How close a relationship does God desire to have with us believers? How does building a close relationship with God differ from a typical best friend relationship? Practically, how can we build the kind of relationship God wants to have with us?

Transcript

So, thankfully we've already reviewed our theme for the month. We know what it is, right? Yes. Intimacy. Intimacy with who? God. With God. Intimacy with God.

Does anyone remember what two questions I wanted to work with you? What I wanted to think with you about? Do you remember what the two questions were? Yes. The first one is how do we know if we have an intimate relationship with God? Did we answer that question last week? Yes.

How can we know, does anyone remember, how can we know if we have an intimate relationship with God? Yes, George. If we love Him and we love Him by doing what He commands. Okay. If we love Him, if we do what He commands. Is that right? It's a good answer. It's not wrong. But do you remember what, does anyone remember more specifically what our answer was? Anyone else? Receive His word?

Sorry, go ahead. I remember that Luke said you can tell a secret to Him. Yeah, you can tell a secret to Him. Yes. And I remember Mrs. Crum said that she, or Ms. Crum said she could, she knows she has an intimate relationship with God because she enjoys spending time with Him and she makes that the first part of her day. Okay.

Thank you for all those answers. One of the things we came out of, hopefully came out of last week was with the idea that even if I think I have an intimate relationship with God, it really depends on what God says, right? We looked at a verse, several verses in John chapter 15. And what we ended up with was in order to know, or in order to be someone that Jesus says, you are my friend, we have to receive everything He taught. We have to believe it and we have to act on it, do it. Okay. That was the first question, right?

Does anyone remember what the second question was that I wanted to talk to think with you about? That's a good question. That's one of the questions we talked about last week. Yeah, that is. Do you want to have an intimate relationship with God? The second question I wanted to think with you about was, if I want to build an intimate relationship with God, what should I do? Yes. What must I do to build that relationship? It seems like we may have already answered that question.

Actually, there's two points I want to make today about that question. And then hopefully give some very, very, very, very, very, very, very practical advice. Let's see.

All right. So how do we build a relationship with God? How do we grow closer in a relationship with God? A couple of things we need to think about or understand first about this relationship. So I said Jesus wants to have a relationship with us. He wants to be close to us, right? We also asked the question, do you want? But does Jesus want? How do we know if He wants one?

He died for us. It's a good reason. Let me ask you this. Do you know what is supposed to be--let me put it this way--what human relationship is supposed to be the most closest, intimate relationship on Earth? Which human relationship? Marriage. Does everyone agree marriage? I think it's marriage, actually. I agree that it's marriage.

So how does the Bible describe what the marriage relationship is supposed to be like? OK, so marriage is used--thank you, Michelle--marriage is used to describe the relationship--she's getting ahead--the relationship between Christ and His church. So how does the Bible describe that relationship? How close is that relationship? Do you know where that's found in the Bible? Yes. Actually, if someone could read for me Genesis 2, Genesis, the very first book of the Bible, chapter 2, verses 22 to 24.

"Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib."

Stand up. Stand up. Read it out loud.

"Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib. He had taken out the man and He brought her the man. The man said, This is now bone of my bones, my flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman. For she was taken out of man. That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife. And they become one flesh."

So--thank you--do you know? So as Michelle pointed out, the husband wife relationship is actually an illustration of Christ's relationship with His church. Paul brings that up in Ephesians, chapter five. And in Ephesians chapter five, Paul quotes what we just read. And when he quotes it, he emphasizes that the "two become one."

Can you be any closer? If you, if two people become one, can you be any closer? Nobody knows. Yes, you can be closer? No, you can't be closer? Which one is it? So yes or no question. Easy one. Come on. It's a softball question.

You cannot be closer. There's nothing closer.

Now, I know many of us have experienced marriages, most of us seeing other people's marriages. And we see those marriages and we do not see the oneness that God speaks about. Maybe in a few minutes, we'll understand why many, maybe even most marriages don't reach that level of intimacy and closeness. My goal today is not to speak so much about marriage, but about our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Keep in mind, you agreed. I had to pull teeth. You agreed that you cannot be closer to someone than if you are one with them. Right. Turn to John. The Gospel of John. John, chapter 17. We were looking here last week. John, chapter 17. While you're turning, let me tell you this. John chapter 17 is a prayer that Jesus prays right before he goes to the garden, is arrested, killed. And three days later rises from the dead. These are kind of like Jesus's last words before he's killed. Unfortunately, he rose from the dead and he had more words. He had some other last words, actually. Can someone please read to me verses 20 to 23? Asaph, wait a minute. Let somebody else do it. This time read Chinese, OK? Just to be fun. Go ahead. Do you have to? Oh, my goodness. I'm just asking. 

