While Jesus is fully God, he lives in relationship with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit as a member of the Trinitarian Godhead. Paul consistently presents Jesus as fully God, but he also presents Jesus as the Son of God. This doesn’t make Jesus any less of God, because Paul clearly articulates Jesus’ deity. But Paul distinguishes Jesus’ role and relationship within the Trinitarian Godhead. According to Bruce Ware,

The Son, then, is fully God. He is not one-third God, but fully God. Yet, it is not the Son alone who is fully God, but he eternally exists along with the Father and the Spirit, each of whom also possesses fully the identically same divine nature. Because of this, what distinguishes the Son from the Father and the Spirit is not the divine nature of the Son. This–the one and undivided divine nature–is also possessed equally and fully by the Father and the Spirit. Therefore, what distinguishes the Son is his particular role as Son in relation to the Father and to the Spirit and the relationships that he has with each of them.[1]

Throughout the epistle to the Colossians, Paul shows the relationship between Jesus and God the Father. Paul’s first reference between Jesus and God the Father is in Col. 1:3 when Paul gives thanks to “God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul establishes that there is God the Father and God the Son. Continuing in Colossians, God the Father delivers “us to the kingdom of his beloved Son^” (Col. 1:13). Paul declares that it is “the Father’s good pleasure for all the fulness to dwell in [Jesus]” (Col. 1:19, NASB).

Paul also makes known that the Son’s role is in submission to the Father’s authority. Jesus was used by the Father “to reconcile to himself all things” (Col. 1:20, ESV). “God [the Father] made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses” (Col. 2:13). Jesus’ role as the Son is to be used as the Father’s agent of salvation. Jesus is the Father’s agent of creation as “all things were created through him” (Col. 1:16). The Father also “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in [Jesus]” (Col. 2:15).  Lastly, Jesus is our mediator to the Father. Paul says that the Colossians are to give “thanks to God the Father through [Jesus]” (Col. 3:17). Through Jesus, the Colossians had a relationship with the Father.

While Paul makes several references to God the Father, there is only one reference to the Holy Spirit in the epistle to the Colossians. In Col. 1:7, Paul speaks about Epaphras being a “faithful minister of Christ” to the Colossians. In the same sentence, Paul says that Epaphras has “made known to us your love in the Spirit” (Col. 1:8). While this doesn’t give us much of an understanding of the role and relationship between Jesus and the Holy Spirit, it does let us know that the Colossians would have known there is a third person of the Godhead. The Colossians would have to rely on other epistles from Paul that would eventually circulate to them, the gospels, and the teachings of Epaphras to get a better understanding of the rich interaction between Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

[SIDE NOTE: To have a better understanding of the Trinity, go buy Bruce Ware's book "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, and Relevance" right now and read it immediately.  It is the best book I've read on the Trinity to date (not like I've read a lot...but it's really good).  Don't wait...go do it.]

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[1] Bruce A. Ware, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, and Relevance (Crossway Books, 2005), 69.

Over the past few weeks I have been following a series of blogs done by Vince Antonucci titled “Waaaaa. I’m not getting fed.” You need to go read all seven (it’s actually more) of them right now.  Here is a link to the first one.  I must say that I have completely enjoyed every word that the man has written. He has hit the nail on the head as far as American Christianity has gone.

We have become such a consumer mentality society that it has even crept into the church. I even use to have the mentality that it is the pastor’s job to feed me (probably is the reason that I went to church five times a week when I was growing up). Put the reality is that the pastor’s job is to teach us how to cook.

Ephesians 4:11-12 says, “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” The pastors and teachers jobs are to “equip” not feed. By equipping they are building the body up.

I remember telling my youth in Olton that if the only time you are opening you Bible is on Wednesday (or Sunday for most), then you are starving yourself. I have to say that I use to be the same way. The only time I opened my Bible was when I was going to church or when I was preparing for a lesson.

The greatest joy in my life has been over the past few months as I’ve started to spend time with God daily for no other reason than to just sit at His feet and learn. Before it was a chore to open my Bible. Now it is a pleasure.

Now I sound like one of those sappy Christians that I use to hate (who am I kidding I still have problems with them). But it is the truth. I feel different when I haven’t spent time with God. It feels like when I have to go to work while my wife is still in bed and I don’t get to talk to her until she gets home from work at 5pm. There is just something missing from my day.

So if you are the type of person who only eats once a week…I’d recommend adding to your diet.

P.S. I’ll post a blog in a few days on some tips and tricks for having a daily time with God.

Welcome back all my fellow beer drinkers out there. This next one is just a short tip for those who are looking for the full experience here.† If you remember from BTotD #1, your perception of taste is drastically affected by you sense of smell. From some research that I did on the internet (a quick google search), your sense of smell affects the way something tastes by up to 75%. From some other research that I’ve done (listened to a podcast), it is said that your first smell of a beer is the most important. So how do we make that first smell of a new beer count? Use a coaster.

No this isn’t some random way for me to get you to save your furniture from unsightly rings. You actually cover the TOP of the glass with the coaster. While you are doing the four step beer tasting process (Look, Agitate, Smell, Drink), you cover the top of the glass with a coaster while agitating the beer (the cheap paper coasters from bars, applebees, and the sort work real well and keep you from getting in trouble for making all you coaster smell like beer). Then when you go lift the coaster to smell your beer, all those good smells have been trapped for your smelling pleasure.

One other small tip. Unless you are using a really big glass, only fill the glass about 3/4 of the way full. This gives you room to agitate the beer without covering your coaster with beer. This also gives your beer room to breath. After you’ve tasted the beer, then you fill it up the rest of the way.

So here is your homework. Get a beer that you haven’t tried before (or haven’t tried in a glass before) and taste it straight from the bottle. Then try the coaster method and see how much of a difference it makes.

Until next time, enjoy your beer.