The goal of Christian salvation is the complete restoration of the divine image in order that we might fully reflect the life and love of God. This restoration comes by means of our union with Jesus, the God-man. As God, he is the perfect image of God to humanity. As man, he is the perfect image of God in humanity.

Jesus is the perfect and true image of God to humanity. According to the New Testament, Jesus “is the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15). He is “the exact representation of the divine nature” (Heb. 1:3) “for in him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (Col. 2:9). If we desire to know who God is and what God is like, we merely have to look at Jesus during his earthly ministry. He reveals God to us more fully than anything or anyone prior to his coming. Jesus is God with a human face. Christians are people who, by God’s grace, see “the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). This is “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4).

As the perfect image of God to humanity, Jesus is also the perfect model of God’s intentions for humanity. Jesus lived life in perfect harmony with God’s will. During his time upon earth, Jesus was like us in every possible way, yet without sin (Heb. 2:17; 4:15). He purely and perfectly experienced and expressed the divine life and love – the shared life of Father, Son, and Spirit. No one, before or since, has ever reflected the divine image as Jesus did.

As the God-man, Jesus is not just a pattern for us; Jesus is the pattern. No other person is so uniquely suited to reveal God to us and to show us what a full, human, godly life should look like.

We reflect God’s image to the extent that we reflect Christ’s image. Through our union with Christ by the Spirit, the image of God is progressively restored in us (cf. Romans 8:29). At the end of time, in glorified resurrection bodies, we will experience complete conformity to the image of Christ (1 Cor. 15:49; 1 John 3:1-2). Until then, we experience progressive glorification in Christ and through the Spirit. “But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18). This conformity is labeled in various ways in the New Testament: godliness, christlikeness, holiness, sanctification, walking in the Spirit, etc.

We can evaluate our progression in conformity to the divine image by our experience and expression of divine love. “The test of Trinitarian faith is Trinitarian love.”[1] The more we receive and reflect God’s life and love to others, the greater our experience and expression of Trinitarian glory. However, no matter how powerful and fulfilling our personal experience of God is, we can never fully reflect God’s life and love on our own.

As an ancient church father wrote, “God is one; but God is not alone.” Our fullest expression of Trinitarian glory is done in community. We must reflect the us-ness of God. To this end, we will consider two icons that, when viewed together, accurately communicate what it means to fully reflect God’s life and love – a reflection that is only possible in and through community.

Andrei Rublev’s Trinity Icon

Andrei Rublev’s Trinity Icon is a masterpiece of “theology in color.” In the icon, Rublev uses the account of the visitation of three angels to Abraham in Genesis 18 as a pattern for the Trinity. All three angels speak with one voice – a picture of three persons in perfect communion.

The staffs of equal length represent the equality of Father, Son, and Spirit. The different colored garments highlight the distinction between the three. Though they are one, they are not the same. The Father is not the Son; the Son is not the Spirit; the Spirit is not the Father. And yet, the three are one – one God eternally existing in three persons.

Gathered around a table, the three are engaged in intimate communication. Their faces reflect a sorrowful and compassionate, yet serene beauty. Each head is submissively inclined toward the other, signifying mutual love, honor, and respect. Unlike most icons, no face looks directly at us. As we examine the faces, we find no place to rest our gaze. The movement of mutual love circles around and around in an everlasting cycle. There is no beginning or end to the eternal communion between Father, Son, and Spirit.

At the center of the table is a chalice of wine representing the Holy Eucharist. Each person’s hands relate to the Eucharist in a different manner, drawing attention to its full significance. The Son’s two fingers draw attention to the union of humanity and deity in his person, making possible the divine sacrifice the Eucharist represents. The Father encourages the Son with a gesture of blessing. The Spirit points to the rectangular opening on the table that represents the world, signifying that the sacrifice is for the world.[2]

The Eucharistic center reminds us of the great price God has paid to demonstrate his love for the world. “The true center of the Divine Communion… is a shared sacrificial love that manifests in the world.”[3] Father, Son, and Spirit are “joined together by a common table and a common cup. The table symbolizes the fellowship and hospitality they share and, ultimately, offer.”[4] Through partaking in the chalice, we are brought into communion with the Trinity.

The theological message of the icon is that we are invited to share in the communion of Father, Son, and Spirit in and through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. The empty place at the table is for us. The space is an invitation rather than a coercion to share in trinitarian fellowship - to become partners in the divine dance.

The Descent of the Spirit Icon

In the Descent of the Spirit icon we also encounter another open circle – the semi-circle of the apostles. Before we consider the theology of the icon, we should read the narrative account of Pentecost.

And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were bewildered, because they were each one hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and marveled, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,Cretans and Arabs — we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.” (Acts 2:1-13)

In contrast to the overwhelming amount of activity in the Acts narrative – sudden sound, violent wind, tongues of fire, the cacophony of various languages spoken simultaneously, gasps of amazement, and jeers of disbelief – the icon presents us with a calm scene of order, peace, solemnity. Instead of chaos, we find symmetry and equilibrium.

