(manuscript) Trinity: Loving the Lord for WHO He Is

In the old fable, the goose was valuable because it laid golden eggs. The goose was not valuable for what it was, but for what it produced, and in many respects, God has become this today for believers and unbelievers alike. Unbelievers who are asked about God make statements such as, “What did He ever do for me?” and believers follow suit with statements that expect prosperity, “Speak your truth into existence” or “God is for you.”

A careful assessment of these statements reveals that, in our minds, we are at the center of our existence and that God is nothing to me if not a jeanie in a bottle.

Thus...

What is the goal of the message?

To call the you to treasure the LORD supremely and consequently devote yourself to HIM uniquely.

Why is this goal needed?

To answer this, we can look at the nation of Israel. The need of the nation of Israel is quite similar to our need today.

The nation of Israel had a history of not treasuring the LORD and of not being devoted to Him. Exodus 17:1-7.

The New Testament comments on the nation of Israel as being idolators, sexually immoral, grumblers, and testers of Christ (I Corinthians 10:9). They spoke against the Lord, placing their physical appetites above the very Person of God.

As the children of Israel is about the enter the land that the LORD had promised to their ancestors over 400 years earlier, Moses was prepared them for an encounter with people who were devoted to many other gods: gods of their own appetites, entertainment, sexual immorality, food, crops…etc Deuteronomy 6:10-16. [reality is that there are Christians who are addicted to…]

And when God’s people live in cultures which are like these, we would do well to remember that our love can wax cold (Matthew 24:12). The key to living as God’s people in cultures like this is to treasure the LORD supremely and devote ourselves to Him uniquely.

Illustration:

What does this mean and how does this happen? [to treasure the LORD and devote fully to Him]

Evaluate your hearing of the LORD

Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:” begins with an imperative command - “Hear...”

(i) Hearing is Obedience.

To Hear and not obey is equal to have never heard at all.

For the Hebrews, they understood that this command did not simply mean that they needed to listen with their ears, but the command meant to listen and obey. This is the verb “Shama”.

(ii) Creeds are spoken, heard, and lived expressions of faith.

Secondly, this particular verb introduces what is known as the “Shema” or what has been called the “most fundamental expression of the Jewish faith” [Douglas S. Huffman and Jamie N. Hausherr, The Lexham Bible Dictionary, 2016.] It is a creed that is cited by the Jews in the morning and evening. This statement summarizes the heart of God’s covenant with his people [Ibid]

While the creed is important, the opening word exposes a weakness of humanity — that we are both forgetful and hypocritical.

App:

The New Testament writer James well understood this human weakness when he said in James 1:22 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

What does it mean to hear the LORD?

To hear the LORD is to obey the words that you hear -- to live according to the truth.

Treasuring the LORD does not begin with a feeling but with hearing and obeying the word of the Lord.

Are you hearing without doing?

Illustration: Hearing the bell at Shaker Run…A you can go bell; Hearing the sirens of a FireTruck while you are driving, you…this is a alerting bell; being awakened to your house alarm going off — this is an alarming bell. Somewhat of a blend of all three...

To hear the truth without responding to the truth is to continue in self-delusion.

It is the self-delusion that continues living a life that is contrary to the truth you’ve just heard.

To hear that Jesus is the only Lord but to continue living as if your entertainment is Lord is to live self-deluded.

It is not hearing just anything today, but what is the truth that must be heard?

Estimate the uniqueness of the LORD

Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:” does not begin with the command but with the basis for the command. Notice:

“The LORD” is the name YAHWEH. This is the covenant name that God had for his people. This was special and unique.

Not everyone can call me dad, but Josiah and Joanna do call me dad. There is a particular relationship established between us.

Yahweh is a known Being.

In this Shema, Yahweh is identified by the name with which he made himself known. YAHWEH is God’s covenant name with Israel. This is how God discloses his nature. The name is given in a phrase in Exodus 3:14-15 “I am that I am” or “I am What I am” - In an obscure way Yahweh, based on some philologists, comes from the verb to be [Packer, 18 Words, Published by Christian Focus, p. 46] This means that Yahweh, the LORD, is self-sufficient and self-existent. He did not need to create man so that someone could KNOW Him or so that He could be known.

