Trinity and Humanity

Part A:

Part B:

Full Audio Message:

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Scripture: Ephesians 5; 6:1-3

Summary:

What comes to mind when you hear the command, “Honor your father and mother”?

For many of us, our thoughts immediately turn to our earthly families, the blessings we have received, the wounds we carry, the relationships we cherish, or perhaps the relationships we wish had been different. But in this Gospel-rich message, Pastor Timothy Brassell invites us to rediscover that this command is about something far deeper than earthly family structures.

It is about the eternal relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and our inclusion in that life through Jesus Christ.

Before Paul gives the command to honor father and mother in Ephesians 6:1-3, he first proclaims the Gospel in Ephesians 1. He reminds us that the Father chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, adopted us as His children, and sealed us with the Holy Spirit. The command, therefore, is not built upon duty or obligation alone. It is built upon grace.

As Pastor Tim explains, the primary thing going on in the command to honor your father and your mother is our adoption into the life and love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit relationship.

This changes everything. Fatherhood, motherhood, and childhood are not merely human realities that God blesses from a distance. Rather, they are earthly reflections of the deeper reality revealed in Jesus Christ. The Father eternally loves the Son in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, and through Jesus we are graciously included in that love.

This means the Gospel speaks powerfully to every person. Whether your earthly family is strong or broken, whether your parents are living or gone, whether your experiences are joyful or painful, the good news remains: you have a Father—the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ—and He has made you His own in Jesus.

But Pastor Tim presses even further. He challenges us to rediscover that the Church is the “mother” of us all. Not because God is female, nor because motherhood is projected onto God, but because Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church, continues to nurture, comfort, teach, and raise His people through His body, the Church.

The early Church understood this well. As Cyprian famously wrote: “He cannot have God for his Father who has not the Church for his mother.” — Cyprian, On the Unity of the Church, 6

This ancient insight beautifully echoes Pastor Tim’s message. The Christian life was never meant to be lived in isolation. We are called into participation. Participation with Christ, participation in His relationship with the Father, and participation with one another through the Holy Spirit. The Church is not an optional addition to the Christian life. She is the family Christ gathers, the place where He continues His ministry, and the community through which He mothers and nurtures His people in the love of the Father.

Pastor Tim reminds us that the Church has a unique and counter-cultural message. We are not called to simply mirror the world’s understanding of fathers, mothers, and families. Rather, we are called to proclaim the deeper truth: that all human relationships find their meaning in the eternal love shared by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

As Irenaeus wrote many centuries ago: “The glory of God is a living man; and the life of man consists in beholding God.” — Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.20.7

Humanity flourishes not by looking inward or by defining itself apart from God, but by beholding the Father revealed in Jesus Christ and participating in His life through the Holy Spirit. This message is both comforting and challenging. Comforting because no one is fatherless or motherless in Christ. Challenging because we are invited to lay aside our cultural assumptions and rediscover who God truly is and who we truly are because of Jesus Christ.

Reflective Moment

Take a moment to reflect. When you think about fatherhood, motherhood, and family, what shapes your understanding most. Your experiences or the Gospel?

What would change if you truly believed that the Father of Jesus Christ is your Father, that you have been adopted into His life through the Son, and that the Holy Spirit is continually drawing you deeper into that relationship?

And how might your view of the Church change if you saw her not as a place you attend, but as the family through which Jesus Christ continues to nurture, comfort, and raise His people?

This message invites us all to rediscover the Father and “Mother” of us all and to rejoice in the astonishing truth that through Jesus Christ, we have been welcomed into the life and love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.