GOD IS GOD!

To say less than this is to deny the simple but comprehensive revelation of this otherwise inexpressible truth. To say more than this is to philosophically impose our own foolish limitations upon the Infinite One and thereby destroy the truth. Let us, therefore, leave our confession in this simple form, the very utterance of which must needs impress us with the truth that our finite minds are incapable of comprehending and our sinful lips unable to express the incomparable greatness and absolute sovereignty of Him Who is alone GOD!

HE IS GOD!

This we believe with all our heart. Within us is the irrepressible desire of faith to say more about Him. Conscious of our own inability to do so, we turn in humble reverence to His own Word in order that we may repeat after Him what He first reveals as the truth concerning Himself. In the light of His Word we boldly confess, “Our God is Triune.”

This, we saw in the preceding issue, means that there are three distinct persons in the one Divine Essence; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Proof of this may he found in the Holy Scripture in both the Old and New Testaments. Rather than elaborating upon this now, we refer you to the 9th Article of our Confession which supplies this proof. At present we are interested in seeing that this truth, so clearly revealed in the Word, is also reflected in the works of the Triune One.

Our eyes look upward to behold the heavens which He hath made and, lo, we see the sun, the moon and the stars, hundreds and thousands of them. These three are the bearers of light that remind us of the truth that, “God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all” (I John 1:5). In Him is all light and apart from him is darkness and desolation.

Again our eyes turn downward to look upon the world of vegetation with its threefold classification of “grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree” (Gen. 1:11) and in each of these we discern a three-parted creature with roots, plant and fruit. In its threeness lies its completeness and if any third is taken away, the creature is essentially destroyed.

Thus we are carried further to consider man, God’s covenant creature whom He made in His own image and likeness to manifest His praise in all the earth. Concerning man, God said, “It is not good that man should he alone; I will make him an help meet for him” (Gen. 2:18). In the creation of this help meet for man, God created potentially the family and instituted the home wherein the beauty of His triuneness is reflected in the highest sense. The family is one but in that oneness there is also a threeness consisting of father, mother and children. In the home God is revealed as the Covenant God Who establishes and maintains His covenant in the generations of His people. In the Christian home, therefore, the covenant life of God comes to manifestation in the relationships of parents and children and the more we live in the home from the consciousness of that covenant life, the more we will realize the significance of the truth of the Trinity.

The reason for this lies in the fact that the doctrine of the Trinity and that of the Covenant are inseparably connected. Were it true, as Unitarians claim, that God is One in Person and Essence, or, as Polytheists aver, that there are many gods, there could never be a revelation of the covenant. The covenant is essentially the relationship of friendship and fellowship between two or more persons that is based on personal likeness. Now if God is one in Person, He can have no fellowship. He can exercise no more friendship than a Robinson Crusoe on a desolate island. On the other hand, if He is many gods, the basis of covenant fellowship is lost in that there is no personal likeness and, consequently, there may be friction among the gods resulting in the very opposite of covenant friendship. But the truth is that the covenant has its highest and perfect realization within God in Whom the three Persons think, speak and act in one essence in eternal unity and live together the perfect Divine life in infinite glory. That covenant life God reflects in Jesus Christ, His Son, and through His people whom He calls unto Himself and separates them from the fellowship of the world, delivering them from the power and dominion of sin and fills them with His own life, the life of holy consecration and devotion.

Sin has corrupted the home of man. No longer does it reflect the blessings of covenant life. The contrary is true and the modern home of our day attests unmistakably to this fact. There is no unity but divorce. Friendship is supplanted by rebellion, usurpation of authority and the broken home. The home that is built on the foundation of man’s self-interests is destined to destruction and even in the process of its erection can only emit misery to all that are a part of it and to many others who are affected by it.

Covenant young people, you are called of God to manifest the beauties of His holy covenant. This is especially important to remember when you set forth to establish your own home, to marry, to bear children, etc. Father, mother and children form an earthly tri-unity, called into being to reflect in all their living together the glories of the heavenly Trinity. How is it then possible when there is from the very beginning disunity between father and mother and especially if this disunity is of a spiritual nature, a disunity of faith? Before the children are brought into the picture the covenant relation is marred and broken. It may not be so. The Triune God commands it otherwise and you do well to wisely heed that Word in your courtship plans and marriage contemplations.

Remember that the success in building a home is not measured by God by ascertaining the amount of material resources to be found in the mortgage free house in which you live. Life doesn’t consist in the abundance of things one possesses. Neither is success to be gauged by the fact that in the eyes of men you have obtained a really good looking spouse or that outwardly at least the relations in your home are judged by others ( who really do not know) to be peaceful.

Rather, establishing a home involves spiritual values and these are basic because the chief requisite of a true home is that it reflects the covenant life of the Triune God. It demands of husband and wife that they walk with the children God gives them in the way of the truth in humble submission to His will revealed in His Word. It requires diligent effort and, from the viewpoint of the flesh, much sacrifice to instruct and bring up the children in the fear of the Lord. Marriage and the institution of the home are not existent for the pleasure and convenience of man but must be subservient to the service of the living, covenant, triune God Who, in His Word, instructs us in this incontrovertible truth:

“The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked…but He blesseth the habitation of the just” (Proverbs 3:33).