Personal Applications of the Trinity, Part 1

For my Systematic Theology class, I've been reading "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" by Bruce Ware. It's a book about the relationships, roles, and relevance of the Persons of the Trinity. Most people see understanding the Trinity as impossible, so they choose to avoid thinking about it. If God thought it important to present Himself in Scripture as one God in 3 persons, it stands to reason that it should be important for us to understand it the best we can. We'll never wrap our minds completely around the concept, but there are valuable applications for our own relationships when we begin to study the relationships between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One overarching premise to keep in mind: "Each Person is equal in essence as each possesses fully the identically same, eternal divine nature, yet each is also an eternal and distinct personal expression of the one undivided divine nature."

Over the next few posts, I'd like to point out some of the applications Ware talks about in his book. I realize it will be difficult to compress all of what Ware says in a couple of blog entries, but I'll do my best. I apologize in advance for any confusion.

Personal applications from the relationship of the Father to his Son and Holy Spirit:

1. The Father has authority over the Son and the Spirit, and he exercises this authority by doing much of His work through the Son and the Spirit. To exercise authority with wisdom, goodness, care, and thoroughness, and not in self-serving ways, is to be like our heavenly Father.
2. We learn from the Father what true fatherhood is really like. Like the Father, earthly fathers should cultivate an atmosphere of respect for their authority while also being lavish, generous, and even extravagant in their care, love, provision and protection for their children. Additionally, men and women who have been affected by abuse can learn afresh from our heavenly Father just what true fatherhood is.
3. It's amazing how God chooses to delegate his work to the Son, the Spirit, and even humans to accomplish His purposes, and he rejoices over them when it's done. "The Father shares his work, and with the Son, he shares his glory (e.g. John 17:5). It is as if the Father says, 'Shine the spotlight on my Son, and praise and honor his name.'" In light of this, those who are in authority over others should seek to find ways to spotlight those under them. "May God grant us hearts, like our Father's, that seek ways to share the 'best' of the work so that others may have the joy of such a rich participation in things that truly matter."
4. "While the Father shines the spotlight on the Son, surely also the Son longs with every breath and in every deed to give honor and glory to His Father. In like fashion, those of us who are "put in the spotlight by another in authority over (us), should, like Jesus, reflect back (our) honor on the one(s) who have granted (us) the privilege and the training for (our) particular ministry."

In summary, Ware offers this: "While those in authority need to be more like the Father, who lavishes favor on others by calling them to participate in his work, often putting the spotlight on them for their labors of love, those under authority need to be more like the Son, who gratefully and obediently embraces the work given him by his Father, and gives highest honor to the Father for all that is accomplished. What a revolution would take place in our homes and churches if such reciprocal honoring of one another took place, all the while maintaining clearly the lines of authority that exist, by God's good purpose and wise design."