Not Divine Wrath But Divine Willingness

What Christ suffered on the cross came as no surprise to him, or to the Father. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,” John 3:16 says. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). It was necessary for the salvation of the world, and the LORD, whom Christians understand as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, was willing for it to be so. We see this in Isaiah 53, which the Church has understood from the beginning to be about Christ and the atonement.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. (Isaiah 53:6-10)

The LORD was willing to lay on the Son the “iniquity of us all,” but notice that it does not say he laid divine retribution on him. The St. Athanasius Academy Septuagint version puts it this way: “The Lord delivered Him over for our sins.” The Brenton translation of the Septuagint translates it: “The Lord gave him up for our sins.” It was not God’s wrath that Jesus faced on the cross but the terrible perversity and waywardness of sin that infects us all. That is what put him there, and the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were willing for it to happen. The purpose was not retribution but restoration. It was a “chastening,” a correction for the people of God in order to bring them shalom — wholeness.

Clement of Alexandria, an early Church Father (AD 150-215), spoke about it this way: “‘The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all,’ that is, to correct our iniquities and set them right. For that reason, he alone is able to forgive our sins, he who has been appointed by the Father of all as our educator, for he alone is able to separate obedience from disobedience” (Christ the Educator 1.8.67-68).

We also see the willingness of Jesus the Messiah in his humanity. In Isaiah 53, though Messiah was oppressed and afflicted, he did not open his mouth in defense but let himself be led like a lamb to the slaughter. In the Gospel, Jesus said of himself, “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father” (John 10:17-18). He offered his life willingly, for love. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). In the Garden of Gethsemane, betrayed by Judas and surrounded by an armed mob, Jesus told Peter, “‘Put your sword back in its place,’ Jesus said to him, ‘for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?’” (Matthew 26:52-53). He showed divine restraint and went willingly to the cross.

As Isaiah continues, we see that it was the LORD’s will to “crush” Messiah and “cause him to suffer.” In a recent post, we looked at how the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew text) speaks of this, not as crushing and causing the wounds of Messiah but as cleansing his wounds. However, even taking the Masoretic Hebrew text into consideration, it is not the wrath of God but the willingness of God that is portrayed here.

God is said here to be the cause of Messiah’s suffering, but the injury of Jesus the Messiah was actually done by faithless Jews leaders and pagan Roman hands. God did not make them do it, as if it were not already in their hearts to do so, but God allowed them to do what was in their hearts, having a greater purpose in mind — making the life of Messiah an “offering for sin.”

In the Old Testament, a “sin offering” was not a propitiation, averting the wrath of God, but an expiation, removing the offense. It was not about divine retribution but about removing the sin and cleansing the sinner. Notice in Isaiah 53 that it was the LORD who was making Messiah an offering for sin. This was not God trying to placate himself toward his people. Rather, the fact that he himself was the one making the offering demonstrates that he was already graciously disposed toward his people.

In the New Testament, John the Baptist called Jesus, “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Not, “The Lamb of God, who takes away the wrath of God.” In First John, the sacrificial death of Messiah is understood not as averting divine wrath but as cleansing us from sin: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:9).

Isaiah 53 is not a demonstration of God pouring out his wrath on the Suffering Servant, nor is the sacrificial death of Jesus the Messiah on the cross. It is a display of the loving willingness of God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — to forgive, cleanse and restore God’s people to fellowship.

The Cross Was Not Divine Retribution

Isaiah 53 is about the Messiah, the Christ, showing him as the Suffering Servant. Christians find in this a portrayal of the cross and the atonement. Many Christians — certainly not all, nor even all evangelicals — understand the atonement to be about Christ suffering the wrath of God in our place, being punished by God for our sake. I held this view myself for many years but have given it up because I cannot find it taught in Scripture.

More than that, it seems to me to contradict the example and teaching of Jesus Christ, who is called the “exact representation” of God (Hebrews 1:3). He taught us to love our enemies, to bless those who curse us, to do good to them and to forgive. In view of that, it seems a major disconnect to understand the cross as God taking revenge. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at Isaiah 53 and notice a few things.

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:3-5)

By whom was Jesus despised and rejected — by God? No, certainly not by God. Not at any time. It was men who held Jesus in contempt and sought to be rid of him, even though he identified with them in their suffering and pain. In the Gospel, Jesus’ ministry of healing and exorcism is understood as the fulfillment of this.

When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.” (Matthew 8:17-18)

There is not the slightest hint here that it had anything to do with Jesus the Messiah bearing the wrath of God.

