1. The first level is when man relates with God as Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth. Man perceives himself only as one of God’s creatures - his workmanship. He is aware of God’s sovereignty, might and power. Man believes that he can only worship God from a distance and he is only familiar with the thunderous voice of God saying “thou shall not do this or that.” This kind of relationship is usually with great fear.
2. The second level is when man relates with God as his Lord and master. You obey him because of his royal position and you perceive him as the head. In this kind of relationship, there is usually conversation between man and God. Most of the prophets in the bible had this kind of relationship with God. You don’t really know much about the master’s business; your duty is to follow instructions. In this kind of relationship you have the perception that God loves you according to your performance.
Exodus 6: 2-3 - And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them.
God appeared to Moses as Lord, but to Abraham he appeared to as God. You will however discover in Genesis 18 that when Abraham continued to grow deeper in his relationship with God, he eventually knew God as his Lord.
3. The third level is man relating to God as his father. In this kind of relationship all God has is yours and all you have is his. This father and son relationship has been made possible by our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the first born son of God and he has brought us into his inheritance as adopted children of God when we believe in the gospel. In this type of relationship, there is no fear and so we have boldness to come before God. Children of God are being led by the Spirit of God. The father loves you not because of your performance but because you are his son.
Romans 8:14-16 - For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
Some children are only after what they can get from their dad and they don’t have their dad’s interest at heart. The story of the prodigal son in the book of Luke 15:11- 32 is a good example. I believe that for many years, the prodigal son had a servant mentality. He then woke up one morning and realised that he was a son. The first thing that came to his mind was the entitlement to him as a son. He did not take time to process the father and son relationship and what is expected of him as a son. The only thing that attracted him was what he could gain from that relationship. The elder brother to the prodigal son also had a servant mentality, because unconsciously he was rendering service to his father to gain his father’s love and favour. He was not aware that all the father had was his and all he needed to do was ask. Luke 15:29-31.
4. The forth level is man relating to God as his friend. I believe that this is the deepest kind of relationship you can think of. God revealed himself to Moses as Lord but Moses continued seek God until they became friends.
Exodus 33:11a - “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”
Abraham also eventually become a friend of God because he continued to seek God and their relationship became deeper.
Isaiah 41:8 - “But you Israel are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend.”
John 15:14-15 - "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you".
The relationship between David and Jonathan was stronger than the relationship Jonathan had with Saul who was his father. Friends of God are often in the secret place with Him. That is the place where God shares His heart with them. We need to go deeper in our relationship with God. The God of heaven and earth wants to be our Lord in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ died to reconcile us back to God so that we can become adopted children of God. Hence, as children of God we receive the Holy Spirit who is our comforter, helper and teacher. He invites us to walk with him (Romans 8:4-5) because he wants to be our friend. The Holy Spirit has some many things in stock that he reveals to his friends. Are you ready to be one of them? Begin today by seeking him in the secret place.
No comments:
Post a Comment