App:

Isn’t this truth of being known reflected in humanity through the experiment of social media. If there is one thing that we have learned through the use of social media, it is that we want to be known and we want to know. With mankind it is a need — “I need to be known and to know”. With Yahweh, it is a reality not a need. He is a Known Being.

“is one Lord” is a phrase that expresses Yahweh’s exclusivity. There is no other true God. There is only One God.

At very least this verse does a few things: (1) Gives us insight into the very Being of God (2) Calls us to estimate Him as completely unique.

Yahweh is a relational Being.

“our God” shows that this relationship is personal.

The nation of Israel can claim Yahweh as their own God. This personal relationship was also how Yahweh spoke to his own people in Exodus 20:2-7 “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”

He was not lonely

In this Shema, Yahweh is also identified as “our Elohim” or deity. Since Yahweh is clearly relational or personal, we must point out that He did not create mankind because He needed a personal friend or was lonely.

He is Uncaused

To be self-sufficient and self-existent means that nothing made Him. Nothing caused YAHWEH to exist. He is What He is. This means that He is eternal and depends upon no prior cause.

All of this and more is understood in this Name “Yahweh”.

How then is a Being who is known and personal able to exist if there are not other Persons?

Herein lies the mystery of the Trinity.

Yahweh is the Name of the LORD that encompasses ONE GOD and three Persons. Yahweh is one in being or essence while being three in Persons or subsistence.

What is a being versus person?

A being is the nature or essence; it is a real entity, especially an intelligent entity.

A person is someone with whom you can have relationship. You can talk, you can connect with emotionally, spiritually, physically…etc

If we as WHAT is God? He is 1 Being.

If we ask WHO is God? He is 3 Persons.

God is one in essence/being. God is three Persons.

Illustration/Quote:

With humans: 1 being = 1 person typically. What does it mean to be a human being? It means, generally-speaking, to be a rational being that is composed of both soul and body. This could be teased out more, but for someone to be considered a human being, there are a minimum set of criteria. If you multiply a human being, this minimum set of criteria must be true of each being under this genus and species.

Within the genus of humanity, there are species with variations, but all are still humans. We are human beings. He is the God Being. Human beings is WHAT WE ARE. God is WHAT HE IS.

With God, there is not genus and species. God is not multipliable. God is One Being. That is What He is. This is His Oneness.

Yahweh has eternally existed in a relationship where each Person has known the other, related to the other, and loved the other fully and perfectly for all of eternity past.

He has no need for anyone or anything to know Him or to love Him. He is self-sufficient in all of His ways.

Illustration: Diagram - Picture with statements.

Thus, when we see that Yahweh is relational and personal, we should see that His activities towards mankind — the nation of Israel — is based on Who He is within the Godhead. The inner workings of God are revealed to us through His out workings.

Yahweh is a simple Being.

Furthermore, Yahweh is exclusive among all. He is distinct from his creatures, though he relates to them and He is distinct in that he is NOT a composition of parts. For the countries who had false gods, they often did so in a polytheistic way. They had a goddess of fertility, a god of crops, a god of health…etc

Yahweh being One means that He is exclusive among all false gods meaning there is no other true God, and that He is simple meaning there is no need for any other false gods because He is complete in an of Himself.

The Simplicity of God does not mean that God is ignorant or lacking in some kind of understanding. Nor does the simplicity of God mean that God is easy for us to understand.

The Simplicity of God means that God is not made up of various parts. Kevin DeYoung uses the illustration of Legos, but it may help us to think of God in contrast to us.

We are material beings, God is not a material Being. He is Spirit. John 4.

As material beings, we have different body parts that make us whole. God is not composed of body parts to make him whole.

As creatures, we possess attributes but we do not possess them in a complete sense. We have love, anger, joy…etc God does not possess attributes in the same way. God is love. God is light. God is just. God is not 50% love and 50% just. He is whole in who He is. This is what the Simplicity of God means.

The Simplicity of God is related to the Unity of God, meaning that not only is God not a composition of attributes, but He is not a composition of Persons.

We should not think that God is 33% Father, 33% Son, and 33% Holy Spirit. He is not a composite Being. The Godness of the Father is 100%. The Godness of the Son is 100%. The Godness of the Holy Spirit is 100%. They are One God in Essence and three distinct Persons.

