As we come to 4th of July, there are a number of related themes from the past few weeks that converge – themes of unity, independence, freedom, values, the Trinity, and Christ’s divine and human natures. Phew!
We’ll kick off with a few thoughts on unity.
God is unity – scripture tells us God is One. Not only that, but because God is unity, all things are unified in God.
Take the theological virtues – faith, hope and love. In the end only love remains. Why? Because ultimately all is taken up into God. And what is God? God is love. The virtues are unified in God.
Take the transcendentals – truth, goodness and beauty. Just as there was a “fourth Beatle” (George Martin – definitely not Yoko) there is a fourth transcendental – unity. This is reflected in Psalm 19:
The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul.
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart.
Perfect = beautiful. Trustworthy = good. Right = true. And they are all “of the LORD.”
All things are unified in God, and yet, God presents distinctions within Himself.
A few weeks back we looked at the most Holy Trinity – 3 Persons with 1 divine nature. They are always perfectly aligned and always working together – but with distinction. To the Father – creation. To the Son – redemption. To the Holy Spirit – sanctification. Why? Why isn’t God just one Person? We don’t know exactly. But God is showing us something important about relationship and unity.
And then in Christ we have 1 Person with 2 natures (divine and human). The Church struggled mightily with this for centuries. St. Cyril of Alexandria’s “On the Unity of Christ” is a high watermark that led to the definitive declaration (at the Council of Ephesus) of Christ’s two natures – fully human and fully God.
Just recently we had the Gospel reading of Jesus sleeping in the boat during a storm. Origen taught that this is a perfect example of the unity of Christ’s two natures. In his Divinity, Christ ordained the storm. In His humanity, Christ needed rest after ministering to crowds, and while sleeping taught the Apostles a great lesson that they should not fear, they should follow His example.
God is Unity. God is Relationship. And what’s more, it is in our dependence on God that we find authentic freedom.
And so we’ll continue looking at the topic of unity (and independence and freedom) in our follow-up emails. Both unity in our culture (e pluribus unum) and our interior – it’s not for nothing that the tagline of Interior life is “Inner Harmony, Eternal Happiness.”
Blessings on your journey with Christ –
Steve and Karen Smith – Interior Life
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