As Christians we have an awesome God, who sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to be the final sacrifice so that we could become Born Again and enter into His presence, just as Adam, and walk and talk with Him and have a relationship as father and son as well as God and creator.
As Christians we should have:
- A living relationship, with
- A living God, through
- His living Son,
- By the power of the Holy Spirit,
- That Lives within us.
Our relationship with God is a personal thing; it is between Him and Us individually, in exactly the same way as we have a relationship with our birth father.
- We should be talking to Him and asking His advice.
- We should be listening to Him and taking His advice.
- We should be asking Him for direction and following it.
- We should be trusting Him and not doing our own thing.
He is our Father and creator; He wants the best for each one of us.
He does not punish us but welcomes us back with open arms when we stray from Him.
If we let him lead and guide us there are no limits to what He will do with us.
I was once told that there are three stages in a man’s relationship with his father:
- 1. As a young boy “My dad is better than your dad.”
- 2. As a teenager “Dad, you know nothing.”
- 3. As a mature adult “My father used to say…”
As Christians most of us go through the same stages in our spiritual life.
We start off with a desire to do whatever our Heavenly Father wants. We then go through a stage where we think that we know it all. And then through the experiences of life we realise that God’s way is the only way.
Some of us do not stray too far and find it easy to come back into relationship with God.
Some of us find it harder and have to break down barriers of pride before we can humble ourselves again before God.
And some of us believe we have gone too far and that there is no way back.
God is a loving father and never forgets one of us. He is always waiting for us to come to Him. He wants each one of us to have a full relationship with Him. He wants to walk and talk with each one of us, as He did with Adam.
We must remember that God loves each one of us and that He wants each one of us to be one with Him.
Joh 3:16,17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Jesus said:
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, Father the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the, but by me.
1Jo 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
God wants each one of us to have a personal relationship with Him.
A Relationship with God is a two way relationship. It involves speaking and listening.
It is not a corporate thing but a personal one.
It is good to have corporate worship of God but that does not replace the personal one on one relationship with Him.
Saying prayers is not making vain repetitions but it is having a conversation with God.
Conversations are two sided.
We tend to speak at God and not to Him.
We tell Him what we want to do and ask Him to bless it.
We should ask Him” what is the right thing for us to do,”
And listen for an answer.
I believe that the local church is one of the best social clubs that we have.
We confuse having fellowship and corporate worship at the local church with having a relationship with God.
The natural instinct of people is a desire to want to belong somewhere and to identify with others.
Christians replace belonging to God with being members of the church.
They identify with the pastor or other church leaders instead of identifying with God. .
They place the responsibility of their personal relationship with God on others, Pastors, elders etc.
Fellowship is good.
Corporate worship is good.
Belonging to a church is good,
But none of these replace the personal relationship we should be having with our Heavenly Father.
Where does the power of the church come from?
It comes from the people within.
What is in the centre of church?
UR
The church of Jesus Christ is made up of every born again believer.
The power of the church comes from all of its members.
The power of the members comes from their personal relationship with God.
Through our personal relationship:
- We build up spiritual strength.
- We receive God’s peace
- We get Gods’ wisdom
- We get to know the power and might of God.