The earlier symbolism of the civil religion had been Hebraic without any specific sense of being Jewish. The distinctions within the Godhead are not distinctions of his essence and neither are they something added onto his essence, but they are the unfolding of God’s one, undivided being into three interpersonal relationships such that there are three real Persons. “Presence” is a common translation of the Hebrew word “face.” Literally, we are to seek his “face.” But this is the Hebraic way of having access to God. Shamanism continued as sole religion of Korea until the advent of Buddhism and Confucianism into Korea just prior to the Common Era. Bellah describes the prophetic role of civil religion as challenging “national self-worship” and calling for “the subordination of the nation to ethical principles that transcend it in terms of which it should be judged”. Because human nature is such that it must attach itself to one of two principles.

‘being’ but a difference of ‘relationships.’ This is something far removed from our human experience, where every different human ‘person’ is a different being as well. The Father is not one-third of the being of God; he is all of the being of God. Thus, the Son is not one-third of the being of God; he is all of the being of God. What we do mean by Person is something that regards himself as “I” and others as “You.” So the Father, for example, is a different Person from the Son because he regards the Son as a “You,” even though he regards himself as “I.” Thus, in regards to the Trinity, we can say that “Person” means a distinct subject which regards himself as an “I” and the other two as a “You.” These distinct subjects are not a division within the being of God, but “a form of personal existence other than a difference in being” (Grudem, 255; I believe that this is a helpful definition, but it should be recognized that Grudem himself is offering this as more of an explanation than definition of Person). Seeking the Lord means seeking his presence. But there is a sense in which God’s presence is not with us always.

Within God’s one undivided being there is an “unfolding” into three interpersonal relationships such that there are three Persons. Because each of these “forms of existence” are relational (and thus are Persons), they are each a distinct center of consciousness, with each center of consciousness regarding himself as “I” and the others as “you.” Nonetheless, these three Persons all “consist of” the same “stuff” (that is, the same “what” or essence). In fact, it is precisely the continuing dialogue between the Father and the Son (Matthew 3:17; 17:5; John 5:19; 11:41-42; 17:1ff) that furnishes the best evidence that they are distinct Persons with distinct centers of consciousness. That is why we are told to “seek his presence continually.” God calls us to enjoy continual consciousness of his supreme greatness and beauty and worth. For this reason, the Bible repeatedly calls us to “seek the Lord . Titus 2:13 says that as Christians we are “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.” Upon seeing the resurrected Christ, Thomas cried out, “My Lord and my God!

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. I pray that no one will ever feel alone because there are always hundreds of people that could relate to your story. And God seeks people to worship him “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). Therefore, we must always endeavor to deepen our worship of God – in truth as well as in our hearts. “God is spirit” (John 4:24). Further, we clearly should not think of God as “consisting of” anything other than divinity. After coming to power, it didn’t take King John long to create enemies both inside and outside his kingdom. But the Holy Spirit is not an “it,” but a “he” (see John 14:26; 16:7-15; Acts 8:16). The fact that the Holy Spirit is a Person, not an impersonal force (like gravity), is also shown by the fact that he speaks (Hebrews 3:7), reasons (Acts 15:28), thinks and understands (1 Corinthians 2:10-11), wills (1 Corinthians 12:11), feels (Ephesians 4:30), and gives personal fellowship (2 Corinthians 13:14). These are all qualities of personhood.