The life of Jesus in eternity past is deeply significant in understanding the nature of the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And the relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is deeply significant for understanding the nature of the gospel. Much of the time we have been presented with a vision of the gospel that seems to make salvation a matter of "where you go after you die," but doesn't necessarily offer an entirely different way of being while you are alive.

The way Jesus lived in the Father, and the Father in him, in eternity past...is how he continued to live on earth as a normal human. He was in constant, unbroken communion with the Father, and lived each moment aware of the Father's presence and voice. Jesus said that he was not capable of doing anything of kingdom significance except by his union with the Father.

My argument is this: The way Jesus was connected to the Father before the cross is the way WE are connected to the Father THROUGH HIM after the cross. The eternal relationship of the Trinity is a gospel of overflowing love and joy issuing in creation. We have been invited into that co-indwelling, us in Christ, Christ in us, and we have been invited into a life of abiding in ceaseless, unbroken communion with Jesus, where it is possible to live in a perpetual encounter with God. This is not the property of a few elite mystical monks and nuns in a corner. This is the very nature of the normal Christian life, because Jesus is the original "Christian," and he's the norm, the standard.