What does having a TRUE relationship with Jesus Christ mean? - Part 1
April 4, 2021
What kind of TRUE Relationship do you actually HAVE RIGHT THIS VERY MOMENT WITH JESUS and more importantly, how would JESUS describe YOUR relationship with HIM?? Forget what WE know about relationships – I’d rather hear and seek to understand what the Word of God says about having a relationship with Jesus. I want and need to understand how much of what I believe to know is true about a relationship, actually aligns with the Word of God – otherwise, it’s a worldly definition of mine and meaningless, correct? I want to know what the Holy Spirit inspired these men to write regarding this relationship need for Chris, I want to hear what Christ Jesus said Himself about having a relationship with him, and I want to know what God Himself breathed into these pages that are still alive today as they were over 2,000 years ago. Don’t YOU?
Then, let’s DO IT! Here we go!.......
Fellowship - If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
· Fellowship – 1 John 1:6 and 7 states, If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
· What does a Relationship With God look like:
· Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me.
o He stands at the door of your life and your heart and he KNOCKS. He tries to get your attention in SOME WAY or MANY WAYS. IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, you MUST open the door, allow him in, and to make your heart HIS HOME. For if and WHEN you FINALLY do, He will eat with you and you with Him. It does not refer to eating as in a meal – it means to give and receive LIFE. Eat this bread, which is in memory of ME. HE is the BREAD OF LIFE – that is what your share with him – ETERNAL LIFE!
· “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
o God loves you so much, He came down in human form to save the world, NOT condemn it. He knew the price of those sins our sins were DEATH - HELL. He knew the source of those sins were you and me I and since He couldn’t bear the thought of eternity without your or I, He chose the nails on a tree with Him on it!!!!!!
o 2 Corinthians 5:15 says, And He died for all that……..THOSE WHO LIVE should no longer live for themselves, but for HIM who died for THEM and was raised again! Those that do not, will experience DEATH – HELL.
· Proverbs 1:33
· But all who LISTEN to ME will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm.
o Listening – who knows what He’s asked of you in order to listen to what He’s said? We want peace, no fear of harm, yet He states He freely gives to those that listen to Him. Listen to what? Him!!!!! How much of what He’s asked you do you actually know? How do you listen to someone whom you cannot hear or that you pay very little to no direct attention to?
· Luke 9:23
· Whoever wishes to be My follower must deny himself, take up his cross each day, and follow in MY footsteps.
o What does this mean????? Deny yourself? Take up your cross Daily?? and follow in His footsteps?? What does this even mean??? If we don’t know, HOW THEN can we begin to obey and follow his commands and have eternal life? How can you believe in something or someone or in this case, have a relationship with someone you do not know or understand?? You can’t!!! It’s literally, figuratively, and spiritually IMPOSSIBLE!!!!! Let’s break this awesome verse down – I believe it certainly holds the key to unlocking eternal life with Him in Heaven.
· Deny self
· Denying self requires us to give up anything that we would want or seek that would hinder our doing the will of God. This does not mean that, if we want something, it is necessarily wrong. It means we must take our wants and desires down from the throne and place Jesus and His will as the governing power in our lives.
· There is room in each life for only one master (Matt. 6:19-24). If God is to rule in our lives, then our will must be made subservient to His. We must be willing to give up anything in life in order to please God. Rom. 12:1,2; Matt. 6:33; Luke 14:25-33; 2 Cor. 5:14,15.
So, "taking up your cross" refers to giving your whole life to God, as Jesus was about to give His life for us. This involves bearing burdens, but it is deeper than that. It is a total dedication of life. Our whole life is given to His service in anything He says. This will lead us to willingly deny self. Following Him then requires us to live as He lived His life (I Pet. 2:21; Matt. 10:34,35; I Cor. 11:1).
