A “personal relationship” with God

I was recently questioned as to what it is to have a “personal relationship” with Jesus.  The idea of God being personal just doesn’t sit well with some people.  My first thought was that that term is thrown around a lot to mean that a person has said a prayer making a commitment to Jesus.  Usually, if not always, they have no clue what they are getting into.  Sadly, the truth of what a relationship with God entails is just not explained to them.  They are told they have to come to church to hear a bunch of lectures on how to be a better person.  I know that this is not always what happens, but this is what I have seen.

 

I truly believe that a “personal relationship” with God is exactly what life is all about.  People need to know the “what” and the “how” of this relationship.  And you always have to start with the “Who”: God.

 

The Bible clearly shows that God and man are to have a relationship.  In the beginning, God and Adam shared a perfect or complete communion together.  God loved and provided for Adam; Adam loved and walked with God.  Sin broke this lovely communion and left us naked (and the knowledge that we were so) and alone.

 

God could have left us in this state of naked, loneliness, but did not.  He provides clothes to cover their nakedness and declares that from the woman’s seed will come One who will destroy satan and death.  Even then, God was beginning the process of reconciling our relationship to Him.  He knew all of this would happen before He even made Adam, yet because of His love for him and humanity, he deemed it worth it.

 

Throughout the Old Testament are the stories of God’s people, called to witness to the rest of the world what it is to be in a relationship with the One True God.  They failed this pretty miserably; but God still did not give up on humanity, nor did He relinquish His promise of restored relationship.  The Prophets tell us of One who is to come, the Messiah, Chosen One, God Himself, to free us from the sin that severs our relationship with God.  Isaiah tells us that His name is Immanuel, which is literally “God with us” (Isa 7:14; Matt 1:23).

 

That is exactly what it is to have a “personal relationship” with God; God with us, in us.  We are to be the dwelling place of the Most High God (Rev 21:2-4, an awesome passage).  God dwells in us as we come to Him through faith.  That is, a faith in Jesus; God with us, in us.

As we completely trust our lives over to Jesus, God supernaturally restores our relationship to Him; our part is to put forth the time and effort to live out that relationship. 

That is why discipleship to Jesus is vital to the restoration process.  He is the “quintessential” human being.  He shows us and enables us to live out the “God with us” life.  That is where God’s love and grace meets our love and effort in a beautiful, eternal relationship. 

Death is the way to Life (John 12:24-25)

Life, it is our most valuable possession here on this earth.  We strive so hard to make it better, easier, more fulfilling.  To some, it means working 60 hours per week to sustain a life of extravagance and financial security.  For others, life is filled with busyness to ignore the struggles and pain that lie deep within.  Still for others, life is a daily grind of the same old thing, because that is all they know it to be. 

But life, no matter how hard we grab hold and strain, cannot be controlled or manipulated into what we think we want it to be.  You see, life, your life, is completely out of your control.  The tighter you hold on to it, the more it slips away.  Jesus says it in this way: 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.   “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.

Jesus, in speaking about His own death, reveals a truth about how life flourishes in God’s kingdom.  A seed that is not placed and trusted into the dirt will never break forth with the life that is within it.  The same is true for humanity.  If you do not let go of the death grip that you have around your life and trust it into God’s hands, you will lose it and remain alone.  But if you are willing to let it go and entrust your life to God, you will receive abundant life that will bear much fruit.

To Believe in God?

·         First, one must believe that God is real and His word is truth.  There are many evidences all around that declare there is a maker of the heavens and the universe (Psalm 19).  There is also great evidence that God’s word is a divinely inspired work.

·         There must be an understanding that you are not God and that you have completely failed at life according to God’s perfect and just standards.  This failure is called sin.  Sin is to literally “miss the mark” set by God.  He has set that mark at His good and perfect standard because that is how life was meant to be lived (Genesis 1:26-31); it is what is best for us.  Sin, what we were born into (Genesis 3:1-19) and that which we have committed (Romans 3:23), has completely severed our relationship to God (Romans 5:12-14).  We are lost and destined for an eternity away from God (Romans 6:23).

·         The “Good News” or “Gospel,” is that God has made a perfect way for our relationship to be restored once again (Romans 5:1-11), the way it was intended to be before there was sin.   Our life is of immense importance to God.   And being that death is the consequence for our sin, the only price high enough to pay for that sin is the death of a sinless, perfect sacrifice: Jesus, God’s own son.  God is a just and righteous God.  Because of this, sin cannot just be overlooked.  God of course knew this and set forth the plan from the beginning to restore His relationship with humanity (1 John 1:1-3). 

·         Our response to the “good news” is to believe with all our heart and mind that Jesus died on a cross as the perfect sacrifice for our sins and to declare that He and He alone is the Lord or our lives for eternity (Romans 10:9-10).

·         We are then, to live our lives in loving submission to the God who has loved us and sacrificed His life for us, so that we might live in communion with Him.  This is truly what the good news is about.  Not that we don’t have to go to hell when we die, but that we can now live with God for all of eternity, reaping the benefits of being a child of God; abundant, supernatural life [here and now] (John 10:10).   This is to be done out of love and appreciation for who God is, and it is an eternity long process.

·         We are to continue in life long study of the Bible (Psalm 1:1-2), continually refining our understanding of who God is and what He is like.  This is the only way in which we can believe correctly about Him in every aspect of our life.  This is true for every relationship we are in.  We must get to know each other, in order to relate better with each other.

What does this relationship look like on a daily basis?

·         Take the time each day to appreciate and worship our awesome, loving, graceful, merciful, righteous, just, beautiful God.

·         Tell Him what He means to you (worship). 

·         Talk to Him about the things that mean so much to you and Him (prayer).

·         Read and study the Bible, finding out all that it reveals about our magnificent God and learning to apply its truths to your life.

·         Make God the center of your entire life, placing Him at the forefront of all that you do, say, and are.

·         Answering these questions each day:

o   Who is God according to His word?  Who does He say that I am?  Who does He say others are?

o   Out of these simple questions we are able to relate properly to God, ourselves, and others, and on our way to fulfilling God’s greatest commandments.

One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:  “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’   This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’    All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  Matthew 22:35-40