The Necessity of Habitual Celebration

(Matthew 3:16–17) And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

This is one of the clearest passages regarding the triune nature of the God of the Bible. He is one God, in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

A few weeks ago I had the sad duty of attending a meeting where I had to explain to some good-hearted, well-intentioned Christians that Unitarians are not Christians. Unitarians believe that God is one God and one person, and cannot therefore be considered our “brothers and sisters” in the faith.

Historically, Unitarians came from churches that were orthodox in their beliefs about God’s triune nature, but at some point stopped believing and preaching the divinity of the Son, and the personhood of the Spirit.

We here at King’s Cross Church know that we are fallen creatures and every bit as susceptible to heretical errors, and that is why, on this very important issue, we are very careful to remember and celebrate the reality that God is indeed Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We open our service with an invitation to worship the triune God and we close our service by singing our praises to Father, Son and Holy Ghost. And in between we sing the Gloria Patri and the Apostles’ Creed, which are both odes to the tri-personal glory of the One True God.

Overkill perhaps? Hardly. The heart of the Covenants of Promise and the Gospel itself is the story of how God the Father sent God the Son to suffer and die to redeem fallen mankind by the regenerating power of God the Holy Spirit.

And the lesson of the wayward Unitarians is this: That which we cease to celebrate in worship, over time we will cease to believe in our hearts.

So sing, Christian. Sing with your hearts and minds fully engaged, praying as you sing for God to indelibly etch the glorious truth of His triune nature and work upon your hearts. And be thankful.

GH