Knowing the 'shared life' of the Trinity

The Spirit comes to give us revelation... he causes us to know things we could not know otherwise. But there is another wonderful truth wrapped up in this – and it is that every time God acts in our life it is so we will know something more about him.  His power, his healing, his provision, his rescues… are all God’s way of revealing himself. The point of the countless works of the Spirit in us is to reveal more and more of who the Father is and who Jesus is. If we are touched by the Spirit in worship, that is because he wants to reveal things to us. Don’t be satisfied with things happening to your body, or even your heart… ask the Lord ‘What do you want me to know about you this time?’  He always wants to reveal more of himself.

It is God’s nature to reveal himself. Because that is the nature of love – love seeks to be known. And God is the author of love. He reveals himself in creation – he reveals himself through the Scriptures – and through each other – and through life experiences…

This is why the Spirit immediately led the disciples outside to speak to the people in the streets, and not have a day of praise together in their upper room – he wanted to reveal himself to the people in Jerusalem – he had been waiting for this day for centuries!  And he did it wonderfully and powerfully through those Spirit-soaked disciples.

And here is something else to notice….Jesus came to make the Father known.  He said that over and over. And he said that when the Spirit comes he will not speak of himself but will speak of me… of Jesus.

Are you aware that each member of the Trinity will point you to another one?  Jesus speaks of the Father – the Spirit speaks of Jesus, and the Father speaks audibly at the Transfiguration and says ‘This is my Son whom I love, listen to him.’ We cannot point to things that are happening and say ‘This is the Spirit at work’ and disconnect them from the nature and ways of the Father or of Jesus. The Spirit will reflect and reveal Jesus, in the same way that Jesus reflected and revealed the Father.

This is a fascinating glimpse into how the fellowship of the Trinity live in love together. They always operate as a team – not as individual parts of the Trinity.  And it leads us into our third key mark of the Spirit.

We have observed the boldness or confidence the Spirit brings, in prayer, in witnessing about Jesus, in a courageous Kingdom life.
And we have seen that what Jesus promised would happen - did happen. They knew things about Jesus and the purposes of God, and their own place in the love of the Father that they could not have known apart from the Spirit of Truth showing it to them. And this changed their prayer and their ability to speak of God.

But there is something else very wonderful going on here. The whole nature of their life together as disciples of Jesus has changed.

We find this described in Acts 4 immediately after they prayed that bold prayer and they were filled again with the Spirit and spoke the word of God fearlessly.

Vs 32 – 35  And all the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own; but they shared everything they had…. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money and put it at the apostle’s feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.”

And earlier in Ch.2 it says they devoted themselves to learning together, eating together in each other’s homes, praying and breaking bread together.

There was an extra-ordinary sharing of their lives…both the good and the bad – the joys and the hardships…. which is what the word ‘fellowship’ means. A common life… where what is mine is yours. A family life – sharing everything – even to the point of selling property or land and giving to any in need.

What is happening here?  Where does all this freedom to give and share come from? This is so beautiful… this is such an insight into the work of the Spirit. We have had little glimpses of this here and there but in this it is fully demonstrated.

The life of God that comes to us through the Spirit being poured out on us – is ALWAYS a shared life. For the Father, the Son and the Spirit share their life together all the time.

We hear Peter saying, “ Jesus – exalted to the right hand of the Father – has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and poured him out on us… and this is what you are seeing now.”  Father, Son and Spirit – working together.

When Jesus is telling the disciples that the Spirit of Truth will come he says “When he comes you will know I am in my Father, and you are in me.”  The Spirit, the Son and the Father all reveal themselves to us. It is not one, or the other, but all three.

They have a completely shared life. They do nothing on their own as separate persons. They never act independently of each other. They reveal - even in this story of the pouring out of the Spirit their unity, their nature of working together in their plan to redeem this world they love so much.  It is the most astounding picture when you begin to explore it.

Let me give you a wonderful quote from Baxter Kruger again:

“The life that God lives as Father, Son and Spirit, is not boring and sad and lonely; there is no emptiness in this circle, no depression or fear or angst. Their shared life is a life of unrestrained fellowship and openness, fired by wholehearted self-giving love and mutual delight.

Such love, giving rise to such togetherness and fellowship, over-flows in unbounded joy, in infinite creativity and unimaginable goodness.

The gospel begins here with this God and with this divine life, for there is no other.

Before time dawned and space was called to be, before the heavens were stretched out and filled with a sea of stars, before the earth was summoned and filled with people and life and endless beauty, before there was anything, there was the Father, Son and Spirit and the great and beautiful dance of shared life. (This is why we love teams that accomplish wonderful things as they work together. We were not created to live a solitary, guarded, inward looking life.)

The amazing truth is that this Triune God, in staggering and lavish love, determined to open the circle and share their unique life with others. This is the one, eternal and abiding reason for the existence of the universe and human life within it. There is no other God, no other will of God, no second plan, no hidden agenda for human beings. From the beginning, God is Father, Son and Spirit, and from the beginning, this God has determined not to exist without us. “

I find that an astounding thought. This unparalleled fellowship of Father, Son and Spirit are saying ‘Come and join us’.  Everything Jesus did was to bring us into this shared life of their love. Everything the Spirit does on the earth is to draw us and bind us into this shared life of our three– in one God.

You see – those first believers who together experienced such a wonderful shared life were reflecting the very life that Father, Son and Spirit share in together. They couldn’t help it. It was natural to them now.  And this is precisely what the Spirit longs to do for us.

We sadly, have a very western, individual view of the Spirit and the life of God’s people. But that can be washed away by the Spirit filling our hearts with sacrificial love for others and a willingness to serve others whatever it costs us, and a freedom to exalt others and not ourselves… When this begins to happen to us - we will know that we truly walk in the Spirit and really know what divine fellowship is all about.

Are we there yet?  No we aren’t.  There is so much more we need from this wonderful Holy Spirit. He longs to pour into us the love of the Father and wash away our fears and insecurities.

He longs to give us such deep assurances that we can ever after pray boldly, and act boldly, and speak boldly without fear.

He longs to reveal to us what Jesus has done for us; what the Father is doing in the lives of those around us so we can pray for them and reach out to them.

He longs to help us see behind the text of Scripture and hear the living Word speaking to us as we ponder on the Scriptures.

He longs to reveal more of the nature of God as we battle through hard places in life, as we meet new challenges. For every new thing we face is a chance to see more of his grace that meets our needs in that season.

He is a person who yearns over us, who groans for us, who whispers to us, who bathes us in love…

Have you let him come and do that? What more do you need to cry out for today, and tomorrow and the rest of the week until he comes anew to you?  What more is there for you that you need to take hold of?

 Jesus said that God gives the Spirit ‘without measure’.  There is no limit, no safe little drop here and there…a little tear, a little shaking… no - there is a wonderful pouring out of this glorious  life of the Father, the Son and the Spirit that he has for you – and it is all good! There is nothing to fear.

I think, really, we have to stop asking for so little. And being content with so little.What if there was a table groaning with good food and all we took were a few grapes? It would indicate that we are not hungry.

I think it saddens God when we hold back and think so little of his lavish provision for us that we don’t take all we can get our hands on. Give him joy by asking UNTIL you receive all that he has for you now. Let us ask him to make us hungry for an outpouring of his life and boldness and fresh insight… we need all he can give us.