As I mentioned last week, I have been reading Delighting in the Trinity. Now that I am done, I am hard-pressed to think of a book that has been as much of an encouragement to me. I think intellectually, I have always been able to say why the Trinity was important - the Father sent the Son to bear His wrath and the Spirit applies salvation to our heart, etc., etc. All true. But I had never understood the depth of this precious truth.
Reeves argues that if God is triune, this central truth changes everything. It is not a problem to be solved, an after-thought, or a technicality. In actuality it is "the vital oxygen of the Christian life and joy." If God is, indeed, eternally Triune, then He has always been a Father, who gives life, love and glory to His Son through the Spirit. We now, in Jesus, receive the overflow of this eternal love.
Many times, the way that Christians discuss God is no different than the way that a Muslim or a Mormon would discuss their God. But this Triune God is shockingly different; rather than being a self-absorbed, singular being, He is a God who has always delighted to share His love and glory. This explains why He would create us and why He would send His Son. He seeks to have His life and goodness shared.
Karl Barth contended that, "The triunity of God is the secret of His beauty." After reading this, I cannot help but agree. At the beginning of the book, Reeves says that his purpose in writing is to help us taste and see that the Lord is good. This was the effect on my heart.
Delighting in the Trinity is relatively easy reading, and it is short, about 130 pages. But for me, it has changed so much about how I read Scripture, how I think about the Lord and how I relate to Him. The Trinity changes everything - it really is the foundation of Christianity. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
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