Biblical aspects of personal relationships

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Monotheism

Monotheism is a system where people worship one supreme God. One of the central teachings in the Old Testament is Deut. 6:4: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!’ Against the idolatry of surrounding nations with their many gods (polytheism), God revealed this essential aspect of His nature to Israel in the Old Testament period. The Lord is one God. The Old Testament witness is fundamental to the oneness of God. In their daily prayer, Jews repeated the Shema of Deut. 6:4: ‘The Lord our God, the Lord is one.’ In this they confessed the God of Israel to be the transcendent Creator, without any rival.

Trinity in the New Testament

In the New Testament God further revealed that He is One in Three and that His essential Being is triune. God is the eternal triune family of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, united in will, purpose, love, holiness and righteousness. Christianity is both monotheistic and Trinitarian. The relationship of Father and Son is well-known in the Gospels because Jesus, the eternal Son who takes on human flesh, is most visible to us as He strikes a responsive chord through the Father-Son relationship.

The Triune Family cooperates

The unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is portrayed by the Lord Jesus’ Trinitarian teaching (John 14-16). This truth is expressed in the ministry of the Lord Jesus as recorded in all four Gospels as well as in the rest of the New Testament. The Triune Family cooperates as one in bringing the lost person home again into a redeemed family of believers.

Selfless love

The most distinctive characteristic of the Persons of the Triune Family is their selfless love for one another. Each esteems the other in a way that makes the original family of the Trinity a model for the Christian family of believers. The Father gives all authority to the Son and bears witness to Him, as does the Lord Jesus to Himself (John 8:18). Yet the Son claims nothing for Himself. He gives all glory to the Father who has sent Him (John 12:49-50). The key to unlocking the mystery of the Trinity is to observe how the Persons of the Triune Family give themselves to one another in selfless love. They are always at one another’s disposal.

The mutual love of the Triune Persons

The Father serves the Son; the Son serves the Father; Father and Son serve the Holy Spirit, who in turn, serves the Father and Son in an oneness. The mutual love of the Triune Persons spills over into the creation and is seen in their generous cooperation in saving lost people (John 14:15-17; 25-26).

The original pattern

The Triune Family is God’s revelation of Himself as the ultimate truth about reality. This family is the original pattern from which God creates all the families of earth with their unity and diversity. The family of mankind, after losing its relationship with the divine family at the Fall, is restored to fellowship by God. This happens when its members acknowledge the grace originating in the Father, expressed by the Son, and energized by the Holy Spirit.

Dr. Czeslaw Bassara ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; www.proword.eu)