One of the names the Scriptures give us of “the Child born, the Son given” is the “Everlasting Father”. This is the more remarkable, since it is found in the Hebrew part of the Scriptures (Isaiah 9), and is acknowledged to be reference to the (then) coming Messiah. Another of the names of the Son in this very same passage is “The Almighty God”. It is easy to overlook this. Let me say it again, one of the names of the Son in the Old Testament is “The Almighty God”. For me the mystery of the incarnation is encapsulated in the song “Mary did you know”, 'When you kissed this little baby, you kissed the face of God'. So the Messiah is God, and of course the Holy Spirit is God, in fact the Spirit is the Spirit of of Jesus. So the Son is the Father, is the Spirit, is the Son. Three in one, and One in three (see Trinity who can understand it?).
In John 17 Jesus talks about the fact that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him. Some have described Holy Spirit as the love between the Father and the Son. In any case what we have in the Trinity, in the nature of God, is perfect fellowship, perfect community. What makes it all the more remarkable, in a World where we suffer so much rejection, is that we are invited into the very midst of this fellowship. Jesus came to bring us to the Father (John 14:6), and the Spirit woos us and seals us into the Kingdom (2 Corinthians 2:22). When we turn to Him in repentance we are adopted into His family (Romans 8:15,16), Jesus becomes our Brother (Hebrews 2:11), and His Spirit comes and lives within us (Romans 8:11). So here we are with the Spirit within and our Brother Jesus and His Father embracing us from without. I call this a Trinity sandwich, because you and I dwell in the very midst of Trinity.
The fellowship and community of the Trinity is indeed perfect (see invited into God's embrace) and we are invited into the very center, the very essence of this perfection. As Jesus puts it in His high priestly prayer “I in them, and You in Me” (John 17:23). The context of this quotation is the very Spirit of Christmas “Good will and peace to all men”. His sacrifice is intended to reconcile us to Himself and to each other “that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (the context of verse 23).
Don't pass over this, think on it, let it settled deep into your spirit, you and I are loved by the Father in exactly the same way that Jesus is loved by the Father for "(You) have loved them as You have loved Me". If and when we grasp this, it has to fill us with awe and wonder, it has to change our lives. When we enter into the reality of it, the World (nations) will run to Him (Isaiah 55:5), many will see and fear and put their trust in Him (Psalm 40:3B).
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