God Above, Christ Below, Spirit Within

In chapter three of his letter to the Corinthians, Paul gets theological about the church. He deploys a set of powerful images to capture the way God works with his people: a field, a building, and temple. And connecting these images is nothing short of the Trinity itself:

When we confess that God is love, we aren’t just saying that God is loving. We’re acknowledging that God is constituted by the love of those three persons for each other: That cooperating, overflowing love within God is why he creates, why he saves, and why he’s building a church. Look at the three images Paul gives. First, a field with God above, like the sun and rain that account for all life and growth. Second, a building with Jesus Christ as the foundation, the solid base upon which everything else stands. And finally, a special building, the temple, in which the Holy Spirit makes a home. God above, Christ below, the Spirit within. hat’s not just true of the church, but this church, with all its flaws. The church in Corinth was so preoccupied with petty loyalties and rivalries that they didn’t even notice that they were surrounded the way only a three person God can!