Genesis 1:26
By Drew Zuverink
"Then God said, 'Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over the creatures that move along the ground."
How do you picture God before anything else was created? What was God doing when there was no universe? Who was he with? Before there was anything other than himself was he bored?
The doctrine of the Trinity is often viewed by Christian's as a confusing theological reality that doesn't really impact how we view God practically. Most of us probably don't think about the Trinity very much and if we do it probably fills us with more confusion than intrigue but the doctrine of the Trinity can completely change our view of God in the best possible way.
If God was completely one, meaning that there was no Trinity at all but instead he was just God the father, then how might you picture him before the world was created? He would have been existing all by himself. He would have had no one to communicate with. He would have no one to have a relationship with. He wouldn't be able to express any kind of love. He would have nothing to think about other than himself. God would be inherently unrelational if he existed from eternity past as one person. His DNA would literally be unrelational.
If, however, God exists as the Bible describes him, one God in three persons, then that means God is inherently a relational being. His DNA would literally be relational. From the very beginning, before anything else was, God the Father would have been with God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. They would have been communicating together. They would have had each other to express love towards. They would have had a wonderful relationship. Loving relationships would be the very DNA of who God is if God has always been one being and three persons.
Why does this matter? Because when it comes to how we view God would you rather have a God who's very DNA is a person who is relational or would you rather have a God who existed for eternity past alone all by himself? Would you rather have a God who's very nature is intimacy and love, it's all he's ever known, or would you rather have a God who's nature has always been separation and isolation?
God has always existed, and still exists, as three person's who selflessly love each other. That's how we should understand him: a selfless lover. Scripture teaches that he wants to include us in that loving relationship. God selflessly loving God, God selflessly loving humans, humans selflessly loving God, and humans selflessly loving humans. Everyone loving everyone else selflessly, it sounds wonderful. True love desires nothing other than the good of the person that we love, and that has always been God's DNA.
This understanding of God changes everything. It means that we are not just one of his creatures but we are his beloved. It means that he doesn't just desire servant-like obedience from us, he desires a relationship with us. It means that we are his children and he is our father. It means that whenever we think about God we have to think of him as a relational being.
Everyone struggles from time to time with doubts of God's intimacy with us. Sometimes he feels far away and that's just the truth. Those moments can cause our minds to wander, maybe with thoughts of God being a distant observer instead of someone we are in relationship with. God isn't a God of distance though. He isn't a God of isolation. He exists in relationships. It's who he is. It's why he created us - to have a relationship together. Christian, let this short devotional be the encouragement that you might need to live today out of the wonderful reality that the God of the universe enjoys a relationship with you.