To
understand the original intention of God we need to understand the basic covenant
nature of God which is love according to the apostle John (1.John 4:8). Love is
a relational term which presupposes a subject and an object. There is someone
who loves and someone who is loved. God is as to character truth and love, but
love cannot be God. Love only exists as a relation between the lover and the
beloved. Because God is triune, the divine being already comprehends both
love’s subject and object. Therefore we come to understand that the essence of
God does indeed lie in the relationship between the Father and the Son (love) which
is the Spirit.

In other
words we may say that God is eternal love within himself: The Father loves the
Son; the Son responds with love; and that spirit of love between the Father and
the Son is the Holy Spirit. Through all eternity God is the social Trinity, the
holy society, the community of love. In the Godhead, which is the community of
love, there is an interpenetration of divine interrelation, partnership and
mutual dependence of the members of the Trinity, not only in the workings of
God in the world but even more foundationally in their very existence as the
one God. We find throughout the Bible that the divine unity is comprised by the
reciprocal self-dedication of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Naturally this
corresponds with the New Testament concept of agape, which we may define as the
giving of oneself for the other in covenantal relationship. Indeed, God is
covenant love – the divine essence is love that binds together the triune God,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.