Why does anything exist—creation, marriage, work, or even the gospel itself? To answer this, we can’t start with humanity or heaven, as both are created. The why of creation begins with the uncreated reality: God, who is a relational God existing eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This Trinitarian theology reveals God as a community of three persons in a constant, other-centered, self-giving love. Before anything began, the Father was face-to-face with the Son, united by the Holy Spirit in a joyful, harmonious relationship. This is what theologians call perichoresis, a divine dance of love, laughter, and celebration—a “jiggy jiggy bam bam” flow that defines God’s very being. The Father isn’t God without the Son and Spirit, nor is the Son God apart from the Father and Spirit. This relational oneness is the gospel truth, the foundation of all truths.
Creation itself is an overflow of love from this Trinitarian community, not a response to a need. God didn’t create out of loneliness but from the abundance of joy within the Trinity. This redefines biblical holiness—not as rigid perfectionism but as perfect, transparent, self-giving love. The gospel isn’t a legal deal to escape punishment; it’s a love story. John 1:1 tells us the Word was with God and was God, face-to-face from the beginning, showing the Son’s eternal bond with the Father. Eternal life definition, as John 17:3 states, is knowing and experiencing the Father through Jesus, not just going to heaven. Matthew 11:27 adds that only the Son fully knows the Father, and He unveils the Father to us. If your God doesn’t look like Jesus, you’re missing the Jesus reveals Father truth. Scriptures point to Jesus, but without a relational connection to Him, even deep Bible study can miss the mark, as the Pharisees did (John 5:39). Every doctrine—holiness, justification, everything—must fit within this framework of God as family, where God is agape, a relational, self-giving community.
Critique of Traditional Concepts: Challenging Misconceptions
To truly grasp the church purpose, we must ask “why” behind our practices. Why do we gather? Why do we do church the way we do? These questions probe motives and challenge traditions often followed blindly because “that’s how it’s always been.” The critique of institutional church begins here, urging us to dig deeper into God’s heart for the ecclesia. Many hold a flawed view of God as a solitary, angry figure who creates out of need, demands obedience, and punishes disobedience with wrath. This narrative paints God as creating humans to worship Him, getting angry when they disobey, banishing them, and sending Jesus to take their punishment for legal forgiveness. This is not the gospel truth—it’s not in Scripture. This solitary God doesn’t exist, and even atheists rightly reject this image. The biblical God is a Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, united in passionate, self-giving love, creating from an overflow of love, not a need.
In this flawed view, sin as relational is misunderstood as a legal issue—breaking commandments. But in Trinitarian theology, sin is being out of sync with the relational rhythm of the Trinity’s divine dance. It’s not just about rule-breaking but about missing the flow of God’s love. Similarly, the cross of love is often reduced to a legal transaction to appease God’s anger. This is a disservice to the gospel. The cross is the ultimate act of self-giving love, where Jesus sees beyond our capacity to inflict pain, revealing the Father’s heart. This love transcends legalism, showing a God who loves fiercely, not a judge obsessed with rules. These critiques demand we rethink how we view God, sin, and the cross, moving from legalistic to relational perspectives rooted in the Trinity.
Vision for the Church as Community: Building a Trinitarian Community
The ecclesia meaning is not an organization but a Trinitarian community, reflecting the relational oneness of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Institutional churches often mirror corporations, with structures to control masses, reducing people to members and numbers. This is the opposite of God’s kingdom, which is anti-organization, anti-empire, and counter-cultural to worldly systems like Babylon or Egypt.
“In an organization, individuals are sacrificed for the collective, but in the Trinity, every person is seen, known, and celebrated.”
John 17:20-23 captures Jesus’ prayer for Christian unity, using the Hebrew word “echad” for relational oneness, not numerical unity. The Trinity models this through mutual submission, where the Son gives authority to the Father out of love, not hierarchy. There’s no independence in the Trinity, only interdependence, where the Son chooses the Father’s will, unlike Adam’s choice for independence, which is sin.
Church gatherings should embody this relational oneness, not organizational control. Current Sunday services, where people sit and listen, are not relational but designed to manage crowds. They focus on teaching, not the “one another” practices in the New Testament—like loving, forgiving, or carrying each other’s burdens. Teaching is crucial, but it can be shared through media, like Paul’s epistles, while gatherings should prioritize church community—building relationships that mirror the Trinity’s love. Philippians 2 calls for unity, humility, and putting others first, reflecting Jesus’ mindset. When the world sees this Trinitarian community, where believers love one another with the Father’s love for the Son, it will be amazed and believe, as John 17:23 promises. This love isn’t self-generated; it’s a participation in the Trinity’s existing self-giving love, impossible to achieve through human effort. The ecclesia must realign with God’s heart, fostering a church community of love, not an organization chasing numbers.
Understanding God and Church Through a Trinitarian Lens