(This message series is inspired and excerpted from He Loves Me! by Wayne Jacobsen.)
The Relationship God Has Always Wanted with Me –
. . . Since I live, you also will live. 20 When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (John 14:19b-20 NLT)
“CAN YOU IMAGINE what it must have been like for Jesus the first moment he sat in the circle of his disciples after they had finally become friends? We all know what it takes to get acquainted with new people, the awkward pauses and measured words as people get to know one another. Certainly the disciples went through that with Jesus. Just who was this Teacher and Miracle-worker, and who were these other men who decided to follow him?” (p. 10)
One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 17 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 18 And they left their nets at once and followed him. 19 A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee’s sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets. 20 He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men. (Mark 1:16-20 NLT)
“For centuries men and women had stood at a great distance from God, shamed by their sin and intimidated by his holiness. With only a few notable exceptions, people wanted nothing to do with the immediacy of God’s presence. When Mount Sinai shook with thunder and earthquakes, the people begged Moses to go to God for them. God was a terrifying figure, and feeling safe with him was unthinkable.” (p. 11)
The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this:
“I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble.
I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.
16 For I will not fight against you forever; I will not always be angry.
If I were, all people would pass away- all the souls I have made.
17 I was angry, so I punished these greedy people.
I withdrew from them, but they kept going on their own stubborn way. (Isaiah 57:15-17 NLT)
“What an incredible moment that must have been for Jesus, to be with people who were not so awed by him that they could not enjoy his presence. Of course, it happened only because the disciples had no idea that it was God who stoked the fire as they sat around and laughed. For although we now know that Jesus was God incarnate on Earth, they had no idea, and that made all the difference.” (p. 11)
“No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 7 If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!” 8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”
9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? (John 14:5-9)
Think about your ideas about God’s presence in your life. How has God revealed himself to you?
“How could the holy God live among sinful people and engage them face-to-face? Their history told of such moments when God’s presence came to his people. Even the most righteous had fallen on their faces in fear, and some of the most evil had died. They thought that’s what God wanted, but as we’ll see their response had far more to do with how sinful people reacted to God than how God wanted to be known.” (pp. 12-13)
So God disguised himself, first as a baby in a manger, then as a young boy growing up in Nazareth, and finally as a young man walking the hills of Galilee. No one had any idea God had come to live among them; because of that no one cowered in fear or acted awkwardly with him. For the first time since he walked the Garden with Adam and Eve, God was among people the way he had always wanted to be. People with broken lives were drawn to him, not repelled. His followers were secure enough in his presence to be genuine, even when that revealed lust for power or arrogance. Now God could experience the relationship he’d always wanted with his people and through that relationship free them from sin. (p. 13)
Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. 17 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” (John 18:16-17 NLT)
Did you ever have a time when you were afraid of God?
The friendship Jesus shared with his disciples was the model for the relationship he extends to you. He wants to be the voice that steers you through every situation, the peace that sets your troubled heart at rest, and the power that holds you up in the storm. He wants to be closer than your dearest friend and more faithful than any other person you’ve ever known. I know it sounds preposterous. How can mere humans enjoy such a friendship with the almighty God who created with a word all we see? Do I dare think he would know and care about the details of my life? Isn’t it presumptuous even to imagine that this God would take delight in me, even though I still struggle with the failures of my flesh?
Don’t relegate this invitation to an abstract spiritual plane. When Scripture talks about the relationship God wants with us, it borrows the most tender images of our world. Scripture describes us as young children beloved by a gracious Father, the bride of an expectant bridegroom, friends dear enough to die for, and little chicks rushing under the protective wings of a hen. (p. 15) What is your favorite way to picture God?
To experience it, however, we need to appreciate just how much we are loved. That isn’t easy for a generation of believers who have been invited to know him not because he is so overwhelmingly wonderful, but because we were scared to death by the threat of an eternity in hell. We will look at that in the next chapter. (pp. 15-16)
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15: 15)
For Your Personal Journey (p. 16)
Spend a few moments thinking about your relationship with God. Do you see it growing in closeness and sensitivity, or does it feel abstract? Is he more real than your closest friend, or a distant presence that rarely seems to engage in the real issues of your life? If your relationship with him isn’t what you want it to be, ask him to help you grow to know him better and to recognize his presence throughout each day.
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