Thank you. Thank you. Did anyone catch what Jesus's desire is, not just for His 12 Apostles, but for everyone who believes through their word or the words of people they train and on and on down to you and me? How close a relationship does Jesus want with his disciples, you and me? That we would be one.

Do you see that? Comes up in verse 21, 23, 22. It comes up a lot in these four verses. Does Jesus want us? How close does Jesus want us to be with him? He wants us to be one. Complete unity. Is it any wonder that marriage is used as an illustration for our relationship with Jesus Christ? We know that most marriages don't actually reach that level of unity, right? Do most Christians reach that level of unity with Jesus Christ?

Who does it depend on? Yes, George. "The believer and also God." So we know Jesus wants to be one with us. We also saw last week that he's already told us everything we need in order to become, to understand him and to know him. What's left to bring us into complete unity? Who needs to move? Who needs to act? Who needs to do something? We. We. We. We do. We do. To make it personal, I do. I do.

So that's the first point. Jesus does want us. We have proof. He wants us to be one with him. And we can already see that, that really we're the one that needs to get moving.

I want to, I want to illustrate that in another way. This will be the second point. We've used best friend as an, as a means or an illustration to understand what it means to be close, intimate friends. Right. So I want you all to grab in mind again, who is your best friend? Remember that person from last week? Everybody got him? OK.

Thinking about your person. Is that person your parent? One of your parents. Raise your hand if it's your parent. All right. OK. I'm glad there's at least couple in here. All right. For the rest of you now, you two don't need to answer. For the rest of you, is it--you're all students--is it a teacher? Is your very, very, very, very, very best friend a teacher? Anyone besides somebody in the back row? All right.

Is, for the rest of you--that, that's, that's nobody--is it maybe a classmate? How many of you? Your very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very best friend is is someone very close in age to you? Maybe not a classmate, but not a classmate here. Maybe it is a classmate here. But somebody very close in age to you. How many? Raise your hand. OK. There's a lot. Wow.

Why are there still people with their arms down? Who am I missing? What am I missing? It's OK. I'm not. You can put your hands down. What I want you to see is that for the most part, our very best friend is probably someone very similar to us. There's someone who, for lack of a better term, there's someone who is like an equal to us.

I mean, they're human, right? So are you. They're probably the same age. Unless you're in some kind of romantic relationship, they're probably the same sex. You've spent some years, probably in, ou've spent some time in the very same situation. Maybe you're classmates, maybe you were classmates. Maybe you lived in the same neighborhood. There are many similarities and you don't think of that person as superior to you. Right? Does everyone agree with that?

So one of the problems with using best friends as an illustration of our relationship with Jesus Christ is Jesus is not our equal, is he? Who is Jesus?

He's the Messiah. He's God. What else? He took on flesh and blood. He became just like us. But is he our equal? I don't know if you've noticed this, but when two people become friends and they're very similar, they're, they're, they're basically social--we'll call it, we'll put it this way--they're social equals. Equals.

OK, we discovered last week that this kind of best best best friend can actually break, because when you are friends with an equal, you know, they still have independence, don't they? And they can change and they can lose some of those connecting points.

You have independence in that relationship, right? You might also have experienced a good friend turning away from you. So so you come into a relationship with someone just like you. And even though you consider them your best, best, best, best, best friend, kind of way down in your heart, maybe there's still some fear. And there's still some self protection. And unfortunately, something often comes up that proves you correct in being cautious and you move apart from that person. You separate some. So I don't know if you realize, but these relationships with equals are actually the least stable and sure of all our relationships.

That's not the kind of relationship we should have with Jesus. The relationship we should have with Jesus was actually hinted at last week. If you flip back a couple of pages to Chapter 15, John, Chapter 15, look at verse 15 again. Chapter 15, verse 15. There's kind of an ugly word in there. Can anyone find it? Servants. And that's a nice version of this word. This word can actually be translated "slave," and it might be better if we understood it as slave.

Can anyone tell me the difference between a servant and a slave? Slaves don't have freedom, but servants will have some part of freedom. So a servant might be hired. So you could decide, I don't like this guy anymore. I'm not going to work for him anymore. I'm gone. If you are purchased as a slave, unless he chooses to sell you to someone else, unless he chooses to set you free, he owns you. You have no freedom. You do not belong to yourself.

