like to think that developing rhythms is one way to aid us in our desire to become more Christlike.
- For this series, our rhythm of focus will be seeking to know God better in the reading of His Word and with the help of His Spirit. It’s good and right to ask Him for His help each time we desire to read with His eyes, to understand with His mind — so we begin there. Then we invite Holy Spirit to lead and reveal as we open Scripture and read. Each week I’ll put a verse or passage before us to read, to contemplate, to wrestle with. But I invite you to do your own investigating of the Word, for it is in such pursuit that you’ll meet the Living God smack dab in the middle of His Word. I’d love to hear what you see and learn and wonder about!
- This week, our passage is Acts 17:28 NIV. This little phrase lodged itself into my mind, my spirit, my heart years ago — I think because it so poetically and perfectly describes what it’s like to be ‘one’ with our three-in-one God. When our hearts and minds are aligned with Christ’s, we sense His nearness and goodness. When our weakness meets the Father’s strength, we recognize His sheer size — and kindness. When our spirits surrender wholly to the Holy Spirit, we realize the power and grace that dwell in us every single day. And so it is that each time we step into that Inner Circle of Trinitarian unity and love, we live from that love, embracing our reality that “in Him we live and move and have our being.” Thank You, Lord!
- We’re all called to share the truth about who Jesus is. One way you can do that is by sharing this site and telling others your own stories of faith experiences. May we use our whole selves to tell others about our holy God!!
Featured Photo — Trinity Church Boston
“All the Bits and Pieces” Photo by Sahand Babali on Unsplash.
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All I can say is wow, and thanks for the link to his book!