GOD
John 17:3 (NIV) This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Some people are actually a bit scared of God; they view Him like a teacher/parent/judge who wants to get them into trouble all the time. They don’t trust Him, they don’t believe He loves them or cares much about their lives, they rather see God as harsh, mad, distant. No one really wants to spend time with someone who doesn't like them, we dread that! Is this really what God intended when He made us? NO!
God is eternal and has always existed in relationship with Himself. In the middle of the relationship between God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit, no need or lack ever existed. God, within Himself, lacked nothing; there was no void in His heart since He is perfect in love and pleasure. It was out of this perfect wholeness that God created humanity – not to fill a void in Himself but to share His fullness with us.
God made us for Himself, He talks great pleasure in being in relationship with us!
Psalm 16:11 (NIV) "In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
He did not create humanity out of His need but out of His desire. Think about that for a minute. God created you because He desired you.
Revelation 4:11 (NLT) You created everything, and it is for Your pleasure that they existed and were created.
This makes our lives incredibly significant when we realize that God did not need to create us, but He wanted to! He wants to have a relationship with you. What better significance could there be!!! Except something went wrong to hinder this relationship.
SIN
ILLUSTRATION: If I do something to offend my husband, it gets chilly in the room! We’re suddenly not talking or communicating. Our relationship is hindered. But what if I commit the greatest sin against him, what if I am unfaithful and run after another man? This doesn't just create a chill in the room; it creates a divide or a gulf between him and me. It’s the same with God and us.
Isaiah 59:2 (NLT) It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, He has turned away and will not listen anymore.
Sin is any failure to conform to the moral law of God in:
- What we do – Actions (lying, murder, gossip, stealing, etc.)
- What we feel – Attitudes (lust, coveting, anger, jealousy, etc.)
- Who we are – Our Nature (selfishness, pride, etc.)
David wrote: Psalm 51:5 (NLT) For I was born a sinner – yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
Romans 3:23 (NIV) For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Sin is not a rare abnormality, sin is who we are, it’s our very nature. Think about the Ten Commandments for a minute – which ones have you or someone you know committed or been victim of? Stealing, lying, coveting, disobeying parents, misusing the name of God (they have an ice cream named OMG), other gods (greed, material things, entertainment stars, sports stars, etc.), sexual sin (lust, pornography, fornication, affairs, rape, sex slaves, human trafficking, prostitution, incest).
Can you imagine how different our world would be without sin? We have broken every commandment, we have ignored God. We've thrown Him out of our classrooms, out of our government’s chambers, out of our businesses, and professions, the media, the public square, our families and our personals lives. We live to please ourselves with no regard for what He thinks or wants. And you know what the biggest sin is – many Christians don’t even seem to care! There is an incredible lack of confession in the lives of believers today and that alone is evidence of how they view sin and that they are deceived. Many believers are deceived and blind to their own personal sin. God’s holy nature cannot tolerate sin. Yet we have churches full of Christians who are deceived into believing that sin isn't a big deal or worse yet, they can’t even see their own sins because of their spiritual blindness and cold, hard hearts. Therefore they are separated from God and lack genuine relationship with Him. THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM – the very beings that God created to have relationship with, He cannot dwell with due to sin.
MAN
ILLUSTRATION: If I have been unfaithful to my spouse do you think that I can save my marriage by cooking him his favorite meal? NO! If fact, this may actually tick my husband off because I have broken the marriage relationship and I’m pretending that all is good. In the same way, I cannot be reconciled to God and bridge the gulf and save the relationship just by behaving a bit more.
Titus 3:5 (NKJV) not by works of righteousness that we have done but according to His mercy He saved us
Jesus
ILLUSTRATION: If I have been unfaithful to my spouse it will probably take some sort of mediation to bring us back together again, a counselor to help us fix our marriage and make it healthy again. The same is true with the gulf separating us from God – we need a mediator to bridge the gap. God has provided us with this mediator, Jesus Christ.
1 Tim. 2:5) (NIV) For there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
Jesus died on the cross and took the punishment we deserved for our sins against God. The whole work of God in redemption is to undo the tragic effects of our sin and to bring us back into right relationship with Himself. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin when He died on the cross. When we are blind to our sin we can’t really appreciate what Jesus did for us. As we grow in God we see more and more of our sins, we confess them and we actually begin to love, worship and thank Jesus MORE! Our relationship with God grows!
What does a RELATIONSHIP with God look like?
It looks like a relationship with anybody else! Joy, companionship, support, friendship, encouragement, mentoring, counselling, unconditional love, provision, comfort, surprises, enjoyment, blessings, protection, discipline, motivation, listening, etc. If you desire this type of relationship with God then the first place to start is to get into His Word through Bible reading and start talking to Him through prayer. You don’t need to even know what you are doing! Just start! The Bible is the primary way we get to know God. It tells us how we are to live, so we can be in right relationship with Him. It tells us about God, so we can know Him better. It acts like a love letter so that we can actually know Him and His heart. That’s why having Bible reading/Devotions is an integral part of this cell group.
If you are here and you are struggling with devo’s and reading your Bible, that’s OK! We are here to HELP! We have ALL been there! No one in this room can say that they have had devo’s 100% of the time since they became a Christian! In fact, very few of us probably can even say that we have had devotions 100% of the time in the past year! We are in this together, no matter where you are at, we are here to work together to help each other grow. If you haven’t had devo’s all summer, then we will help you start or re-start. Wherever you are at, we are here to help you improve on that! We all can learn and grow from each other! I am constantly looking for new ways to get more out of my devo’s. If you have any suggestions, I would LOVE to hear them! Just a note – no one is keeping track, we are here to encourage you, not to condemn you! We are here to BUILD our relationship with God! Bible Reading and Prayer is an integral part of that!
Prayer and Reflection Questions:
- What would be 4-5 benefits that you would experience in your life from growing in your relationship with God?
- What are 2-3 areas of sin that God wants to speak to you about today and have you clear up with Him through confession so that you can grow in your relationship with God?
- Write prayer of thanksgiving to Jesus for being the mediator between you and God making the way for you to have a relationship with God.
- Ask the Lord to show you what sort of devotional commitment (Bible Reading and Prayer) you should make for the next week.
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