Jesus came to heal his people and deliver them from bondage and oppression. Yet, on the cross, he was thought by some to have been the object of divine retribution. Pounded by God. Stricken by God. Afflicted by God. But the truth of the matter was quite different, on two counts.

First, what happened to Jesus was not on account of any lawlessness or sinfulness of his own. It was because of the lawlessness and sinfulness of his people, which came to full force at the cross. See how Stephen describes it in Acts 7:51-53.

You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him — you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.

It was not the wrath of God but the rage and wickedness of men that put Jesus on the cross.

Second, what happened to Jesus was not divine retribution, not on his own account nor anyone else’s. The Hebrew word Isaiah uses, musar, speaks of something very different. The NIV translates it as “punishment,” but it is not the same word translated as “punish” in the previous verse. Several other versions translate it as “chastisement,” because it is about discipline and correction, not about retribution or wrath.

“The chastisement that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed,” Isaiah says. Notice how he speaks indirectly about it. God was not chastising Jesus on the cross — there was nothing in Jesus that needed correction. But what happened to him there served as a chastening and correction for the people of God. We can see an example of this in Acts 2, when Peter preached the gospel to the Jews gathered at Jerusalem for Pentecost. He told of Jesus and how they had crucified and killed him by wicked hands (v. 23). He concluded his sermon with, “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah” (v. 36).

Now, notice the response, in verse 37: “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” Friends, those people were chastened by the realization that they had rejected and crucified the Messiah, whom God anointed as Lord over all. They were filled with regret and shame and desired to be put right with God. Peter answered, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off — for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

What happened at the cross chastens us, corrects us and turns us back to God. The cross is where we receive forgiveness, where we find our peace and are made whole. What happened at the cross was not angry God pouring out retribution on Christ instead of on us. It was Christ facing the full force of evil and wickedness in the world — and defeating it for our sake! It was where he disarmed the principalities and powers, where he broke the power of sin, the power of the devil, even the power of death.

At the cross, it was the world that sought retribution and poured out its anger. But God poured out his love for the sake of restoration. For God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.

Did God Punish Jesus on the Cross?

Was the cross a punishment God inflicted on Jesus? One verse that is used to teach that it was is Isaiah 53:10. Isaiah 53 is about the Suffering Servant, who is understood to be Messiah. This passage, then, is understood by the Church to be about the cross and the atonement. Let’s read it, first, in the New International Version, which is in agreement with most other English versions.

Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer. (NIV)

Other versions have it similarly: “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief” (New King James Version). “And Jehovah hath delighted to bruise him, He hath made him sick” (Young’s Literal Translation). “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief” (English Standard Version).

Was the cross really about God crushing Jesus, bruising him, making him sick? I used to think so, and this was a verse I used to teach that. I taught that Jesus took God’s punishment in our place, that God crushed Jesus, venting his anger on him so he would not have to vent it on us. This is known as the penal substitutionary theory of atonement, at least as it is most commonly taught. In recent years, however, I have had to let that theory go, because what I have seen in Scripture leads me to a different conclusion, a different understanding of the cross.

So what about Isaiah 53:10, then? Are the English versions quoted above the best rendering of Isaiah’s words? They are direct translations of the Hebrew text, at least of the best one that is available today, but do they give us the best sense of what Isaiah prophesied?

There is another family of translations that is very ancient. It is known as the Septuagint, also referred to as the LXX. A couple of hundred years before Christ, a group of Jewish scholars translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek for the benefit of post-exilic Jews who were scattered in Greek-speaking countries and had forgotten the Hebrew language. The traditional story is that these Jewish scholars were seventy in number, which is why this collection is call Septuagint, which means “seventy,” as do the Roman numerals, LXX.

Now, here is why the Septuagint is important for us consider: It was the version of the Old Testament Scriptures that was used by the early Church, even by the apostles themselves. Whenever the Old Testament is quoted in the New Testament, guess which version is used — the Septuagint!

So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at how the Septuagint renders Isaiah 53:10. I could give you the Greek words themselves, which would be a simple cut and paste, but since many do not read Greek, I will quote the Brenton version, which is a classic English translation of the LXX. Then I will tell you about the Greek verb that is used:

The Lord also is pleased to purge him from his stroke. (Brenton)

The Greek word for “stroke” is plege and here speaks of a wound that has been inflicted by a blow. The verb for “purge” is katharizo and means to cleanse or purify. It is where we get our English word “catharsis.” The St. Athanasius Academy Septuagint version has Isaiah 53:10 this way: “The Lord wishes to cleanse Him of His wound.”