What does Jesus call his disciples? He in this verse, he changes, doesn't he? From this moment or up until this moment, before this moment, what did Jesus consider his disciples? Slaves. Slaves. To put a little nicer, servants. But you know what? It would be better to think about slaves. Why? Because then the relationship can't be broken. It can't be broken. At this moment, he changes what he calls them, right? And he calls them friends.

That's where we want to be. Where are you in the process? Are you still on the servant side? Or are you already the friend?

Let me ask you this. What makes the slave of Jesus a slave of Jesus? Why are Jesus's disciples, when he first calls them, when he spends for three and a half years, he calls them slaves? Why are they slaves? (They hopefully are no longer slaves to sin, but there's room to question that.) Because he is God, right? What Simon said is probably the best answer. Because he is still God.

We are very not equal, right? He created us, right? He is so far greater than us, right? We could never consider ourselves in any way equal with him, right? A slave needs to go to his master, listen to what he says, do what he says.

A master might need some information from the slave. A human master. Does God need anything from us? Does he create us and teach us what he wants because he's missing something? Does he need something from us? That's probably a really big theological question. The correct answer should be no, he needs nothing from us. He didn't create us because he needed servants. He created us because he wanted to love someone. He wanted to show some people about himself. And he wanted those people to recognize how wise and smart he is.

It would just make sense for them to worship him. It's not that God didn't have enough worship so he created us. We don't know how long God existed before he decided to make us. He is eternal, right? For all we know he has been around for a huge amount of time. And then he decided to make us. Not because he needed us, but because he wanted to show us who he is.

So that we would come and not really be his servants. He wants us to be his friends. But in a very real way, when we first come to Christ, we know so little about God. He is God. We have so much to learn about him. One way we learn about it is just hear him talk. The other way we learn about him is we watch him do. But he involves us. He invites us into what he's doing. He doesn't want us just to watch. That's how you get knowledge. But until you get involved and work with him and walk with him and do with him, you don't get understanding.

So one of the things we have to do, the very first thing we need to recognize if we want to build a relationship with God: He is God. We serve him. He is the greatest. We need to learn about him. We need to come to him. The more we do what he says, the more humble we are and eager to know what he wants us to do, the more we actually get to know him.

So that's our foundation. If we don't understand that very important truth, if we think of it more as, oh, God and I are buddies, we're kind of equals, you're going to be like one of those disciples that when Jesus said something, it just didn't make sense, you'll walk away. But if you're one of those disciples that understands this is God, you know that whatever he says is right, even if you don't understand it. So you just do it. You are one of those disciples who will never walk away.

Your relationship with God is secure. The most secure relationship in the world has to recognize that one is in charge and the other follows. If you understand that and have that correct, this relationship cannot be broken.

All right. Now let's get to some real specifics. Just in case in the interest of time, if I don't go through all the details, understand that we had this discussion yesterday in the Student Life Department. So you can ask your dorm leader.

But here's my recommendation, not my command. Nobody's going to come and check on you. I want to help you or give you some ideas that will help you actually build your relationship with God. If you haven't been taking notes, this is where you might want to start.

If you want to spend time with God, you need to set aside some time. You have to make a date with God. And because it's a date, you don't want to break it. So you need to pick a time. And you also need a quiet place. The time you want to make sure is also a quiet time. You don't want a lot of distractions. So both the time and the place needs to be a place where you can focus on listening to God.

So here's where my recommendation gets super personal. We don't have a lot of spaces in the school, do we? So I recommend you talk to your roommate. Talk to your roommate and say, when is a good time? Well, make sure your roommate also wants to build their relationship with God. If they don't want to, make them do it anyway.

Talk to your roommate and say, when is a good time where we both can spend time with God? If your roommate doesn't want to spend time with God, ask them, when is a good time you could be in the room alone? Make an agreement.

You've set your place. You're going to do it in your dorm. You've got your time. You've agreed with your roommate when you can use that space. What are you going to do during that time?

Where did God put all his words that he wants you to know? Does anyone know? The Bible. OK, so the number one thing you're going to do or the most important part of that time is going to need, you're going to need this book. You can use your phone if you want, but an actual book doesn't have notifications that pop up. Notifications. You won't get distracted.

Pick one book in the Bible. Start reading that book. There's nothing magic. If you don't know where to start--it is a big book and there are 66 little books in it--does anyone know my name? That's a fantastic book to start with. I'm not prejudiced. If you would prefer a different book, I'd recommend John.

