Holy Trinity Overview: Father, Son & Holy Spirit
As Christians we have come to know that God is “three persons; one God”, better known as the Holy Trinity. This has been revealed to us by Jesus Himself, in his teachings. This is impossible to understand fully, although we do know some things about the nature of God and the Trinity, as well as each of the three persons of the Holy Trinity.
Because the nature of God is love, within the Trinity there are well-defined relationships. The Father’s relationship with his son is one of authority, but with perfect love poured out for him. His son accepts this perfect love, and returns it with humility, obedience and respect. The love between the two is so strong, intense and beautiful beyond our understanding that it cannot be contained, it proceeds outward from the two with a will of its own, bringing back all of creation to its source. We know this special love as “the Holy Spirit”. The love within God is so strong and in sync within itself that the persons are perfectly united as One: One God, Three Persons. This relationship has always been, before the beginning of time, and will always be.
The Trinity is often represented by a triangle for its obvious shape, but I prefer the image of a U-shaped magnet. The two ends of the magnet represent the Father and Son, distinct but still one magnet, with a magnetic field flowing from one to the other. In this analogy, the Holy Spirit is represented by the magnetic field itself, proceeding away from the magnet, but influencing the surroundings. We are like metal shavings that are drawn toward the magnet, via the magnetic field of the Holy Spirit.
Our Father
When most people think of “God”, their perceptions seem to be most closely related with that of The Father. He is known as the creator of the heavens and the earth, and whose reign is supreme in Heaven. He also has a plan for each of us on earth, but has given us free will of our own out of his love for us. When our decisions are out of line with his will for us, things get off track. We are called to love God with all our hearts, strength and mind, and in doing so requires us to be obediently open to His will for us. It is this supreme authority of his will that the Father is often related to as “God”.
Our relationship to the Father is the same one that he has with his Son, Jesus Christ. We use the terms “Father” and “Son” since these best convey the nature of this relationship in terms that we can somewhat understand. By God’s will and providence, we are adopted sons and daughters of the Father. This then defines Jesus as our brother, and is why we must follow his example of how to relate to the Father, in submission, humility, holiness and most importantly, love.
The Father sent his Son, the second person of the Trinity, to earth according to his will, and his Son provided the perfect example of following his plan, even when the plan was for him to sacrifice himself on the cross.
The Son: Jesus Christ
It is important to remember that the second person within the Trinity has always existed, and was present at the creation of all things and when time began. Initially in spirit form, it was the will of the Father for him to be incarnate, or to become a human being, living as we do on the earth. This second person, was born to a young Jewish girl, Mary, conceived via the Holy Spirit, therefore literally being “The Son of God”. As a human being, he was known as Jesus of Nazareth, is, and will be in human form for all eternity. However, he kept his divinity while on earth, and had two natures, that of God and that of man. Although his life was short (around 30-35 years), his impact to the world is beyond measure, opening the Kingdom of Heaven to all people who believe and follow him, through his self sacrifice in accordance with the Father’s plan for redemption.
According this plan, the reason Jesus became human was foremost to live in complete submission to the will of the Father. His manner of living provides the ideal model for how we should live in relation to God. By following the will of his Father, Jesus preached, provided parables and basically revealed insights about the nature of God. His miracles were done to bring glory to the Father, and also showed his compassion and love for others. He was tempted to do wrong as all humans are, but unlike us, he never gave in to it and never sinned. In the end and with great internal struggle, he gave himself over to the authorities in a tangled web of lies and jealousy, allowing for the Father’s plan of salvation to be completed. Since death has no power over God, the Father resurrected him from the dead to live with him forever, paving the way for us as well. He had to die to encounter death as we do, and then rose again so that we would also be able to do the same. Perfect in justice, the Father has decided that the death of his son was sufficient payment for all sin in the universe, past, present and future. Because of this, Jesus has paid our debt – our salvation cannot be earned, but has been given as a gift to us, if only we accept it by accepting Jesus and building a relationship with him.
Today, Jesus remains in physical form in the Kingdom of Heaven. There are mystical properties about Jesus that we cannot understand, but must accept through faith. For wherever 2 or 3 are gathered in his name, Jesus is present. He is also physically present in the Eucharist, and therefore resides within us, if we receive the Eucharist in good standing. He truly is the vine, and we are the branches, and yearn for the Eucharist because we simply cannot live without it.
The Holy Spirit
As the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is probably the least understood of the three. Proceeding, or moving outward, from the Father and Son, he moves through the universe, and through our lives, weaving God’s plan and bringing us back to the Father. The nature of the Spirit is mysterious, like the wind, felt but not seen, a force ever marching forward with restoration. Because of this, the Spirit resides within all baptized Christians. The sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation are related in that the Spirit reconfigures our souls to better be open to God’s love, and to love in return. At Confirmation, the fullness of the Sprit becomes manifest. At that time, the Spirit offers gifts unique to each individual, so that together as “The Body of Christ” we may also share in God’s plan for ourselves and others. If we choose to use these gifts in submission to God’s plan, we will naturally enjoy the Fruits of the Spirit. These include things such as joy, peace and wonder & awe, things that the secular world chases but has no means to obtain, because it does not know the Spirit.
Conclusion
This post just scratches the surface of what we know about the Holy Trinity, despite its mysterious nature. Hopefully this has presented some insight about the nature of God as reveled to us through Jesus Christ, the “Word Made Flesh”. We are invited to seek out the persons of the Trinity, to know, love and obey all three persons therein.
