CHRISTIANITY IS A RELATIONSHIP

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WATCH THIS TWO MINUTE MESSAGE: 

CHRISTIANITY IS A RELATIONSHIP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAZD2kjpF1w

INCERE CHRISTIANS all agree…Real Christianity is Personal—We personally know Christ and He knows us.

Real Christianity is Relational—We walk with Christ and He walks with us

And Real Christianity is Unconditional—The Lord loves us unconditionally and we love Him unconditionally.

So then what is the point of all the specific instructions God lays out in His Word?  If Christianity is personal, relational, and unconditional—why bother with particulars?

Why did God bother to give Moses the Big 10?  

“Thou shalt have no other Gods…Thou shalt not lie…”  Exodus 20

Why were the Prophets so passionate about obeying God?

“To obey is better than sacrifice” 1 Samuel 15:22

Why was Jesus so definite in His teaching? 

“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me:” John 14:21

Why were the Apostles so explicit in their preaching and teaching and writings?

               “The unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God…” 1 Cor. 6:9

Hi, I’m Pastor Rick Jones, and I have about a TWO MINUTE MESSAGE I’d like for you to think about.

It is true that Christianity is essentially a personal loving relationship with God through Christ, but it is not true that I alone decide if there will be a relationship, nor is it true that I alone define the nature of my relationship with God. 

AGREEMENT IS THE BASIS OF THIS RELATIONSHIP

In order for there to be a real relationship there must be a willing agreement—God and I must agree to be in this relationship.  If I do not agree to be in relationship with Him, then there can be no relationship.  If He does not agree to be in relationship with me, then there can be no relationship. (By the way, If there had been no Savior, we can be sure that God would never have agreed to be in relationship with sinners.)

OBEDIENCE IS THE EVIDENCE OF THIS RELATIONSHIP

The proof that I want to be in a relationship with God is my willingness to agree with God. 

The man who said, “I want to be in relationship with you God, but if you ask me to sell my stuff and give the money to poor people, I’m walking” …ended up walking away.   God wants to be our first and only love.

Christ really wants to have a relationship with us, but He insists upon defining that relationship.  It has to be on His terms.

And there’s a reason for that.  Fallen men, all of us who have sinned, need FORM—specific instructions—in order to see, to understand, and to do what is right.  Sin dims our sight, dulls our moral sense, and diminishes our will to do right. 

FORM not only shows us what GOD WILLS for us to do, it also shows us what is in our WILL—do we resist or receive the FORM as God revealed it in His Word?

LOVE IS THE BOND OF RELATIONSHIP

If your lover were to say to you, “I love you so much dear! I would climb the highest mountain!  I would swim the deepest ocean!  I would cross the hottest desert for you… but honey I’ve got to take care of myself first,” you’d have good reason to doubt the depth or the sincerity of their love.

JESUS said I love you so much dear, I would die for you!  And HE did. 

Would we say to Jesus, “I love you so much, I would die for you?” or how about this, “I love you so much, I would live for you?”

Christianity is a relationship, but it is not a relationship of equals.  Christ is Lord, I am His loyal servant.  God is Father, I am His child. 

PRAY, GOD I LONG FOR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU.  I KNOW THAT I HAVE SINNED AND I ASK YOU, IN JESUS NAME, TO FORGIVE ME, AND GIVE ME YOUR SPIRIT, THE SPIRIT OF LOVE AND HOLINESS.  HELP ME LORD TO WALK IN YOUR WILL AND IN YOUR LOVE THE REST OF MY LIFE.  IN JESUS NAME, AMEN.