Read at least one chapter a day. I know Miss Carroll talked about reading just one verse, which is good. If you're not doing anything else, start at least with one verse. But since I asked you to make an agreement with your roommate, you should have a pretty good block of time. Think about half an hour. That's plenty of time to read one chapter.

If you read a whole chapter, you get to see more of the discussion, the logic, the progression of conversation. Think about your relationships in life. If you only let your friends say one sentence a day, are you good friends? You're a bad friend. So give Jesus a little more time to speak.

I'll tell you a secret. If you read four chapters a day, every day, you can read the whole Bible in one year. When you finish the Bible, you're not an expert in Jesus. But you know him better than you did at the beginning of the year. So if you do that and you finish the Bible, what should you do? Start over.

Keep spending time with Jesus. You will not finish learning all about Jesus. So you start with a book. When you finish that book, what should you do? Come on. When you finish Mark, what should you read? No. Oh, I got a bunch of you. Luke is the next book. Luke is the next book. And then John. And I recommend you just keep going.

How many of you have ever had a conversation with some kind of expert? Like, that guy we were talking about yesterday, the other day. Stephen Hawking. Have any of you ever had a conversation with Stephen Hawking? Have you read any of his books? If you read one of his books, what's going to happen? I finish a book. What's that? I finish a book. By Stephen Hawking? That's a question you're asking. Oh, I see. Yes. If you read one of his books, you've finished it. I get it. I get it. Good joke. Good joke. That's a good dad joke. Good joke.

You won't understand much of it, will you? Because you're not at his level, are you? But he can put things in his book that maybe are at a low level. So you might learn some things, even from a Stephen Hawking book. When you read the Bible, you're going to find the same thing.

So when you start to read the Bible, you are in the presence of the author, right? So number one, ask him to help you understand just one thing from the chapter you read. When you're reading that chapter, you want to be thinking, what does God want to teach me about himself? What does God say in this chapter about himself? Our goal is to know God better, right?

The other thing you can be watching for and asking God for is, what does he want you to do? What does he want to teach you? He wants you to be a better friend like him. He wants you at least to be a good servant. So what are his instructions to you? So you may read the whole chapter and not understand anything, but there's one verse you understand. Ask yourself, no. Ask God, what are you telling me here? What do you want me to do? What do you want me to understand? And then ask him, now that you have this understanding, ask him, how can I use this today? How can I put this into practice today?

If you have this kind of reading practice, you're actually learning from Jesus. You're not just sitting in his presence and listening to his words and thinking, Oh, this is wonderful. You are actually drawing near, becoming like him.

And then of course if you have time left over, in your half hour, whenever it is--oh, I forgot! Make sure to write these things down. God just spoke to you, right? This should be very valuable to you. Write it down. It will also be a reminder to you. Today Jesus asked me to do what?

If you have time left over, pray for your roommate. Pray for your classmates. Pray for your family. Pray for your student life leaders. Oh my goodness. Pray for your teachers. Pray for your neighbors. Just talk to God about whatever.

And then go shower or something.

That is what I would describe as a quiet time. And I want to see every one of you doing it. I want to hear that every one of you is meeting with God personally every day. But you know what? I'm not that important. Do you know who wants to see you every day? Do you know who wants to talk with you every day? Jesus does. And he died for you. And he rose again for you because he loves you. He wants to bring you into his presence. He's waiting every day. So I want to urge you. Meet with him.

Talk to your roommate. Decide a time. You read yours. Your roommate reads theirs. When you're done and you have your notes, you can talk if you want. You can pray for each other. You can pray with each other.

Okay. So you've all heard this. Tonight I hope you have a conversation. Let me pray for us.

Father God, I do thank you so much that you... It is amazing to think that you, the Creator of the universe, wants us to come to you and become more and more like you. To become one with you. I can't even imagine. But Lord God, that's what you desire for us. So I pray for each one here. Lord God, they've heard these things. They understand these things. These aren't rocket science. This is not Stephen Hawking. This is simple relationship building. Not with an equal. But with God. The God of the universe. So I pray, Father, that each one would humble themselves and submit themselves to you. To read your word. To spend time each day and to listen to what you have to say. And Father God, I pray especially that you would speak to everyone. That each day, each person would hear something from you. And they would be amazed and they would also be delighted that you spoke to them. And that you gave them an instruction for the day. And Lord God, let them be delighted to do it. I know, Father, that your Holy Spirit will work with them, will encourage them, will strengthen them, will help them grow in your ways. So Father, I commit them to you and I commend them to you. Work your will in their lives and in mine. In Jesus' name, Amen.