The important thing to notice here is that God does not crush or bruise the Messiah, or make him sick. God does not inflict any wound on him. Quite the opposite, God is shown as cleansing and healing the wound!

The LXX reading seems to me more like what I find in the New Testament concerning the cross. When I think, for example, of how Peter and Stephen preached the gospel in the book of Acts, the cross was not something God did to Christ but something wicked men did. What God did was to raise Christ from the dead.

Isaiah 53 presents us with a stunning image of what Christ suffered in the atonement. But I do not think it is a picture of God crushing, bruising or punishing Christ. It is, rather, a portrait of God delivering Christ — and us through him.

Christianity and American Culture

Christianity is not the same as American culture. Many Christians have forgotten that. The Christian faith has always been counter-cultural and subversive to every culture that does not recognize and honor Jesus as Lord. In the days of the apostle Paul, the surrounding culture was very different from the Christian faith. It was Caesar who was honored as Son of God, Savior and bringer of peace to the world. “Caesar is Lord,” was the proclamation. So, Paul and the Church were being very counter-cultural and subversive by the proclamation of the gospel: “Jesus is Lord!” It was the announcement that Jesus, not Caesar, is King over all the world, the Lord of heaven and earth.

The proclamation remains the same today as ever: Jesus is Lord. Jesus — not the Supreme Court, not Congress, not Barack Obama — is Lord, even over America. That is the message we bring, the good news we can offer. But we must offer it with love, not out of anger or fear. For God is love, and the way of King Jesus is love, who gave himself for all. He did not come to condemn but to invite, to rescue, to set all free from every bondage, including the bondage of culture and every power structure.

So let the Christian faith be clearly seen as distinct from the surrounding culture. We serve a different King. Let not your heart be troubled, then. We’ve been here before.

God Will Be All in All

Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:24-28)

The day is coming when God will be “all in all.” It is the consummation, the culmination, the ultimate fulfillment of the gospel. God will not just be all in some, or some in all — he will be all in all. But before we talk about what that means, let’s take a moment to realize what it does not mean.

First, “all in all” does not mean that God will become his creation, or that the creation will become God. In another letter, Paul says, “For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:36). Everything that has been created comes from God, through God and for God. This does not mean, however, that everything is God or that God is everything. God remains God and the creation remains the creation. Creation reflects the glory and attributes of God, but it is always dependent upon God. Its existence is not inherent within itself but is purely a matter of God’s creative love and sustaining grace.

Second, “all in all” does not mean that we somehow lose our own identity in God. God has always existed as the divine community of the Trinity — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. None of the Three ever lose their own identity but each remains who he is, ever and always. Likewise, when God becomes all in us, we do not lose our identity. God remains who he is; we remain who we are.

So what does “all in all” mean? In 1 Corinthians 15, we see that there are some things that are to be destroyed: all dominion, authority and power — and death. This is not the destruction of persons, human or otherwise, but of the evil that influences kings and cultures and is behind all the oppressive structures that afflict humanity. Their power, even the power of death, was broken at the cross of Christ. They will not prevail against the purpose of God.

“All in all” means that everything will be in perfect alignment with God. What cannot be brought into line with him — dominion, authority, power and death — will be destroyed. But everything God has created will be reconciled to him. Notice the all-inclusive nature of what Paul says about Christ in his letter to the Jesus-followers at Colosse:

For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:16-20)

This is what the cross and the atonement is about: reconciliation. Everything that has been created by God, whether in heaven or on earth, is being turned back to God, brought into proper relationship with him through King Jesus the Messiah. This is God’s pleasure and purpose, and no dominion, authority or power, not even death itself, can stop it.

“All in all,” then, is about everything and everyone — all creation — being restored and brought into fellowship with God. “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).

A Fellowship of Light

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. (1 John 1:3-4)

Fellowship, intimate relationship with God, is what salvation is all about. On the night before he was crucified, Jesus prayed, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). “Eternal life,” which is the life of the age to come, is not merely something that is gained by knowing God, it is knowing God, and knowing Jesus the Messiah, who is himself life. Knowing God is the essence of eternal life.

John and his associates experienced this fellowship with God, but he also wanted those to whom he ministers in this letter to experience it, too. And he wanted to experience it together with them, for our fellowship with God unites us together in holy community with each other as well. It is in this community that we find our joy complete — loving God and each other, and being loved by God and each other.