The reason for this disconnect is simple: like all good icons, this icon pictures the spiritual reality underlying the actual story. It represents the deepest meaning of Pentecost, which is not primarily about loud sounds, fierce winds, fiery tongues, and fantastic events.

The twelve rays at the top of the icon represent the fullness of the Holy Spirit descending upon the apostles. The twelve men in the semi-circle represent the twelve apostles. The peaceful symmetry of the semi-circle represents the presence of God’s love, joy, and peace among them.

Further examination reveals something fascinating about the twelve apostles.

A careful look at the twelve shows that each member of this community is a unique person. The iconographer has painstakingly given each apostle and evangelist an unrepeatable individuality. Their hair, their eyes, the movements of their heads, their gestures and the ways they cross their legs and feet are so different that it is quite easy to remember each individual figure. These graphic differences are strikingly reinforced by the use of a variety of deep, full colors. The environment in which they sit is painted with modest yellow-brown tones, but look at the vermillion reds, the deep greens, the yellows, purples, browns and grays of their mantles and tunics! Still, while each garment is different, together they display a beautiful harmony.[5]

Though the apostles are united together as a body, they are all uniquely different. The source of their community is not their uniformity. They do not share similar personalities or common interests. Their sense of community does not come from looking at one another, but by sharing the same life and love of God. Though each one is completely different, they all possess the word and Spirit of God. The scrolls and books in their hands represent the word, and the twelve rays represent the Spirit. Henri Nouwen underscores their differences by explaining how the icon represents the unique way each apostle might have communicated his experience.

It is a joy to spend time with each of the twelve. Each has his own way of telling the story. Paul sits up straight and seems quite severe and intellectual. Peter bends over somewhat and looks more willing to listen. John inclines his head and offers affection, while Matthew and Mark are eager to explain everything with their outstretched arms. Philip, sitting cross-legged in the right corner, might be willing to engage in a more informal chat, and Thomas on the left looks so young that you wonder how he will express his experience with Jesus. They all have their own way of living and speaking the good news that has entered deeply into their hearts.[6]

Though our attention is naturally drawn to the twelve, we must not miss the mysterious figure at the bottom-center of the icon. In the midst of the apostolic community is a king-life figure standing in a darkened gate. In contrast to the apostles, he appears chalky and lifeless. He represents all the people in the world living in darkness and in need of divine light, life, and love. In his hands, in marked contrast with the darkness that engulfs him, the king holds a white cloth containing twelve scrolls.

The king’s presence reminds the apostles that the world needs liberation from sin – liberation that can only come as they share the word and Spirit they have been given by God. “The scrolls and books placed in the hands of the twelve are not to be kept there for their own enlightenment, but are to be placed into the hands of people from all times and places so that they too can participate in the new life that the Spirit brings.”[7] The Spirit is given not only to give the apostles a share in divine love, joy, and peace; the Spirit is also given to empower the apostles to take God’s message into the darkness of sin and unbelief. “Pentecost is not the beautiful end of the salvation story, but the beginning of a mission to go out into the world, make disciples of all nations… The same Spirit who binds the disciples of Jesus together into a vibrant community of faith, sends them into the world to liberate those who dwell in ‘darkness and the shadow of death’ (Lk 1:79).”[8]

The Descent of the Spirit icon reminds us that the gospel of God-with-us in Christ is also the gospel of God-in-us through the Spirit. Through the gift of God’s Spirit we are allowed full participation in the divine life. Jesus’ “absence is not an emptiness. On the contrary, his departure has created the space in which his followers can receive the fullness of the Spirit.”[9] This has incredible significance for the apostles and for us. “The time of confusion, misunderstanding, unbelief and fear is over. God is no longer an outsider, an unpredictable guide, or an enigmatic stranger. God is the Spirit of the risen Christ who lives within his disciples and fills them with new hope, courage and confidence.”[10]

The icon also clearly teaches us that faith is meant to be shared. We are not saved and indwelt by the Spirit merely to enjoy a privileged position. We are granted the grace to know God in order that we might share the life and love of God with the world. We cannot simply revel in the light; we must enter the darkness of unbelief with God’s message of faith, hope, and love. Only then is the fullness of God’s Spirit truly evident in our lives.

Henri Nouwen summarizes the deep significance of this icon. The icon

shows a new community of faith formed by the Spirit of God who dwells in our hearts and who commissions us to liberate our captive world. The icon brings together prayer and ministry, contemplation and action, quiet growth in the Spirit and mission to a restless world. It proclaims that the community of faith is a safe place to dwell, but also a center from which a call goes forth to liberate the world.[11]

Reflecting the Divine Pattern

Now, with a fundamental understanding of these two icons, I repeat my opening statement: The goal of Christian salvation is the complete restoration of the divine image in order that we might fully reflect the life and love of God.

We cannot fully reflect the life and love of God as isolated individuals. Only a community can truly reflect the divine image. God is an “I” and an “us” – “God is one; but God is not alone.” We must not only reflect God’s life and love as individuals; we can only fully reflect the trinitarian life as persons-in-relationship. In other words, we must reflect the us-ness of God.

