Contrary to popular opinion, the beginning does not begin with the first book of the Bible. What's this, you say? The fact is that Genesis tells us about the beginning of the world that we now know - especially about the living things on this earth. Genesis does not tell us about anything that came before the heaven and the earth, in fact, Genesis does not even tell us about the creation of the heavens and the earth - only what happened after that. So then, where do we go to learn? We go to the Apostle John. The one whom Jesus favoured.
John tells us that in the very beginning there was Jesus and Jesus was God and Jesus was with God. How strange this statement! If Jesus IS God, then why say with God? Also, if there are two Gods, then why do we claim there is only one? Our lives are complicated enough already, aren't they?? So, I can well understand why so many intelligent human beings are willing to reject the idea of God altogether. We seem to be faced with an impossibility that can be immediately dispensed with! Appearances can be deceptive..
In the book of Revelations, John reports three apparent deities: him which is, and which was, and which is to come [the Father]; the seven Spirits which are before (the Father's) throne [the Spirit]; and Jesus Christ [the Son]. Why is this we wonder? Well, maybe you wouldn't wonder anything of the sort, for there are many religions in the world and some are even very similar. Each are strange, and interesting in their own ways, so why should we care how many Gods there are? It is because we have testified that the Bible represents the true words of only one, real God that these things become important to us. This testimony opens up a whole new can of worms: if one God (therefore signified by a capital letter, for we treat the noun God as the name for the god so designated) then there cannot suddenly and mysteriously be three, can there? And so, Christianity fails by contradicting itself, and we need not worry further. However, I am here. And I am telling you there is only one God, and that this God is divided into three personages, known as the Trinity, and I am telling you that this is not as strange as it would appear because we are really very much like Him.
Yes, Genesis confirms that we have been made in God's image, and we can be divided into three: mind, body, and spirit, theoretically. Our minds can be demonstrated. Our bodies can be seen. However, the spirit remains something beyond our physical senses because it lies beyond the physical dimension. Yet, we do have folklore, even modern folklore, bearing testimony. It would seems to be by unanimous consent that our cultures recognise spirit beings. That body of evidence can speak for itself. The Bible also mentions the existence of spiritual beings, some of which could manipulate and have an affect upon what we term 'reality.' Jesus, then is the visible, physical part of God, in the same way that our bodies are the visible, physical part of us.
Recently, while I was in Vancouver, I learned a profound thing about God that greatly helped my understanding of the Trinity of God, and that is that God is the god of relationships. That is that God appeals to us in so many ways in order to more completely relate to us. Recently, there has been a feminist criticism that the picture we have has been manipulated by a consistently male-dominated society, such that God is made into a male image: the Father, the Son. "Sensitivity" to this issue has led to attempts to feminise God: making Him God the Mother, or equating Him with a mythical god, Sophia, or Mother Earth, or claiming His Holy Spirit to be a feminine force. While the latter has found support in some of the Solomonic writings concerning Wisdom, and later in Orthodox tradition, we find the maleness of the Spirit confirmed by Jesus, who was fathered by the Spirit, and who claimed the Spirit was male. This testimony is valuable not as a means of denying the value of women in God's eyes.. By no means!! But, because God is the god of relationship. Why? Because God has meant us to be married unto Himself as His eternal mate. The Bride of Christ is vital to our understanding of how much God loves us. God intends to collect us together, and purify us, and marry us to Himself forever in an eternal partner, or relationship which can best be described as the union between man [God] and woman [humanity]. The Bible tells us that this marriage will happen, and as a Christian, I long for it. It does not bother me to be considered feminine in this situation. And so, this is why God cannot be female, because His Church is female. Does this denigrate women? I don't believe so.
There is another way in which I would like to introduce Jesus to you, and that is as God's interface to creation. God enters creation through the body of His Son. When we hear God perhaps it can be argued that we truly hear God as the Father, but when we see God, it is the Son we see because we are told that noone has seen the Father except the Son, and when we see the Son we see the Father. Further, we are told (again by John) that God has made all things through Jesus, even as we build our homes through the hands of carpenters. So, then it is true that noone can come to the Father except through the Son because Jesus is the interface between creation and its Creator.
However, Jesus is very much more to us than these things. He is humanity's single hope. I say this because it is a fact that we cannot be perfect in ourselves. The Apostle Paul argues this point clearly in Romans, and, I believe, in Hebrews. It is our faith in God that saves us, and not the things we do, because God has paid with His own body the penalty that is pending in our own lives, and this is the message of the Gospel: if we trust in Him, then we are found to be secure in Him. The Spirit of God has allowed us four gospel messages by which we can know our Saviour. To many people in the world the Bible is open, and easily accessible. But, then, as Joni Mitchell said in her 'Big Yellow Taxi' song: "Oh, you know, it seems to go that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone." So, I strongly urge those of you who can to read the gospels in order that you can know your true God better. He will not disappoint you!
