The Christ revealed in the entire book of Matthew is the center of the processed Triune God (28:19). Matthew and John are the two books in which the Trinity is more fully revealed. In the opening chapter of Matthew, the Holy Spirit (v. 18), Christ (the Son-v. 18), and God (the Father-v. 23) are upon the scene for the producing of the man Jesus (v. 21), who, as Jehovah the Savior and God with us, is the embodiment of the Triune God. In chapter three Matthew presents a picture of the Son standing in the water of baptism under the opened heaven, the Spirit as a dove descending upon the Son, and the Father out of heaven speaking to the Son (vv. 16-17). In chapter twelve the Son, in the person of man, cast out demons by the Spirit to bring in the kingdom of God the Father (v. 28). In chapter sixteen the Son is revealed by the Father to the disciples for the building of the church, which is the life pulse of the kingdom (vv. 16-19). In chapter seventeen the Son entered into transfiguration (v. 2) and was confirmed by the Father’s word of delight (v. 5) for a miniature display of the manifestation of the kingdom (16:28). Eventually, in the closing chapter, after Christ, as the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45b), had passed through the process of crucifixion, entered into resurrection, and become the life-giving Spirit, He came back to His disciples, in the atmosphere and reality of His resurrection, to charge them to make the heathen the kingdom people by baptizing them into the name, the person, the reality, of the Divine Trinity. Such a Christ is the center of the processed Triune God.
In the Godhead the Father is the source, and the Son is His expression. The Father dwells in unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16), but the Son has come as the expression of the Father, the expression of the unapproachable and invisible God (John 1:18). Hence, the Father is expressed in the Son. The Son is the coming out of God and also the expression of the Father. Because the Son expresses the Father, He is the expression of the Father. Furthermore, because the Son expresses not Himself but the Father, the Son’s expression is the Father’s expression. Therefore, to see the Son is to see the Father who is expressed in the Son.
The Son, who is the expression of the Father, is realized as the Spirit. In John 14:10 and 11 the Lord Jesus reveals that He is one with the Father-the Father is in Him and He is in the Father. Then in verses 16 through 20 He reveals that He is realized as the Spirit. The “He” who is the Spirit of reality in verse 17 becomes the “I” who is the Lord Himself in verse 18. This means that, after His resurrection, the Lord became the Spirit of reality. First Corinthians 15:45 confirms this.
Concerning the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, we may use three crucial words: source, expression, and realization. The Father is the source, and the Son is the expression of the Father as the source. Furthermore, the Spirit is the realization of the Son as the Father’s expression. As the realization of the Son, the Spirit has come into us to be experienced, enjoyed, and possessed by us. Since the Spirit is the realization of the Son, who is the expression of the Father as the source, we have the source, the expression, and the realization. Because the Father is expressed in the Son and the Son is realized as the Spirit, Christ the Son is the center of the processed Triune God.
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