When the Trinity icon and Descent of the Spirit icon are placed side-by-side, we notice that they share the same shape. The harmonious circle of the apostles is a reflection of the eternal circle of love shared between Father, Son, and Spirit.

Only in community do we fully reflect the Trinitarian life. This sheds light on the first mention of God’s image in humanity in the sacred scriptures: “And God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). From the beginning the image of God was only fully reflected in the unity and diversity of one shared humanity (unity) expressed in two distinct sexes (diversity). When the two live in harmony they become one. Only in light of this can we fully understand God’s preamble to the creation of humanity, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness” (Gen. 1:26).

Though we experience God personally, we cannot fully reflect God apart from community. But let’s be clear about the kind of community that truly reflects the Triune God; not just any community reflects the divine life and love. Only a community that values unity in diversity in the context of shared love, joy, and peace can truly lay claim to reflecting the Trinitarian glory.

The communion of the Trinity is the pattern for our community. But the community life the Trinity creates is not a uniform or homogeneous community. It is filled with a wide variety of people with different personalities, interests, passions, and vocations. In its fullest sense it is comprised of the widest possible breadth of diverse participants – people from every tribe, tongue, nation, and language. It is not rooted in sharing a common sex, culture, ethnicity, nationality, or politics. It finds its source in the word and Spirit of God. Its expression is as manifold and beautiful as the colors of the rainbow.

This unity in diversity is not only true on a cosmic scale; it should also be represented on the local level. In order to do this, we must maintain our focus on what unites us.

“The Descent of the Holy Spirit,” while not denying the importance of interpersonal relationships, portrays community in quite a different light. It reminds us that community is first and foremost a gift of the Holy Spirit, not built upon mutual compatibility, shared affection or common interests, but upon having received the same divine breath, having been given a heart set aflame by the same divine fire and having been embraced by the same divine love. It is the God-within who brings us into communion with each other and makes us one.[12]

Community that reflects the Triune life is not founded upon homogeneity, but diversity. The unique fashion in which the apostles are depicted in the icon makes this theological reality clear. The apostles

truly form one body united by one Spirit. But they are not looking at each other, talking to each other, or working with each other. They are listening together to the God-within. It is not their common psychological make-up that unites them. How different they are! On the left we see Peter, Matthew, Luke, Andrew, Bartholomew and Thomas. On the right we see Paul, John, Mark, Simon, James and Philip. The gospel stories make it clear that these men have not come together because of the compatibility of their personalities. What binds them together in unity are the rays of the divine Spirit descending on them from above… The word of God, giving to them as a common gift and received by them as a common task, binds them together in a holy community of faith.[13]

An overly sentimental view of community eliminates the possibility of experiencing true community. Real community demands the experience and expression of real love for those who are unlike us. If we limit our sense of community to those who are exactly like us, our love is little more than an extension of our ego. We love others because they remind us of ourselves. This kind of love is self-gratifying, self-promoting, and self-indulgent. It does not reflect the Trinitarian love of self-denial, self-giving, other-affirming.

Co-Lovers With God

In order to grasp our call to share God’s life and love, Darrell Johnson suggests that we must think of ourselves as co-lovers with God. “We are co-lovers with God of God; we are co-lovers with God of one another; we are co-lovers with God of the world.”[14]

As co-lovers with God of God, we share in the love between Father, Son, and Spirit. The Father deeply loves the Son (Mt. 3:17; John 3:35; 5:20; 10:17) and the Son returns the Father’s love (Mt. 11:27). In Augustinian terms, “God is (at once) Lover, Beloved, and Love itself.” This love relationship is eternal and everlasting (John 17:5, 24). It is the love we are invited to share in Christ and through the Spirit (John 14:16-23; 15:9; 17:23-26). This is what it means to love God with God.

As co-lovers with God of one another, we share God’s love with fellow Christians. “As a disciple of Jesus, I am commanded to love you as he loves me. And you are commanded to love me as he loves me. If we obeyed him it would change the world, let alone the church.” (Johnson, 2002, 67-68). Other believers are adopted children of God – sisters and brothers in the faith. We all share in the same divine life and love. In spite of all our disagreements, we all find ourselves at the same table. We must learn to see every Christian as embraced by Father, Son, and Spirit in the dance of eternity. They are appreciated, valued, cherished, prized, treasured, adored, and desired by God. We must value them as God values them. We do not necessarily love people because we find them lovable; we love them because God does.[15] This is what it means to be co-lovers of God of one another.

As co-lovers with God of the world we love all people with the self-denying, self-giving, sacrificial love God demonstrated in Christ. In spite of the presence of unbelief, ignorance, and evil, we refuse to give up hope in the renewal and restoration of the heart by God’s grace. We trust in spite of the present darkness. We hope in the midst of depressing circumstances. We love whether it is deserved or desired. In fact, we love until it either kills us or tears down the defenses of those who once resisted or rejected it.

© Richard J. Vincent, 2005

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