When John enters the throne room in Revelation 4 and 5, the Father and Son are evident, but the Spirit is depicted as the seven eyes of the slain lamb. What does this imagery tell us about God’s triune nature and what can we learn about the role of the Holy Spirit? These are the questions addressed by Greg in this sermon, and the answers guide us into a deeper union with God.
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The Trinity and the Spirit
• Greg Boyd
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In this sermon, Greg explores how Revelation 5 depicts the triune nature God and the role that the Holy Spirit plays with the Father and the Son. First, let’s look at what it means to say that God is Trinity.
In Revelation 4, the indescribable one on the throne represents the Father. In Revelation 5, the slain lamb in the center of throne is the Son. But we must ask where the Spirit is in this vision. There is nothing that overtly points to the existence of the Spirit in the throne room.
Greg proposes that the seven eyes represent the Holy Spirit, which means that the three-ness of God is a different kind of three. It’s not that the Father, Son, and Spirit are three distinct entities that operate independently. The eyes are part of the lamb and in process of worshipping the One on the throne and the slain lamb at the center of the throne, we are also worshipping the Spirit who is the eyes of Jesus. The Trinity is the one glorious threefold God who sits on the throne. The transcendent indescribable Father, the slain and raised lamb-like Son, and the sent out Holy Spirit are all different ways that God is God.
The Spirit is represented as Jesus’ seven eyes sent out into all the world because the work of the Holy Spirit is to give spiritual sight to those who receive the Spirit. The Spirit is the one who opens the eyes of our hearts to know God better. (See 1 Corinthians 2:10-12, 16). In short, the Spirit is in the process of helping us know a little bit of what God knows. The Spirit sent out into the world to give us Jesus’ eyes, which is why Paul dares to say that the Spirit gives us the mind of Christ.
There are three implications of this imagery.
First, it provides a way to think about the Trinity. Rather than thinking in terms of three distinct embodied beings that are somehow in relationship with each other, the Father, Son, and Spirit are one God coming to us in a threefold way. All of God’s actions toward us originate in the transcendent Father, are revealed through the Incarnate Son, and culminate in the indwelling Spirit, who opens our eyes to see the truth revealed in the Son. In addition, all of our actions toward God originate in the indwelling Spirit, proceed through the Incarnate Son, and culminate in the transcendent Father.
Second, the Spirit is “sent out into all the world.” Apparently, the Spirit is not just working among Christians. The Spirit has always been at work everywhere in every human heart to give them the eyes of Jesus, insofar as their culture would allow it. We are all merely humans who live and move and have our being in God, and the love of God, in the form of the Spirit, places in us a desire to keep fumbling about as we seek after God and truth. Christians are a fumbling-about people who discovered the treasure in the field, the pearl of great price, whose name is Jesus.
Third, continually ask the Spirit to open the eyes of our heart. This is what we as a church have been praying together with the direction of Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:18-19: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” We ask Spirit to help us to give us spiritual eyes to know God better, and the hope to which we’re called, and the incomparable power of God that is at work in us, which is the power of the Holy Spirit.
Hide Extended SummaryTopics: Holy Spirit, Presence of God, Trinity
Sermon Series: Good Heavens!
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Focus Scripture:
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Revelation 5:6
Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, with seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
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"I've been a WH podrishioner for several years now and I can't tell you how much it has changed my life. I came across these podcasts at a time when I was in an extremely unhealthy/abusive situation, and these teachings were immensely influential to me maintaining my faith and sanity. THANK YOU for showing me what a Jesus-looking God is like and what it means to follow Him. Many, many blessings to all of you!"
– Christina, from Oregon
The audio goes in & out on this recording (and there were other audio issues with the livestream yesterday, which is why I came here to try again today…) Is it possible there is another video recording of this…? Or even just audio?
Hi Todd, we replaced the video with the best recording that we have. (Which thankfully, is much better than the livestream!) There is one moment when the audio drops out, but that’s relatively brief and early on. Hopefully the main gist of Greg’s message isn’t lost. Sorry for the hassle!
– Charley, from the Communications Team