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I love to read books, and every now and then I come across a chapter so amazing that I reread the chapter over and over. I get stuck, like a mental treadmill, again and again.
One of my favorite authors is Timothy Keller. In his book The Reason for God, Keller has a chapter titled The Dance of God. I admit that I’m borrowing his thoughts in this Interruption as this chapter was a treadmill chapter for me.
It helped me understand worship, how to love other Christians, and where to find joy.
It starts with the Trinity.
Christianity is the only religion that teaches a trinity, but the concept of the Trinity means God has been relational for all eternity. Our relationships with God and with one another reflect the very nature of God.
Next, we must understand what it means to glorify.
To glorify someone is to praise, enjoy, and delight in them. We serve, defer, and honor those we glorify. The Bible teaches that the Spirit glorifies the Son, the Son glorifies the Father, and the Father glories the Son.
He [Spirit] will glorify me [Jesus], for he will take what is mine and declare it to you (John 16:14, ESV).
I [Jesus] glorified you [Father] on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do (John 17:4).
And now, Father, glorify me [Jesus] in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed (John 17:5).
Amen! The Father, Son, and Spirit glorify one another.
Timothy Keller writes…
In self-centeredness we demand that others orbit around us. We will do things and give affection to others, as long as it helps us meet our personal goals and fulfills us.
Then Keller adds…
The inner life of the triune God, however, is utterly different. The life of the Trinity is characterized not by self-centeredness but by mutually self-giving love.
Now a description of the Divine Dance…
This creates a dance… each of the divine persons centers upon the others. None demands that the others revolve around him. Each voluntarily circles the other two, pouring love, delight, and adoration into them. Each person of the Trinity loves, adores, defers to, and rejoices in the others.
Another scholar describes this dance…
In Christianity God is not an impersonal thing nor a static thing—not even just one person—but a dynamic pulsating activity, a life, a kind of drama, almost, if you will not think me irreverent, a kind of dance…. The pattern of this three-person life is the great fountain of energy and beauty spurting up at the very center of reality.
And the amazing aspect of this dance is that we are invited to join in.
And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory (Romans 8:17, NLT).
The origin of life, love, and beauty originates with the Trinity. By faith, we join the dance. This explains why we first experience the Marriage Feast of the Lamb in heaven.
Yes, I will learn to dance in heaven!