Trinity and Humanity

One of the most beautiful sounds in all the world, to me, is the sound of either or both of my daughters saying “Thank you, Dad!”

They do it quite often, and they do it in a sweet and feminine way in which I can hear, feel, see in their expression, and experience the sincerity! I also experience the joy when I hear them say “Thank You” to others, too, especially their mom. Chances are high that you also like hearing it, especially when it is directed personally to you! Ha-Ha!

Of course, after years of living, we kind of take it for granted that we should hear it, especially after doing something good for someone, and often get offended when we don’t hear it. “Do you mean to tell me that after all that I’ve just done for her, I can’t get so much as a Thank You?! Well I’ll be…..!”, (we’ll often say silently to ourselves!), as some of us even add in the expletives! Am I being real enough??? Ha-Ha!

But Thanksgiving, like love, is not “built in at the factory”, is it?

I mean love can only be love when there is another to share it with. Thanksgiving can only be Thanks-giving when it is shared, and it must be learned from and shared with others. There is a good chance that had you not been taught to say “Thank You” (even indirectly by the example of others), you probably would not have made those words up! You might have experienced good thoughts and feelings but you would not have known what Words to say.

That brings us to the significance of Thanksgiving!

How do you know a good thought when you hear it? How do you know a genuinely good feeling when you feel it? How is it that you participate in Thanksgiving and gratitude?

The reason we all like, and participate in, the words and feelings of Thanksgiving, especially when they are sincere, is because of The Word – Jesus, and His becoming human to share with us His relationship with His Father and Their Holy Spirit! Think about it! When the 2nd Person of the Trinity made human, Jesus, walked among us as God in the flesh, he said “THANK YOU!” to His Father! John 11:41! We know that this communion between the Father and the Son is the communion of the Holy Spirit! 2 Cor 13:14!

So think about this fantastic Thanksgiving Reality:

• Seeing Jesus the God/Man give Thanks to His Father, in the Spirit, tells us that God has to be a Relationship of Distinct Persons Who do not take each other for granted but express gratitude to each other! After all, believers in Jesus believe that he was the embodiment of the fullness of God in flesh, Col 1:19, 2:9, and was doing in flesh Who God actually is, Heb 1:3!! (Way Cool!!! God does what we do! Ha-Ha!)
• If humanity participates in Thanksgiving (and we do!), it is a sign to us that humanity belongs to that Relational God and is included in that relationship because, like love, we had to learn and receive Thanksgiving from Someone in order for it to truly be thanks giving. The word “Thanksgiving” even educates us in this fact with “Thanks” – “GIVING”! (Way Cool!!! We do what God does!)

Can you believe it??? Thanksgiving isn’t just some polite thing you do because it is written in a book of ethics!

Thanksgiving is not something that all of humanity does because it is written in a moral code! I’ve even seen, heard and experienced immoral, irreligious, atheistic pagan people give genuine thanks to others (and so have you!!!), meaning our Adoption into God the Trinity’s relationship is wholly apart from works and is not a transaction of any kind! It is solely by God’s grace that anyone and everyone is included in it!

Thanksgiving is an expression of the way Life really is, and Jesus revealed as The Word, and through His words of Thanksgiving, that the Father, Son and Spirit really do have gratitude going on in His Relationship before anything or anyone else existed!

So, even Thanksgiving helps us see that the Gospel is not “Make Jesus your Lord and Savior!”, or, “Believe in order to get saved!” Yikes! If you could do those things YOU would be a very powerful Lord & Savior (but you are NOT a powerful Lord & Savior my friend!) Ha-Ha! The Gospel IS “With certainty…God has made Him both Lord and Savior, this Jesus whom you crucified.” – Acts 2:36! You don’t have to DO anything to get adopted or saved or earn your share in God’s gratitude; You are, and have those things, freely in Jesus Christ! Now that’s something to BE thankful for!!!

~ by Timothy Brassell