The Core of God’s Nature

Text: John 8:48-59

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

            It certainly seems safe to say that Jesus teaches things that make people uncomfortable. Whether it’s pointing out the sinfulness of those who are, by all appearances, externally righteous and upstanding members of their communities, like the Pharisees; or if He’s telling crowds of thousands that they have no life in them unless they eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, causing them to stop following Him because of the difficulty of His teaching, Jesus has some teachings that we would say are bad for PR. This morning is no different. For those of us who live in this time of relative personal truths, who are constantly told that multiple things can be right at the same time, that all roads lead to the same God, it feels like Jesus is touching a nerve and saying something that we would never hear a socially savvy public figure say: “It is my Father who glorifies me,” He says, “of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you.”

            There’s the discomfort. Jesus plainly tells the Jews who consistently refused to believe in Him that they have not known God. They claim to glorify the same God as Jesus, but He says point blank that they don’t even know Him. They don’t know the God of their father, Abraham. Jesus knows Him, and He’s been working to reveal Him to mankind, but they would rather believe that Jesus is possessed by a demon and is actually descended from their mortal enemies, the Samaritans, and not the heir of King David.

            It’s a hard truth to confess in this world that the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church alone knows God. But if we believe what our Lord has taught, we have no other choice but to confess it. God is Triune—three-in-one—and if we want to leave out any one of the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit, then that’s not God. It’s not who He Himself says He is. And for any mortal to say that God is not who He says He is, that’s a dangerous road to walk, resulting only in disaster.

            We’re trained by this world to not make bold confessions. When it comes to matters of faith, we’re taught to hedge our statements, to not be too sure of what we say if it’s a strong assertion about what’s true. So we waffle on things about who God is, or how He’s named, or if every conception of God from any religion is equally valid, so long as someone really really thinks it’s true. But in the end, how often do we do that in any other part of life? Do we let someone walk into traffic if they really really believe that the oncoming cars won’t hurt them? Do we let a child touch something hot if they don’t believe it will hurt them? So if we work so hard at making sure that people believe the truth about their earthly wellbeing and life, why would we shrug about their eternal spiritual life, which hinges on knowing the true God?

            In the end, it’s the fear that gets us—fear of what others will think, how the truth will sound, what the reactions of the world will be. We fear men more than we fear God. We trust the smooth words of mortals more than the solid everlasting words of Jesus. We’re not alone in this. The Apostles had their fears when they worried about the mobs and what they could do to them. The prophets feared and some even fled for their lives. Even Abraham feared and lied when he was faced with situations that he was afraid would to lead to pain, loss, and death.

            But our Triune God will not have us live in stifling and suffocating fear. He constantly tells us to not be afraid. Just look at how many times that’s the first thing in a message from God, whether it’s delivered by an angel or by the Almighty Himself. Last week at Pentecost, we heard Jesus tell us to not let our hearts be troubled or afraid. So to squelch that fear and inspire confidence in the truth, He fills our hearts with promises, with good things in this life and in eternity. And this word, this promise, this truth changes things for us. This truth changes us. So the Apostles were glad when they saw the resurrected Lord, knowing He is the Son of God and all that He said was true. The prophets could boldly proclaim the Lord before hostile kings and queens, knowing that He was sending the Spirit to anoint the coming Holy One, the Messiah, the Son of Man. And as we heard from Jesus’ own lips today, Abraham rejoiced when he saw Jesus’ day, if only by the eyes of faith in the promise that the Trinity had spoken to him.

            You also rejoice and are glad to know and confess the Trinity. It may be one of those truths that boggles the mind. God is three Persons, yet only one God; each Person—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—distinct, but always One. We may only be able to explain it as best we can, up to the very limits of what human language can describe, as we do in things like the Athanasian Creed and hymns. But it gives us joy to speak truth. It gives us hope to know the Trinity, the one true God.

            For it is no incidental thing that God is Triune. This is not just a doctrine slapped onto the body of teachings that the Church holds. Rather, it is because He is Triune that He does the things He does. Because He is Three-in-One, we know that He is, by His very nature, always and forever in community. This is why He says that it’s not good that Adam is alone in the beginning, and He creates Eve for Adam to now have a family to belong to. It’s because God is never alone as Three-in-One. He Himself is defined by the bonds of love. The Father loves the Son, the Son is the Beloved One and loves the Father; their love then sends the Spirit to extend that love to creation. When we realize that God being Three-in-One is core to His nature, we can start to see why He created anything at all. He made the universe so that there was something to love, something to receive the love that exists between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; something to draw into His divine, holy community. It’s why He created man in His own image, a creature to be brought into His communion, someone for the divine love that exists within the Trinity to overflow to. And when mankind left that communion through sin, it’s because God is Triune that He could send the Son to redeem us and bring us back. It’s no mere technicality of doctrine that God is Three-in-One. Rather, it’s because He’s Triune that He does all these wonderful things for us, the creatures He wants to bring into communion with Him, even giving His body and blood to accomplish that.

            So we rejoice, even if we can’t fully comprehend. We give thanks, even if we can only explain it as best we can without perfectly understanding. We bow down and worship at the mystery of it all, even as we marvel that this truth has been given to us so that we would be united to God and one another through faith. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.