On This Day: Love-Relationship with the Triune God

But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (Matthew 23:8-12)

 

   When I got to the words, “the Christ”, I suddenly realized that I was reading about the Triune God in a way I had not noticed before (or my ol’ fergetter erased from my memory!). I share them in the box to the left, so I will focus on the relational aspect that this brings to mind for me.

   First, when I think of how Jesus said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26), I am so thankful that the Spirit BOTH teaches and reminds. Even if I can’t be sure if he is teaching me something for the first time, or reminding me for the dozenth time, HE is the one who makes sure I hear what the Father is saying to the churches.

   Second, when I consider my relationship to God as Father, I come to him as one whose father-need in the human plane has never been met. In an earthly sense, I’m orphan-minded. But in a spiritual sense, I have a Father in heaven. And knowing God as Father can be so real for us that it is like we have no other father in the world.

   Third, the word referring to Jesus as our instructor speaks of a tutor. Not one who teaches from a distance, but up close and personal. Which is why I always tell people to be honest with God about how we are doing so we can see how close and personal he gets in speaking to us through his word.

   The application of knowing the triune God as our Father in heaven, our Helper-Teacher, and our Savior-Instructor, is that we receive everything they give us each day and then go and serve one another in the same love they have expressed to us. There is no “greatness” in the kingdom like the religious elite were always striving to put on display. Greatness in the kingdom is to serve one another as our Savior has already exemplified, and as the Triune God is with us to help, teach, tutor, and lead in a love-relationship that never stops growing.

 

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)