That is why John writes this letter. Yet there is an issue he must address and it has to do with light and darkness: “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 5:5). “Light” is about what is good and true and just. Darkness is about what is evil. John the Gospeler writes:

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. (John 3:19-20)

Darkness is incompatible with light, evil is incompatible with good, for light overcomes darkness and good overcomes evil. When we have fellowship with God, he will not lead us into darkness but into light, and into good, not evil. John brings out an important implication:

If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:6-7)

Our “walk” is our manner of living. If we profess to have fellowship with God, who is light, yet we practice sin and live in darkness, our claim is hollow because we are not living it out. The truth of our relationship with God is not just theoretical, something to know, but it is also practical, something we do. In John’s day, as in our own, there were people who thought it was sufficient to know or believe certain things about God, and if one had this knowledge, one knew God. But John shows us that if we are not living out the truth, we do not know God.

Now, our fellowship with God is not based on what we do but is revealed in what we do. A life marked by what is good and true and right — in a word, by godliness — is not the cause of divine fellowship but the fruit of it. When we have fellowship with God, even our doing is a gift of his grace. So if we walk in the light that God is in his very being, our fellowship with him becomes evident.

It is not only our fellowship with God that John has in mind. It is also very much about our fellowship with each other. The body of John’s letter is about how walking in light and keeping God’s commandments demonstrates that we truly know God and share in the divine life he brings. God’s commandments are here summed up very simply as faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and loving one another (1 John 3:23). If we have no love for each, we are living in darkness. But when we walk in love, we show that the life of God, the life of the age to come, is at work in us.

John adds that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin, and this is very important, for it is this that enables us to walk in the light and share the life of God together with each other. For we are yet learning to walk in the light and live the life of love, and we often fail or fall short. But there is no condemnation in Christ, who manifested the love of God and gave himself up to the cross for our sake.

Drawn Up Into the Divine Dance

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:3)

Our fellowship, says John, is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus. The Greek word for “fellowship” is koinonia, and speaks of partnership and participation, of community and what is shared in common.

The Trinity is its own community, its own koinonia. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have joyful and eternal fellowship with each other. Early Church Fathers referred to their relationship as a perichoresis, a divine interpenetration or interweaving with each other. Three persons, perfectly united in One — God.

How is it, then, that we could even begin to have fellowship with the Three-in-One? What could we possibly have in common that would enable us to enjoy partnership and participation with God? The answer is found in Jesus the Messiah. 

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched — this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. (1 John 1:1-2)

John and the apostles experienced him in his humanity. They could see him, hear him, touch him — he was as real to them as they were to each other — yet they came to understand that he is the Word of life who was from the beginning, who was with God and, indeed, is God (John 1:1). They recognized him both in his divinity and in his humanity, the two perfectly joined together in one — Jesus the God-Man.

Our fellowship with God, however, is not simply that Jesus participates in human nature with us. It goes much deeper than that: Through Jesus the Messiah, we participate in the divine nature.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:4)

The Greek word for “participate” here is koinonos, from which comes koinonia, the word for “fellowship.” In Jesus the Messiah, we who were created to be like God in the first place now share in the divine nature — he gathers us up into himself. By his divine nature, the life of Messiah at work in us by the Holy Spirit, we participate in holy community with God, drawn up into the divine dance of the Three, to enjoy loving fellowship with them forever.

Random Thoughts

More thoughts culled from my random file. About divine love, relationship with God and new life in Christ. Some have come to me in moments of quiet reflection, some in interaction with others. Many have been tweets and Facebook updates. Some have been posters. Offered as “jump starts” for your faith.

• The sacraments (e.g., baptism and communion) are not merely outward signs of an inward faith but the outward signs of an inward grace. Though our faith in Christ may often be weak, the grace of God towards us is always strong.
• Discipleship is learning to live in the fellowship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• Eschatology is not about the end of the world but about the end of the age. It is about the new creation, which has already begun for us in Jesus the Messiah.
• A new twist on an old saying: Pray as if everything depends upon God. Work as if everything depends upon God.
• Fear is at the root of all kinds of issues, and it is a terrible bondage. It is an “orphan” spirit, desperately looking for, and never finding, a father. However, God has not given us the spirit of fear that leads us into bondage again but the Spirit of Adoption by which we cry out, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). And when God’s love is perfected in us, it casts out fear. When we fear, it is because we are not trusting in the love of God.
• We were conceived in the divine love and fellowship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• At the cross, God did not pour out his wrath on Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ poured out the wrath of God on sin, death and the devil.
• In King Jesus the Messiah, all are made new. Come to him. Trust him. Follow him.
• We are created for greatness, though it often comes in ways that seem small and insignificant — but that is because we have gotten things upside down.
• If God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, how in the world could anyone ever be insignificant?
• Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. Do thou likewise. Therein lies greatness.
• All that belongs to the Father belongs also to the Son. The Spirit reveals them to us — and we are caught up into divine fellowship.
• God is Love. Love pours himself out for others. And so Love fulfills all.
• God is love. In God, there is one who loves, one who is loved, and one who is the love between them. Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• There is not a soul in this world who does not long for the glory and presence of the Lord. Many just do not realize it yet.
• God is love, and a consuming fire. He burns away everything that cannot be loved.
• The love of God never gives up on us, never ceases to work for our good. Even in hell, God is love.
• The Christian life is infinitely impossible to live on our own — but intimately available to all in Christ who is our life.

