TRINITY BENEDICTION
Today is Trinity Sunday and the Church Universal is celebrating the three in one God and one in three God. We do not want to enter into the history antecedent of the Trinity debate. Trinity has been exhaustively debated over the years in Church History since the time of Tertullian. The first defense of the doctrine of the Trinity was in the early 3rd century by the early church father Tertullian. He explicitly defined theTrinity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and defended his theology against "Praxeas". Though he noted that the majority of the believers in his day were frustration and found issues with the doctrine even until now. Trinity among others is one of the diverging areas that separates Christians understanding of God from Jewish Religion and Islamic Religion. For the purpose of time we shall consider these areas:
*1. The Trinity in Creation*
Trinity is the Christian three God head. God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit working together in love, faith and fellowship in creation. In Trinity, God the Father appears in Genesis 1:1-2:23 where God is the ultimate leader who initiates creation. God initiated creation of the universe. God initiated the birth of the species and the redemption process when Adam and Eve frustrated God by disobeying the first paw thou shall not eat this fruit. God decided to come in Christ Jesus as the Son to shear in humanity suffering.
2. *The Trinity in Great Commission*
In Matthew 28:16-20 God the Son in Jesus Christ Commissioned the disciples to continue with the redemptive work to save humanity from suffering and frustration by giving them authority to make disciples across the globe in the name of the Trinity. The Trinity will be with us in all ages.
*3. Trinity in Frustration History*
We can learn from frustration history of biblical history, America and Ghana in COVID-19. Biblical history can help us to appreaciate how God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have been frustrated over the period in the of Israel, Jesus Christ and Christians in their attempt to preach the Gospel.
Currently American's are protesting against systematic injustice in America over the past 401 years against blacks minority. Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and their Abolitionist allies sought and struggled to end slavery in the United States. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sought to raise the public consciousness of racism, to end racial discrimination and segregation in the United States. In 1955, king involved in his first major civil right campaign in Montgomery, Alabama, where buses were racially segregated against blacks. King fought for Human Right until his assassination in 4 April 1968. Yet injustice continue to exist in the free land of opportunity for all against blacks. Such injustice lead to the death of to many including George Floyd. On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes while he was lying face down handcuffed on the street begging. George Floyd death has heighten the tension among both blacks and all coloured to call for justice in every aspect of human society.
In Ghana, the Ex President J. J. Rawligns celebrated a virtual June 4th Revolution or June 4th uprising in Ghana in 1979 which brought him into political power for the first time. Among the factors which fuel the uprising is a combination of corruption, bad governance, frustration among the general public, lack of discipline and frustration withing the Ghana Armed Forces. These and many more factors lead to the uprise and many people lost their lives and property as we see in the George Floyd unfolding event.
The COVID -19 pandemic has brought challenges to humanity in every aspects of life. Governments and every body is doing his or her best in finding lasting solution to end the pandemic. Yet as you move arround and watch both local and international news you see people blantly disobeying the preventive protocals of COVID-19 and putting everybody's life at risk. Some people are getting frustrated because of the impact of the pandemic in every aspect of life.
We pray that we learn from the History of frustration and it negative impact on humanity. It is time for behavioural change to learn, leave and ahhere to COVID-19 protocols to reduce the effection rate. Change in behaviour can be best achieve when politics, science and religion continue to work together like Trinity and Mukyea.
Mukyea is the traditional tripod cooking stove found in Ghana. It three legs makes it strong to carry any cooking pot. Trinity and Mukyea work in faith, love and fellowiship to make it possible to do what is suppose to do. When you hold the Trinity together you enjoy devine benediction.
*4. Trinity Benediction*
Benediction is the utterance of a blessing, especially at the end of a religious service or gathering. In Numbers 6:22-27 God spoke to Moses to speak to Aaron and his sons in blessing Israel in these words:
" The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace. This is not Trinity benediction. The concept of God the Father was not held togethe with the Son and Holy Spirit in this benediction.
In 2 Corinthians 13:11-14 St Paul comes to help us to enjoy the Trinity Benediction as God restores us, we be of good comfort, one mind, live in peace and greet one another with holy kiss. When we do these things we evoke the grace, love and fellowship of the Trinity on humanity. Paul encourages us to reduce the stress and frustration among humanity across the globe by holding the love, grace and fellowiship of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy together.
St Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:14 " The grace of Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
*5. Trinity in Hymns*
A lot of hymns have been written on Trinity in the Church's life. Nevertheless let is join the hymn writer Reginald Heber, 1783-1826 and the organist as we sing hymn:
1 Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to that;
Holy, holy, merciful and mighty,
God in three Person, blessed Trinity.
4. Holy, holy, holy; Lord God Almighty!
All the world shall praise The name in earth and sky and sea;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty,
God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity! Amen.
The blessings of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit be with you now and forever more.
God is still in control of the world.
God bless you.