Because the infinite and personal God loves us, He wants us to grow in an intimate relationship with Him; indeed, this is the purpose for which we were created—to know, love, enjoy, and honor the triune Lord of all creation.
Since God is a relational being, the two great commandments of loving Him and expressing this love for Him by loving others are also intensely relational. We were created not only for fellowship and intimacy with God but also with each other. The relational implications of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity are profound. Since we were created in God’s image and likeness, we too are relational beings. The better we know God the better we know ourselves.
Augustine’s prayer for this double knowledge (“May we know Thee, may we know ourselves”) reflects the truth that our union with Christ is now overcoming the alienation with God, with ourselves, and with others that occurred at the fall.
