For Christians the key to a deep relationship with God is found through the brotherhood we share with Jesus. Adherents of many religions and sadly, even many Christians, never move beyond an infatuation stage in their relationship with God. Most who become enamored with God do so because of God's majesty, transcendence, holiness; basically many people adopt a religion because of God's otherness. There is absolutely nothing wrong with acknowledging and worshipping the creator of the universe. In fact, such is to be encouraged! But for Christians the beauty of the trinity - one God represented in the three persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - is what demonstrates the accessibility of God. More so, the Biblical allusions to God present in the human form of Jesus of Nazareth shows that God actually pursues a relationship with creation, that this majestic holy God actually loves the beings God created. With a miopic view of a transcendent God such an image would seem absurd. But if God gave up heaven to come to Earth to live as a man there must be a reason beyond a bored-God hypothesis. It would appear that God desired a relationship with creation that could not be attained with a Heaven bound God and Earth bound humans.
There is little wonder why there are so many marital analogies comparing the relationship between human and the Divine found in the Bible and in other mystical writings, including those of the early Christian era. The intimacy required is the same for humans learning to love, whether the object of love is God or another person. Richard Rohr (2013, Immortal Diamonds) observes,
"It is almost impossible to fall in love with majesty, power, or perfection. These make us both fearful and codependent, but seldom truly loving. On some level, love can happen only between equals, and vulnerability levels the playing field. What Christians believe is that God somehow became our equal when he became the human "Jesus," a name that is, without doubt, the vulnerable name for God" (p. 171).
Such a concept is difficult for many Christians to hear. It sounds irreverent at best if not blasphemous! But the beauty and mystery of the Trinity is found in the distinctiveness yet sameness of each person - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In love God lowered God's self to take on human flesh and human nature (see Philippians 2). Through that act of Godly humility we have access to God in a new way - as a peer, as a sibling, or literally as "one of us." Many days the accessibility of God through the brotherhood of Jesus keeps the gnawing doubts at bay.
There is little wonder why there are so many marital analogies comparing the relationship between human and the Divine found in the Bible and in other mystical writings, including those of the early Christian era. The intimacy required is the same for humans learning to love, whether the object of love is God or another person. Richard Rohr (2013, Immortal Diamonds) observes,
"It is almost impossible to fall in love with majesty, power, or perfection. These make us both fearful and codependent, but seldom truly loving. On some level, love can happen only between equals, and vulnerability levels the playing field. What Christians believe is that God somehow became our equal when he became the human "Jesus," a name that is, without doubt, the vulnerable name for God" (p. 171).
Such a concept is difficult for many Christians to hear. It sounds irreverent at best if not blasphemous! But the beauty and mystery of the Trinity is found in the distinctiveness yet sameness of each person - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In love God lowered God's self to take on human flesh and human nature (see Philippians 2). Through that act of Godly humility we have access to God in a new way - as a peer, as a sibling, or literally as "one of us." Many days the accessibility of God through the brotherhood of Jesus keeps the gnawing doubts at bay.