More random thoughts …

The Prevailing Unity of the Trinity

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me — so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-23)

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, though they are three in number, yet they are one in nature, one in substance. They dwell in each other, participate in each other, have intimate fellowship with each other. The early Church Fathers thought deeply about these things and theologians have referred to the mutual fellowship and participation of the Three as perichoresis, the interweaving of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in a sort of divine choreography.

The Three are glorified with the same glory, which is the greatness of their goodness revealed. In his divinity, the eternal Son of God always possessed this glory, but in his humanity, which happened in time, this glory was given to him.

The Three also love with the same love. There is only one love, for God is love and God is one. And it is out of the abundance of their love for each other that the world and humanity came into being.

In the garden of Gethsemane on the night before he was crucified, Jesus prayed for the same unity for his disciples, and all who believe through them, that we may all be one. This is not only unity with each other but also with God — for there is no unity apart from God, who alone is one.

Just as the Father is in Jesus the Son, and Jesus is in the Father, so Jesus prayed that we may be in the Father and the Son. Jesus is in us just as the Father is in him. We are in the Father, Son and Spirit, and they are in us. So we are taken up into the divine interweaving of their fellowship.

The glory Jesus received from the Father is the same glory he shared with the Father before the world began (John 17:5). This is the glory he gives to us, so that we may be one, just as the Father and Son are one. It is a complete unity that Jesus prays for us, for the love the Father has for us is the same love he has for Jesus — love itself is one and cannot be divided.

The Church always confesses the mystery of the Trinity: One God, three Persons. And though Jesus has two natures, fully human and fully divine, we confess that these natures are perfectly united in one person. The unity Jesus prays for his disciples is the unity — the wholeness — of the Three and of Jesus in his divine and human natures.

The truth about all who are in Christ is that, though we be many in number, yet we are one. We are one body, and though the body has many members, yet it is still one body — the body of Christ. This unity is not something we must somehow accomplish for ourselves — it has already been done by Christ himself — but we must learn to live out this oneness by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)

The unity we have with each other is the same unity we have with the Father, through the Son and by the Holy Spirit. Thus we partake of and participate in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). What God is in his own being, he shares with us in grace. It is given to us so that we may enjoy fellowship with the Father, Son and Spirit, the same fellowship they have always enjoyed together with each other from before the world began. This unity is all-encompassing and is why Jesus came.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:19-20)

In the end, heaven and earth, though they be two, shall be fully and completely one. And God shall be all in all. The eternal unity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit shall prevail in everything.

The Glory of the Three Revealed in Us

He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you. (John 16:14-15)

The ministry of the Holy Spirit in us and through us is all about King Jesus the Messiah. He speaks to the world through us about Jesus in regard to sin, righteous and judgment. He guides us into all Jesus wants to teach us. Everything he does is to glorify Jesus, showing the greatness of his goodness.

Whatever belongs to the Father belongs also to the Son, and the Holy Spirit takes what belongs to the Son (and the Father) and reveals it to us. The Spirit “takes” it because it belongs to him just as much as it does to the Father and the Son.

So the Three — Father, Son and Spirit — share all things in common and are made known to us by the Holy Spirit. This is by no means a lesser intimacy than the disciples enjoyed before, when Jesus walked with them. He could only be with them then. But the coming of the Spirit would bring a greater intimacy because Jesus would now be in them — and in us.

The Spirit does not just reveal Jesus to us but also in us. And Jesus does not just reveal the Father to us but also in us, through the Spirit. In this way, then, the glory of God is revealed to us, in us and through us. The Father reveals it by sending us the Spirit, who glorifies the Son, who glorifies the Father.