One of the most profound spiritual discoveries of my spiritual journey has been the realization that God is relational. Just pull out your concordance or click into Biblegateway.com and do a search of "God is ____" and see what pops up. Then study every description on the list about God and ask yourself, "What do they all have in common?" Every description about God involves some element of his loving nature that deals with his desire to be in relationship with man. Everything that God does is driven by that purpose. He created us to have relationships, like the Father, Son, and Spirit have, and through our physical relationships learn and see the need for a spiritual relationship with him. Like I've said many times lately, God is the most purpose driven being in existence. We can't possibly understand him and his plan if we don't understand that our Holy and loving Father wants us and wants us to want him!
Among the many things that this has seriously impacted in my life is how I interpret the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, every word of every sentence must be interpreted through the eyes of a loving Father who doesn't do or say anything that isn't driven by his purpose. Whatever you read in scripture can only make sense when you see how it contributes to God's plan and purpose. Everything God did, from Adam and Eve, to Moses and the Law, and the sending of Jesus to earth, is all about what he has done to make a relationship with man possible.
This week in our staff meeting we read Hebrews 10 in our devotional time. I thought I really knew Hebrews 10 - after all, it's where my study of worship and the assembly began thirty-something years ago. But when we read, "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way..." - I was overwhelmed - again - by how much God has done so that we could have a close relationship with him. How long did it take and how much did it cost for us to be able to be in the presence of God like only the high priest could do once a year? Wow! Am I reading a new book or what?
1 comment:
I have been reading your blog and listening to your lessons for a few months now. I notice, however, that the podcast is not longer on the site. Do you know if they plan on putting them back up? Are they located elsewhere? I was accessing them here: http://florissantchurchofchrist.org/
Thanks, I really appreciate your message.
Scott
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