Luke adds "take up your cross daily" (Luke 9:23). There is a sense in which Christians must give their lives to God every day. This is not necessarily a physical death as Jesus died for us, but a daily total sacrifice of self to do the will of Jesus. Whatever He wants with my life is what must be done with it. What I want no longer matters, but I give myself for Him, just as He gave Himself for us despite the fact His human nature did not want to have to do it. Cf. Rom. 12:1,2; Gal. 2:20; I John 3:16-18; Matt. 6:19-33; Gal. 5:24; Rom. 6:6-23; 2 Tim. 2:11; 2 Cor. 4:11; Ecc. 12:13.
The determination to give our lives to God's service is called "repentance." In repenting, we determine to turn away from our own will and live our lives to please God. We cannot be saved without this, and that is why repentance is so important in salvation. It also explains why so many people are not truly Jesus' disciples (whether or not they may claim to be His disciples): because they are not willing to make this total sacrifice.
Lose your life for Jesus
The next verse then helps us understand Jesus' point and strengthens the application. If a person holds his life so dear to himself that he wants to use it to please himself, do his own will, and accomplish his own purposes, rather than denying self and serving God, that person will, in the end, lose his life eternally. But anyone who loses his life for Jesus' sake - gives it in service and sacrifice to God by denying himself, as described above - such a man will save his life by gaining eternal life.
There can be no greater or clearer teaching anywhere of the meaning of being a disciple. This is how our Master lived, so this is how His disciples must live. We must live lives of complete and total submission to the will of God.
· And this is eternal life, that they KNOW you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
o Do you/we KNOW Him, or do we know ABOUT Him??? It says right there, that THIS (truly knowing the true God and Jesus Christ) – THAT IS ETERNAL LIFE!!!!!! That is how I was shaken awake to know that John 3:16, those that believe in him…meant and means SO MUCH MORE THAN TO believe IN HIM OR OF HIM, but to KNOW HIM, TRULY – any other way is DEATH (Hell)
· Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
o If you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, you don’t have access to the Father. If you don’t have access to the Father, you do not inherit the Kingdom of the Father. When Jesus speaks to those that did not have a relationship with Him – He tells us he has said and WILL SAY TO EACH ONE – DEPART FROM ME, I NEVER KNEW YOU!!!! THIS IS WHAT HE MEANT!!!! It’s the reverse – He knew OF you but He didn’t KNOW you – HE DIDN’T HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU, NOR YOU WITH HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!
· For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
o the MAIN POINT – ETERNAL LIFE is IN Christ Jesus. To be IN Christ Jesus means to be IN relationship with HIM!
· John 3:3
· Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
o This is another one that shook me awake – This is in ADDITION to what John 3:16 states, not a supplement to, or replacing, but defining what truly believe in Jesus Chris actually means by way of action, not just ‘talk’.
o BORN AGAIN – the act of repentance, following the belief of Jesus Christ’s death, resurrection, and not being OF the world, although you will be IN the world. When one is BORN AGAIN – his/her OLD self is shed and the new is born – you don’t go back to the old once reborn….that’s called backslider and most would be considered a loss in the faith or more accurately stated, was never TRULY saved, to begin with. This verse PROVES IT and is not let to interpretation! Jesus didn’t say this to TRICK US, but to TEACH US so that 2,000 PLUS years later, we can still understand it completely – but it’s up to us INDIVIDUALLY to take it to heart and soul and actually DO IT. Reading or knowing is NOT DOING!!!! DOING is DOING…Are you?
· But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
· What does this mean? iniquity (injustice, wickedness, or sin) and sin cause a separation between God and a believer. While sin does not disconnect us from our justified status, it prevents us from enjoying close fellowship with the Lord. But when we confess our post-salvation sins, we are returned into fellowship with the Father.
· Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
o Nothing here is left to misinterpretation – He wants you to lean on him to have real and true content. Nothing in life deserves your love or attention more than He – for what is Monty without Him?
· If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
o In a TRUE relationship, past mistakes are forgiven, meaning the slate is wiped clean and there is no more remembrance, mention, ill-will, retaliation, rebuke, or scolding or punishment.
o If you’re TRULY FORGIVEN in a TRUE relationship, do you continue doing the thing that you were forgiven for? Do you continue REPEATEDLY doing the thing that you were forgiven for?
o Cleansing us from all unrighteousness – cleansing means to wash away permanently, not to wash unrighteousness to make room for more or more of the same!!!!!! It’s not a season pass to do whatever you want, when you want, how you want, without punishment.
· Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
o Once again, we come to a verse that had been right in front of my nose my entire life – I did not take note. My Negligence is and was no excuse for not knowing what the Creator and Father has demanded of me – I once was lost, but now I’m found – this helped me realize the impact and matter-of-factness over what the world says, and what God STATES. Once is a false sense of non-reality, but sounds good; the other is direct, very serious, but is TRUE – and what’s more…….my eternity – YOUR ETERNITY – depends on receiving and listening and obeying these words!!
o The opposite of this verse indicates the one who doesn’t listen or obey does not TRULY love Jesus, nor will the Father love him, nor will They come and become one with them. I mean – really powerful truths here, wouldn’t you agree?
· For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
o This is what we receive when we have a TRUE relationship with Jesus Christ – after all, most people, true Christians or not, ALL want a good future and HOPE. It’s what most people seek after most – comfort, safety, assurance, future, and hope! Yet, that’s what He has planned for YOU, and those that have a TRUE relationship with Him.
· Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
o When you have a true relationship with God and you humble yourself and not look at your own strength, which in reality is weakness, but rather look for His might to seek comfort in, you can safely and assuredly cast “ALL YOU ANXIETIES ON HIM” – what does that mean? EXACTLY WHAT IT SAYS!!!!! Life without anxiety is also one thing in life we all seek, no????? Yet, how many of us live with it constantly? But if you have a TRUE relationship, or WHEN you have a TRUE relationship with Christ, this is his promise to you – to cast ALL YOU ANXIETY ON HIM……because WHY?????? BECAUSE HE CARES FOR YOU!!!!
o He’s not just a far away judge with a big name that’s inscribed all inside this one Book called the Bible! He is the MIGHT GOD – the One with the power to save and heal and protect.
· I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
o How many of us right now are conformed to this world? Think about that truthfully for a moment – and, I’m NOT IMPLYING ANYTHING on ANY LISTENER listening in right now…..On a day to day, week to week – are you conformed to this world or to Him alone?
o He asked us to be TRANSFORMED (OR CHANGED) by RENEWING – wiping clean, starting over with a clear conscience and mindset for HIM and a willingness to Re-conform ourselves to fit the spiritual world with Him, not the worldly world of darkness we’re in. This is the only way we will know and CHOOSE what is the right thing to do for God, vs. what the world deems is ‘right’, which we ought to know by now is typically and usually polar opposites. Remembering the words of Charles Spurgeon, Preacher of Preachers – discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. Discernment is knowing the difference between what’s right and what is ALMOST right.
· For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
o This gives great comfort. We’re not alone. “All” means “ALL” – we all have fallen short. We all fall short in our TRUE relationships, but what do we do when we fall short? We don’t continue abusing sin but seek to repair and get closer. This is NOT a pass to continue falling short!! For in a TRUE relationship, that would be considered abuse! And it is!
· I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
o This explains how we are to be in a TRUE relationship with Christ. We are to be ONE with HIM as the branches and vines signify. A sign that you abide in Him and He in you is clearly spelled out – the one who bears much fruit. If you don’t produce any, as He clearly states is because apart from Him, you CAN’T!!!!!! So if you can, but don’t, why is that? Think about that…..
· No longer do I call you servants, for the servant, does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
o This was and still is an incredible revelation and to me, another shaken awake moment in total and complete awe.
-What He’s saying is a TRUE relationship with HIM, the Almighty, is a FRIENDSHIP and TRUE relationship so that were are not slaves to Him, but FRIENDS!!! Only friends share and reveal the most sacred of secrets and reveal the innermost secrets of their heart and here we are, being offered the same by Jesus to impart to us what God has imparted to HIM, as a friend would relay, not as a Master would NOT to a servant.
-This goes to show the value Jesus places in return for being in a TRUE relationship with HIM. He elevates your title from servant to FRIEND!!!!!! That’s incredible guys!!!