Relationships of the Living God

Throughout God’s love story the Bible it is revealed that God is a relational being. First and foremost there is His relationship within Himself. That is the Father, Son and Spirit, one God in a perfect love relationship. Then there is His relationship with His own creation including humanity. Through the relationships of the living God, much is revealed about His love and concern for all people. As you listen be blessed, empowered and transformed in Jesus name.

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Transcript

00:00 Intro music and voice over.

Welcome to jesus loves the world podcast. For more information and free resources visit our website jesuslovestheworld.info Be blessed empowered and transformed in Jesus’ name! 

00:21 Speaker

Throughout God’s love story the Bible it is revealed that God is a relational being. First and foremost there is His relationship within Himself. That is the Father, Son and Spirit, one God in a perfect love relationship. Then there is His relationship with His own creation including humanity. Through the relationships of the living God, much is revealed about His love and concern for all people. 

So let us begin the first recorded moment when God referred to Himself. This is in the Genesis 1 account of creation.

Genesis 1:26-28 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Here in the discussion about creating the first man and woman God refers to Himself as ‘us’. In the original language of the Bible, the word that has been translated as us is a very special word. It has duel meaning, it is both a singular and plural word. 

So in the beginning God - that is Father, Son and Spirit - are having a conversation that is of one will and emotion. God shares with us today this conversation through His love story the Bible. In this conversation God reveals that in one desire and selfless love, chose to create humanity. Not only desired to create humanity and share the perfect love relationship that the Father, Son and Spirit have within Himself, but also create humanity in their own image. 

That is in their own likeness, to be a visible representative of Himself. A creature that would be a unique expression of the perfect love relationship that God already enjoys within Himself. 

One aspect of His perfect love relationship is one of parent and child. It is nothing like any human relationship of parent or child that we are familiar with. For it is the perfect love relationship between God the Father and God the Son. A relationship of equal love, power and authority and honour. 

For a greater revelation of this please listen to the jesus loves : the world  podcast titled, The Parental Heart of God. 

So in His image God created humanity, both male and female equal. With the intent to be a child of God and recipient of all He is and would give to us. He gave male and female equal status, equal power and authority, equal honour and equal dominion to look after His perfect world. 

The relationship with the living God and His creation is a beautiful expression of His love and concern for not only humanity but for all of His creation. However in His relationship with humanity, there is a deeper revelation of God and His character.

The second time that God refers to Himself as us is again in the context of His relationship with humanity. This time it was after the first man and woman had eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As a result had given their power and dominion to rule and reign to their selfish desires and evil. 

Now filled with guilt and shame, inequality and oppression, the first man and woman ran away from God. Yet God in His great love and concern for them, as a loving parent ran after them and covered their shame. God stitched clothes for them, so that they could be comfortable in His presence.

Genesis 3:21-24 Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Again as a loving parent, God not only clothed them but He protected them from being forever trapped and dominated by their selfish desires and the destructive forces of evil. He did this by guarding the way to the tree of eternal life. The tree of eternal existence. 

As humanity had chosen to become one with both good and evil, being created in God’s image became corrupted. Unlike God who is never one with evil and only good, humanity now are one with both good and evil. So as a rebellious child, our identity of being created in God’s image has been marred. No longer is there a selfless love relationship of equality between male and female. However God is still the same and in His perfect love relationship, He still acts out of His selfless love. 

So the third time that God refers to Himself as us is again in the context of His relationship with humanity.

It was at a time when the whole earth had one language or speech. Humanity were blinded by pride and decided to make a name for themselves and build a tower high above the heaven. They reasoned that if they did not do such a thing, they would be scattered over all the earth. They wanted to be as God and have life without Him. 

Let us read Genesis 11:7-9 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

So to a prideful people, God came down to where they were at and protected them from the abusive and destructive forces of their own pride. Having confused their language and being scattered over the face of the earth, the people ceased building the tower to heaven. 

As God never changes, He still desires for humanity to be in a perfect love relationship like He is within Himself. For humanity to be restored to the image of God and be in perfect harmony with God and each other once again. 

The fourth time that God refers to Himself as us is again in relationship with humanity. This time in regards to a specific people group who were not listening to Him. God laments that He has nourished and brought them up as His own, yet they chose to rebel against Him. Not only rebel against Him, but aligned themselves with evil and corrupted others. They intentionally blasphemed against God and attempted to provoke Him to anger. 

Yet in amongst all this, were individuals from this people group that had chosen to align themselves with God. One such individual was Isaiah. He would speak for God to His people. Even though they did not want to listen to God, God still sent His prophet to them. 

Isaiah 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

God - the Father, Son and Spirit - revealed the secrets of His heart to His prophet Isaiah. Isaiah was privy to a special conversation of God within Himself. The result is Isaiah desires to go to his people and speak for God. In an attempt to bring this rebellious people back to Himself, God sent His prophet Isaiah to this prideful people. Revealing to them the foolishness of their pride. 

Isaiah 29:16 Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; For shall the thing made say of him who made it, “He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

So this people group in this time when Isaiah lived had their relationship with God upside down. Thinking they were above God, esteeming themselves greater than God, even denying God is their creator, God reminds them that He is their creator. Whether they acknowledge God  or not His desire for them and all people never changes.

Centuries later the Apostle Paul, also a man called by God to speak for Him, laments the pride of his people in their rejection of God. They are the same people group that Isaiah was from. Both are Isaiah and Paul are from Jewish lineage. Let us read Paul’s lament.

Romans 9:19-26 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.” “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

So God in His great love again shares His heart for all humanity. 

Through the relationships of the living God we come to know the desire of God. That is that all would receive His honour, glory and most of all the intimate, perfect love relationship between God the Father and Son. Having received Jesus the Son, we receive not only the relationship that He has with the Father, but we also receive His Spirit. The Spirit of the living God, whereby we become a child of God just as God originally intended. 

Galatians 3:26-29 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. 

Being baptized into to Christ is saying yes to Jesus, yes to God. Having received Him being  continually immersed in His identity, relationship with the Father and Jesus’ inheritance as first born sons. No matter what gender we are in this world, no matter what people group we are born into or level of status in this world in Christ Jesus we are equal. Each one a child of the living God and joint equal heirs with Jesus.

Romans 8:14-17 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, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

In saying yes to Jesus, yes to God, we are led by the Spirit. For the Spirit reveals the truth and leads us to Jesus, who leads us to the Father’s heart. Having said yes to Jesus we are adopted as the fist born sons of the living God. The Spirit of the living God testifies that we are His child.

When Jesus returns we will received our glorified bodies that never get sick, never get old, and never die. We will inherit all of who Jesus is and what He has done. Spiritually we have our inheritance now, but physically we will receive the fullness of it when Jesus returns.

For it is personally guaranteed by God Himself with HIs Spirit within. Praise His mighty name!

19:40 Outro music and voice over. 

For more information and free resources visit our website jesuslovestheworld.info Be blessed empowered and transformed in Jesus’ name!