The Mathematics of Heaven

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." (Deuteronomy 6:4) "...baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19) Imagine you are a stick figure living on a flat, two-dimensional piece of paper.

You know what a square is. You know what a circle is. You understand "up" and "right." Now, imagine a human places a Cube onto your paper. To you, the Cube looks like a square. You touch one side of it, and you say, "It’s a square."

But the human says, "No, it is six squares combined into one solid object. It has depth." You cannot understand "depth." You don't have the brain for it because you live in a flat world. The Cube is not breaking the rules of your world; it is simply more real than your world.

It is a "Super-Shape." This is the best way to approach the Trinity . The doctrine of the Trinity is the hardest concept in Christianity. It says that God is One Being exists in Three Persons : The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.

God is not three separate gods (like a committee). God is not one person who changes masks (like an actor playing three roles). God is Three-in-One. This breaks our human math. In our world, 1 + 1 + 1 = 3.

But in God's dimension, 1 x 1 x 1 = 1. Why does this matter? Because the Bible says "God is Love" (1 John 4:8). If God were only one person (Unitarian), He could not be "Love" before He created the world—because he would have had no one to love!

He would have been lonely. But because God is a Trinity, the Father has always loved the Son, and the Son has always loved the Spirit. God did not create you because He was lonely and needed a friend.

He created you to invite you into the perfect love that already existed.

(Tap to expand) Theologically, we use precise words because almost every bad idea about God comes from getting the Trinity wrong. Substance (Essence): What God is . There is only one Divine Essence. God is One.

Person (Subsistence): Who God is . There are three distinct centers of consciousness. The Father creates through the Son. The Son pays the price to the Father. The Spirit applies the work of the Son to us.

We see this clearly at Jesus' Baptism (Matthew 3:16-17): The Son is in the water, the Father speaks from Heaven, and the Spirit descends like a dove. They are all there at the same time, distinct yet One.

Reflect on this: Do you think of God as a lonely ruler in the sky, or as a joyful community of love? How does it change your view of relationships to know that "relationship" is at the very core of who God is?

👣 Take a Step Stop trying to fully "solve" the Trinity; if you could fully understand Him, He wouldn't be God—He would be a human like you. Instead, worship the Mystery. The Father planned your salvation, the Son achieved it, and the Spirit applies it.

Thank all Three today.