There is one God who eternally exists in three distinct persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - who are each fully and equally God, equal in power, glory, and honor without division of essence. Every analogy used in an attempt to explain the Trinitarian God of the Bible falls short. This is due to the fact that God's very being is beyond our full comprehension. Yet, while we cannot know God exhaustively, we can know God truly, as He has revealed Himself to us in Scripture. And, Scripture reveals to us that God Himself is a community. Consider the following verses:
In the beginning, God [the Father]created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)
In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3)
God has always existed as a perfect community. God didn't create human beings out of a sense of loneliness. Perfect love has always existed in the community of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
(2) We are God's image-bearers.
We were designed to mirror God's invisible attributes to the world, reflecting his very being and nature to all of creation.
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." (Genesis 1:26)
Because God Himself is a community, we were designed to mirror Him as a community of both unified (one God) and diverse (three persons) image-bearers. In fact, in the creation story, the one thing that God said wasn't good was that the man should be alone.
Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make a helper fit for him." (Genesis 2:18)
We were designed for community. It's why we long for relationships with others, even when we run in the opposite direction at times. It's why we long for communication. It's why nearly 1.2 billion people have a Facebook account today. To a degree, we want to know people and to be known by people. Why? Because we're image-bearers.
In what ways do you seek community? What are some of the ways that you see people seeking community around you?
(3) Sin kills intimacy, thus killing community.
At one point in time, God's first image-bearers had an intimate relationship with Him and with one another. Yet, the birth of sin brought about the death of intimacy/community.
Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. (Genesis 3:7)
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8)
Prior to their sin, Adam and Eve were naked and were not ashamed. No barriers to intimacy existed. Yet, in the wake of sin and shame, they covered themselves. The fig leaves in Genesis 3 symbolically represent a number of things, one being the barrier to intimacy that sin creates between image-bearers. Yet, sin doesn't just kill intimacy between image-bearers. It also kills intimacy between the image-bearer and God Himself. Prior to their sin, Adam and Even walked intimately with God in the garden of Eden. Yet, in the wake of sin, they sought to hide from God's presence.
We were designed to mirror God as a community. Yet, tragically, we now run from community, afraid to truly be known. We've traded community for isolation. We've traded interpersonal relationships for human autonomy. The mirror is shattered.
What are some of the barriers to community in your own life? What are some of the barriers to community in the lives of those around you?
(Stay tuned for Part 2, "Community: God's Plan in Redemption")
Jamey Vizzini
Lead Pastor/Planter
CrossPointe Winter Springs
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