Trinity

The Trinity is considered to be the most complex doctrine in our faith by most theologians. So to unpack it in a short communication is probably not a good idea. So we’re going to make some quick observations from the text and then draw out some principles to lay a foundation.
Looking at the passage in John,

13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

We notice that Jesus identifies three distinct persons in the Godhead; the Father, himself and the Spirit. Within this Godhead, it is clear that each person plays a distinct role, each person freely gives and receives from the other and there is no hierarchy. One might say that since the Spirit doesn’t speak on his own authority, that he’s under the authority of the Father thus creating order. However the Bible also says that we can’t know the Father without the Spirit moving in our hearts. So if the Spirit is under the Father’s authority, then why would the Father need the Spirit to work in our hearts to get to know the Father? I believe the way to understand it is that each person needs to plays their role for the community of the Godhead to function effectively.

Paul further explains how these characteristics should manifest in the community. In Romans 12:3-8, Paul uses the analogy of the body has many parts but each part serves a particular function for the body to be optimally operational. No one part is more important that the other. In 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, Paul addresses the use of spiritual gifts to serve the church. He also says that we’re “given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (7). This means that our God-given gifts and abilities were given to serve the church. What this implies that each Christ-following individual has a responsibility to use the way God formed us (Psalm 139:13-16) for the community. We know that when the community is functional then we will be “praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47).

To make a comprehensive list of application would take pages. In order to make it simple and easy to apply here are a couple questions to ask yourself:
-What are my gifts and abilities? How can I use that to serve the community?
-Do I feel that I deserved to be served? Do I consider myself better than others?
-Am I being a faithful steward with my possessions, time, and energy?

Next, Pastor Yun will be addressing the role of the Church as an institution.

Dual-nature

And God said “Let there be light,” and there was light (Genesis 1:3). Scientist and engineers spend a lot of time and money studying light and ways to manipulate it for our benefit. Today we discovered ways to transmit/receive light (LED, lasers) which we have used in a number of useful applications (optical data transmission, solar energy). We also know that light is the fastest speed we can measure, often referencing the speed of light or light-years (the distance light travels in one year). Some of the earliest study of light was to investigate how light diffracts (bends) around objects. One experiment (1803) is when passing light through two narrow slits there are intense beams and dark regions to show that light as an energy source acts like a wave.


Figure 1. Shooting a laser two narrow slits

Over a century later, physicists discovered that light also had discrete units of energy that could be measured through several different experiments. Even the early discoveries of light behaving as discrete units of energy did not get readily accepted due to the inability of ‘wave theory’ to explain it. Einstein finally, through calculation, was able to prove that light also behave as particles, often referred as photons.


Figure 2. Schematic on dual nature of light

Even though physicist cannot explain why light has this dual-nature (Re: uncertainty principle), there’s no denying the benefits we have received from it.

When looking at the Church, it’s a bit similar. There’s the dual-nature of the Church: as an institution and as gospel community. When most people think of church, we often refer to either a building or a group of believers which is the community centered on the gospel of Jesus. The Church as an institution is affirmed not only by the apostles whom are writing letters of instruction to the churches but also by Jesus himself as revealed in Revelation (1:12-13,16,20) when Jesus is holding the seven stars and referring to the churches as lampstands. What is the purpose of the church? What do we see in the Bible regarding on how our church is to function if it’s going to be a thriving community?

The most commonly reference section of the Bible regarding church model is Acts 2, particularly in the end:
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

One question to ask is: if we model our church to the early church described in Acts 2, then what did the early church have to model itself after? To answer that question we need to look in the earlier part of Acts 2:4 “And they were filled with the Holy Spirit”. We read in John 16:13-15 Jesus says, “when the Spirit of Truth will comes, he (Holy Spirit) will [not only] guide you into all truth… He (Holy Spirit) will glorify me (Jesus) for he (Holy Spirit) will take what is mine (Jesus) and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine (Jesus), therefore I said that he (Holy Spirit) will take what is mine (Jesus) and declare it to you.” So we can infer from scripture that the early church was inspired by the Holy Spirit to reflect the triune nature of God. So we should get our model of community by reflecting how God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit commune with each other as reflected by the early church.

Since this introduction was a bit long, we’re going to investigate how the Trinity functions and how those qualities should be manifested in our gospel community in the next blog and then look to the role of Church as an institution.