He is not 300% God with three gods being present. He is One God in essence. [Tri-Theism]

God is not one God who appears in three forms at different times, like the H2O analogy. [Modalism]

How is the LORD unique and what is His worth?

As you consider the mystery of the oneness in threeness and threeness in oneness, you see his uniqueness; and when you grow to understand this uniqueness, you should consider what is the worth of this Being?

Illustration: Even in our temporary existence, the more rare a material item is, the more valuable. In creation though, something happens when we become aware that we are seeing something rare. We stare. We watch. We marvel. Consider the Albino squirrel....etc

Are you esteeming the LORD as unique to all other things and people? (awe, wonder...etc)

If we are going to treasure the LORD, we need to stare, watch, marvel; but there is actually a particular response that the Lord deserves.

Evaluate your love for the LORD

Deuteronomy 6:5 “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

Yahweh Deserves Love

If Yahweh is this unique, He deserves a unique, exclusive kind of love. He deserves a kind of affection that is unparalleled. He deserves an affection that encompasses the entire nation of Israel and each individual whole being within the nation of Israel.

Human Flourishing is Connected with Our Response

It is more than this though. Yes, Israel must remember that Yahweh is their personal God; but Yahweh attaches their good flourishing to their response to the LORD.

Notice Deuteronomy 6:3 “Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.”

The flourishing of God’s people is directly connected to their response to God. It is the reality that mankind, the nation of Israel, and we were all created by Yahweh to be in relationship with Him and so that without Him we would never fully flourish or find whole satisfaction. As one man said, “You have a God-size hole in your heart.”

It is not just that we are to love God because of Who He is, but we should love God because without Him we are never able to be fully who we are supposed to be. We are never fully satisfied.

Illustration: Think of all the things people do to satisfy themselves.

We see examples of this in the NT. People who are thirsty needed “living water” more than physical water. People are were hungry needed bread of life more than physical bread. Jesus Christ claimed to be the One who could meet the deepest longing of the human heart. The deepest longing is to be loved and the love. For me to love God wholly is not only what Yahweh deserves, but it is what I need.

We are not dispensable to Him. Yahweh has your best interests in mind.

What is the LORD’s great commandment to me and am I living by it?

Are you wholly loving God?

Estimate the cost loving the LORD

Do you at least know that you need to love Him exclusively, even if you don’t have the feelings? When you consider that He deserves this, does it bother you that you don’t love Him like He deserves? It should. Let’s add weight to that pressure you feel, until the infection is exposed. Listen to the words of Christ.

Mark 12:28-30 “28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

And just in case you don’t understand the full weight of this message from Christ, note Mark 12:34

“And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.”

Jesus connects these commands with the kingdom of God. Do you realize that those who are in the kingdom of God love God with all of who they are and they love their neighbor as themselves. Do you love God like this?

Ironically, the scribe was staring in the face of the ONLY human who had ever lived who had perfectly fulfilled those commands.

John 15:9 “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.”

John 17:21-26 “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. 24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. 26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

The love that this law requires has eternally existed in the relationship between the eternal Father and Son. The Son took upon himself humanity and lived out this pre-existing, eternal love towards this Father, so that the Father and the Son could put this love towards God inside of other humans.

Romans 5:5, Galatians 4:6, Titus 3:5-6.

This is what the new birth is about. The New Birth is an invitation into the life of God. It is an invitation into a love that has eternally existed. It is an invitation to be brought back from exile under the punishment for our sin.

How is this invite accomplished? By the One God, Who is Three Persons:

God the Father sent His loved Son to live a fully human life of love for the Father and others, die a sacrificial death for those who had transgressed the law, powerfully rise from the dead, and ascend to Heaven so that the Father/Son could send the Holy Spirit of Love to birth lovers of God and lovers of people.

What is the cost of wholly loving Yahweh?

The cost is genuine faith that is marked by affectionate obedience in every aspect of your life. (heart, soul, mind, strength)...

Are you esteeming the cost of loving Yahweh because of Yahweh?

If this is the Yahweh we have in Jesus, why are we not more bold to speak of him to the surrounding nations?

Why does the surrounding nation not see our lives as markedly distinct?