Welcome back again to the fourth installment of our series exploring our relationship with God.
We began by looking at the dynamic between Jesus, the scriptures, and the holy spirit.
Then in part two, we saw the pivotal role that Faith plays in our relationship with God, and how coming to him requires not only that we know his character, but we know our status, as redeemed new creations because of his sacrifice.
Then, in the third part, we begin exploring how understanding our relationship and status in Christ affects our perceptions and how we live day-to-day.
Now, we will continue examining how understanding our new nature in Christ changes even how we approach God in prayer, by looking at specific teachings, and examples shown in the scriptures.
Let's get started.
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.
When you consider the phrase “relationship with God” what comes to your mind? For the majority of Christians I’ve spoken with, they think of things such as, going to church, reading their bible, or other religious activities. All of these things are good, but can a relationship with Jesus be reduced to a list of tasks?
The scriptures speak in detail about our relationship with Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, and where exactly we fit in this spiritual dynamic. The scriptures also show us what this relationship looks like in practical application. And spoiler alert— it goes far deeper than a list of things to do.
So join me today as we explore the finer points of our relationship with God through the finished work and atonement of Jesus Christ.
We’ve all heard it quoted before, that “Your body is not your own, you were bought with a price...” and this quote from scripture is usually delivered in a negative and condemning way in an attempt to bring guilt and fear on the people. In my earlier years, I used to become angry at the mention of this scripture – not because I hated the verse itself, but because I hated the guilt and condemning tone in which it was being presented; and many people also feel the same way about it even today.
It may surprise you then to learn that this verse was never intended to be guilt-inducing, fear-generating or condemning in any way… in-fact it is actually a great encouragement and reason to rejoice! What we will be studying today in scripture is how the promise that your body belongs to the LORD is actually a fantastic assurance, and how this verse no longer has to be something that brings guilt or condemnation, but great joy in Christ Jesus.
If I were to ask you what God thinks of you, what kind of answer would you give? Most believers would probably say that “Oh, He loves me!” and that is certainly a true statement, but it has become almost cliché in our current culture to say “God loves you” or that “Jesus loves me”. We say the words, but do we really understand what they mean? The world today has a distorted, corrupted idea of what love is, and that is purely from a human standpoint, much more so then is the love of God misunderstood.
In this study today, we will look deeply into how the scriptures show the love of God in all of its glory. So that you can truly know the way that God thinks of you with love, and have a real revelation of what that means. The love of God will no longer be an empty statement without meaning.