“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus”
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as
Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider
equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a
servant,
being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!
being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name
that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee would
bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue
acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.” (Phil 2:6-11)
God is Trinity... three
persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We know this but how often do
we dwell on this and really think about this?
Each one in the Trinity
made room for each other.
A.W. Tozer writes, “In
the Scriptures the three Persons are shown to act in harmonious unity
in all the mighty works that are wrought throughout the universe.”
[1]
A.W Tozer notes that all
the works of God were done not individually but as a work of the
Trinity together as one. Here are examples of the significant events he discusses: [2]
In Creation, Father God
spoke forth, the Holy Spirit brooded (Gen 1:2) and moved to create
(Psalm 104:30), and it was by Jesus that they were created (Col
1:16). Jesus was the very Word (John 1:1) of the Father co-creating.
In Jesus coming as Man,
all three were involved. The Father sent the Son (1 John 4:14), the
Holy Spirit came upon Mary impregnating her (Luke 1:35), to give
birth to Jesus.
In the baptism of
Jesus, the heaven's opened, the Father witnessed, proclaiming, “This
is my beloved Son,
with whom I am well
pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) And the Holy Spirit descended and rested
upon Jesus.
In
Jesus going to the cross, it was the work of the Trinity together.
It was the will of the Father that Jesus went to the cross (Luke
22:42). And it was through the work of the Spirit that Jesus offered
Himself. Hebrews 9:14 says, “How much more, then, will the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished
to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that
we may serve the living God!”
In
the Resurrection, it was the Father who exalted the Son (Phil. 2:9,
Acts 2:32), and through the Holy Spirit that He was raised from the
dead (Romans 1:4).
Salvation
is also a work of the Trinity. It is through the Father's
determination/ foreknowledge (John 10:29) that believers come to
Jesus and are given the Holy Spirit as they come to believe
(Ephesians 1:13, John 14:16-17). 1 Peter 1:2 says about believers,
“who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to
Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood...”
The
work of sanctification is also a work of the Trinity.
1
Peter 1:1 says,”To God's elect, exiles scattered throughout the Providences of Pontus, Galatia, Capadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who
have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus
Christ and sprinkled with his blood...”
One
author notes about this verse,
“He begins his letter by stressing to us that our sanctification is
the purpose of God the Trinity... And the principle that the New
Testament writers are constantly seeking to underline by that is that
the entire being of God in the fellowship, in what we might call the
planning meetings of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit in
the unity of God’s being, have, as it were, cast all of their votes
with this great purpose in mind, that God’s people saved by God’s
Son will be sanctified by God’s Spirit. This is what God has set
his heart on from before the foundation of the world. This is why he
created the world. This is why he chose a people for himself.”[3]
We
live in a very individualistic culture where one's own efforts are
what count and matter. For example, at work, my performance is
rated individually. While how my employees who work for me are doing
may rate some in how I am viewed, for the most part, I am rated just
on what I do myself.
I
have a tendency to see God in this same way at times... I see Him looking
at my individual performance. But more than likely, while God sees
me individually, He also looks at us as one and as part of the whole body.
Jesus prayed
for us to be one as they are One. John 17:11, 20-23, “Holy
Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me,
so that they may be one as we are one.... 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. ”
God
desires us as His body to function as one, to make room for each
other, and build each other up. In doing this, we are reflecting Christ who operates as part of a whole as one in the Trinity.
Often when we function
individualistically, we are in opposition to the way of life that God
would direct us to in serving, preferring and making room for others.
Our walk of faith is demonstrated in how we love others.
Paul
demonstrated this kind of unity within the body. In 1 Thessalonians
1:1, he starts the letter from “Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the
church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ...”
The
three of them were of one heart and mind towards the believers in
Thessalonica. They operated as one in serving the body and each played a
role. They were in unity with God who also brought them in complete unity with each other. In the same way, God would have us take our individualistic
ways to the cross and operate in unity of heart and mind with other
Christians.
Lord,
forgive me where I have been independent or individualistic and not saw your greater purposes for unity. Give us a fuller perspective of you as the
Trinity. Help us to put aside our individualistic ways of thinking of living that are shaped by this culture of living in a line and truly come together in a circle with You in the Center.
“O
Blessed Trinity!
O
simplest Majesty! O Three in One!
Thou
art for ever God alone.
Holy
Trinity!
Blessed
equal Three.
On
God, we praise Thee.”
Frederick
W. Faber
1-2.
Tozer. A.W. The Knowledge of The Holy. Walker and Company. New
York, NY. 1961.
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