Have you ever had problems building flat pack furniture?
The instructions are there but sometimes it’s not as easy as it looks!
When Jesus tried to explain the relationship between Himself and God and those who were born of the Spirit, Nicodemus echoed something many people feel about the Trinity; “How can these things be?”
Does reading the Bible’s instructions help us fit the pieces together?
From his knowledge of the scriptures, Nicodemus would know about the Spirit of God having been active in Creation.
But here was Jesus saying that ordinary people could be born of the Spirit in a new way. Nicodemus saw Jesus as a teacher, and was sure that He had come from God, a prophet perhaps.
But Jesus stunned him with the announcement that He was God’s only son.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit: the three Persons of the Trinity.
But the word ‘Trinity’ doesn’t appear in the bible: it isn’t in our instructions.
Later centuries of Christians invented the term to describe the idea of the Three-Dimensional God, the way in which Father, Son and Holy Spirit together show us who God is, not as separate flat pieces, but an assembly of Love.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. God created the world, created us, and loves us.
Father, Son and Spirit are different dimensions of His love; creating us, rescuing us and strengthening us in faith.
Eternal life starts here, right now, if only we suspend our disbelief, allow the Spirit to work in our lives, and accept that Jesus can save us.
If only we trust that these things might be, even if we can’t quite see how.
If we try to build a flat pack wardrobe, for example, we need to have a good translation of the instructions, study them carefully and follow them.
The same applies for our faith; we need to study the bible, have help with translating it into our lives, just as Nicodemus had the benefit of Jesus’ own teaching to supplement his knowledge of the scriptures.
The same applies to us; we can become members of a study group or talk with friends in the congregation with stories to tell of God’s love in their lives.
The Trinity is not just a theory; it is a reality of life itself
In baptism, we are born of the Spirit; as a Christian community, sharing this Holy Communion, we are part of that loving, dynamic relationship, which is the Trinity.
Let’s not keep God in a box, flat packed; but share with others the height and depth and breadth of His most wonderful love.
Join a house group and read the bible together, ask questions of each other, study the Word.
Unpack the box, look at all the pieces, allow the Holy Spirit to guide you and build the community of Love that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit wants for us all.
Amen