Your Relationship With God (#3)

Welcome back to the third part of our series on our relationship with God, and what that means and looks like in daily life.

In the previous two segments, we’ve seen the proper distinctions and the dynamic between the scriptures, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, and how the foundation of our relationship and coming to Jesus, begins with faith— the divine information of who God is, what He has done, and who we are in Him today.

Today, we’re going to build on this foundation by seeing how all of this information fits together to strengthen our relationship with God, and allows us to be in unity with Him.

Being One With The Lord

Everything that we’ve seen and learned over the previous segments has been building to one wonderful conclusion: that our relationship with God goes deeper than what we typically think— even what we hear in churches week upon week.

As Christians, we often think of God as our judge, friend, and Father— and indeed he is all of these things to us… but Jesus revealed another aspect of our relationship with God that hardly gets any mention, and that is the oneness and unity that we have with God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Some Christians think this is blasphemy, which demonstrates how twisted, confused, and frankly, small-minded modern Christianity has become. We’ve developed a strange form of Christianity today that bears more in common with other works-based religious systems, and denies the divine power of Christ in us, and our relationship with the Father that Jesus revealed!

Take a look at John 17:20-26, which shows us Jesus praying to the Father, right before His crucifixion begins— and take notice of specifically what He is praying:

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

That they all may be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that you have sent me.

And the glory which you gave me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

I in them, and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them, as you have loved me.

Father, I will that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which you have given me: for you loved me before the foundation of the world.

O righteous Father, the world has not known you: but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me.

And I have declared to them your name, and will declare it: that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Now, there’s quite a lot to see here, but for the sake of time we’re going to dial-in on a few key points. And first up, let’s all take a moment to appreciate what Jesus says at the start of verse 20… neither pray I for these alone; Jesus’ isn’t only praying for the disciples who were physically with Him at that time, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. That includes you and me today, who believe on Jesus through their testimony in the scriptures.

And the first thing that Jesus prays for, is That they all may be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us.

The focal point here, is the fact that we are in Christ— made so by the atonement that Jesus prayed for right before going to the cross.

Next we see that He has given us His glory. Not some lesser glory; not the glory of an animal, or even an angel, but His same glory, given to us as a gift.

In verse 23, Jesus says I in them and you in me. Now, what is that a picture of? Complete unity!

What Unity With God Means Today

This unity with God has a massive impact on what form our relationship with Him means today. Most believers envision God as a kind of imaginary friend… someone that they can’t see, or touch, but they talk to him, and behave in a very similar fashion as a typical child would with an imaginary friend. You might be doing this exact same thing, because it was something you’ve been taught, or seen other Christians behave that way.

Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with talking to God, but there’s a subtle confusion that occurs when we start to think purely in “imaginary friend” terms. This kind of thinking creates a false separation between God and us; where God is still “out there” somewhere, and we are still talking to Him, hoping that He’s listening, asking Him for things, and there’s this sense of a gap still, a distance that is in-between us and God.

That is a false idea, and as such it creates in us a false identity; an identity not given to us by Christ Jesus, but by man-made ideas and doctrines. It’s a very Old Covenant way of thinking about our relationship with God… and it’s not the way that Jesus made for us by His sacrifice.

You see, the Old Covenant had people approaching God with fear and uncertainty – literally their lives were on the line. They would approach Him, oftentimes with problems, and they would approach Him usually begging and pleading for Him to do something to help them out. They would cry out to God, and then wait with more fear and uncertainty to see if help would actually manifest – always with a barrier, a separation between them and God.

Does that sound familiar? That is exactly how millions of believers have their relationship with God right now this very moment. And it is entirely rooted in the Old Covenant way of thinking. This is not the kind of relationship that Jesus suffered and died for us to have.

Jesus has in-fact given us a far greater relationship, with far greater access to God… something that the people in the old covenant couldn’t even dream of!

Join Me Next Time…

I encourage you today, my friend to meditate on the things we’ve seen today. To think about how the reality of your union with Christ filters into your daily life. Does knowing that He is in you and you are in Him, change your outlook? Does this truth alter your perceptions and the way you process and make decisions?

In part four, we’ll continue along this line, and see how our divine relationship with God also affects even our prayer life— and it might not be the way you expect!

I look forward to thriving with you again.

Be blessed.