The theme of my song, “Circle of Love” is much more fully expanded in my book called The Worship Journey: Fully Alive in the Circle of Love. This article is an excerpt from the introduction to that book.
“In the beginning was…God.” It is equally true to say, “in the beginning was the relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” There has never been a time when God was alone. The very nature of the members of the Triune God is to be pouring out and receiving love. The beauty of the Gospel is that all of us are invited into that circle of love.
Picture your kitchen table or dining room table—wherever you eat your daily meals. This is a safe, familiar place where you enjoy sustenance and fellowship with family or friends. Picture the Father, Son and Holy Spirit seated there with you. This is the intimacy that is the wonder of the Gospel. This is where we speak to our Abba—loving Father. It’s where we chat with Jesus, who calls us his friends. It’s where we experience the comfort of the Holy Spirit in moments of anguish, exhaustion and exhilaration. This Holy Three moves with us wherever we go, whispering encouraging words.
The Flow of God’s Love Among All Circles
One way of illustrating our life intertwined with the Trinity and with all of creation is in three concentric circles. In the innermost circle, we are in union with the Trinity. In the second circle are our family, friends and brothers and sisters in Christ, with whom we are joined. In the outer circle is all of humanity and all of creation. In each of these circles, there is a flow of divine love and energy.
The first circle shows our union with the Trinity. The Triune God enjoys a never-ending flow of communion, conversation, mutual love and service and honor. This is an eternal circle that pre-existed the creation of the earth and all of us—and we are invited into that circle.
This is exactly what the Bible describes—it’s all about the flow of love! History shows us that love is the most important element in the universe. The amazing Good News is that God has included all of us! No striving necessary to get into God’s inner circle. You belong right in the center of the table of divine fellowship. Don’t ever buy into the evil lie that you’re “an outsider.”
The Father, Son and Spirit didn’t have to create us, but they gladly chose to do so! Their love overflowed through their desire for relationship with us. They included us in their circle of perfectly loving relationship. Darrell Johnson says: “because the love of the Lover and Beloved cannot be contained, God creates us to be co-lovers with him. That is, God expands the circle to include us mere mortals within the circle of his knowing of himself.” If you’ve ever been worried about being left out and forgotten, the power of this truth is your answer.
Jesus explains that he and the Father will make their home in us and that we can make our home in them. This is mutual indwelling—a beautiful mystery that our minds can’t fully grasp yet we can intelligently participate in the flow of that love and energy.
Second, we share a mystical union with the body of Christ. Each member of the Trinity is One with the others. Each believer is one with the Trinity, one with Christ. Each believer is one with the entire body of Christ: “in Christ we who are many are one body, and each member belongs to one another...” We are members of one another. We are in spiritual union. We spend our whole lives learning how to live and walk in this unity.
Third, the love of God is poured out on all of humanity. He creates every human in his own image. God shows no discrimination against anyone. God’s love extends to every ethnicity, every nation, every man, woman and child, regardless of what they may believe. We partner with God to love every person, good or bad, and every orphan and widow.
To be fully alive in the circle of love, we step into the flow of his love which goes in every direction. We receive love from God, which enables us to love ourselves. We love our neighbors as we love ourselves (Matt 22:39). Our love is extended to all family and friends and Christian brothers and sisters.
We all have a unique sphere of influence; sharing God’s love with the world is expressed differently for each one of us. We don’t originate the love, we step into the flow of God’s eternal, never-ceasing love. Christ in us (Trinity in us) in a fountain of love that never stops flowing. We participate in his generosity.
We experience the maximum flow of God’s love only as we give that love away. John expresses this truth in his first letter: “…if we love one another, God makes his permanent home in us, and we make our permanent home in him, and his love is brought to its full expression in us.”(1 John 4:12). The divine flow of love doesn’t find its full expression in us unless we actively love one another. In Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan, he sends a clear message: everyone is our neighbor, whether we like them or not. Our call is to be love for the ones we meet on our path.
This article is an excerpt from the book:
The Worship Journey: Fully Alive in the Circle of Love, by Andy Park
The Worship Journey is available on Amazon.com (and Amazon online stores in several other countries) in two formats: e-book and paperback.