What if you got a call from heaven saying that the Lord Jesus Christ and a couple of angels planned to visit your home? How much lead time would you need to get it ready? But also, what would Jesus think about the magazines and paperbacks laying around your house? What about the TV and videos that frequently play? Would you be comfortable for Him to see the way you normally live?
What if He moved in as a permanent resident? Every time you come home, He is there, watching everything that takes place. Would you view it as a blessing or as a burden? As Christians, we talk about having a personal relationship with God. But having the Lord move in as a permanent resident and observer of all that goes on would be a bit too much! The extent to which we block God out of certain areas of our lives is a measure of the distance in our relationship with Him.
Friends are comfortable and open with one another. Those who are friends with the living God welcome Him into the most intimate and personal areas of life, and count it a privilege to know Him and be known by Him. This is one of the lessons that emerges from one of the most remarkable incidents in human history, recorded in Genesis The Lord Jesus Christ, in human form 2, years before He was born to the virgin Mary, along with two angels in human form, visited Abraham see The three heavenly visitors ate a meal and then the Lord revealed to Abraham and Sarah that the promise concerning a son would be fulfilled the following year.
The two angels left and went toward Sodom to rescue Lot and his family before the Lord rained fire and brimstone on that wicked city. The Lord stayed behind and revealed to Abraham what He was about to do.
True Friendship
Abraham then interceded with the Lord on behalf of Sodom. There is debate as to how soon Abraham recognized the heavenly character of his guests. The verse in Hebrews Others say he recognized the Lord immediately. His plea that these men not pass him by Friendship with God is something that sounds wonderful at first, until you stop to think about the implications. This is the Lord who knew when Sarah laughed in her heart in unbelief, even though she was not in sight He could be a rather threatening sort of friend! Do you want that kind of friend?
If we would dare to have a personal relationship with God, this chapter has some principles on how to cultivate friendship with Him. Scripture teaches that by nature we all are children of wrath, hostile to God and alienated from Him Eph. This applies to those raised in the church as well as to those who have lived outwardly wicked lives.
It applies to decent, law-abiding folks and to those who have committed terrible crimes.
About A New Beginning
It does not matter whether or not we feel hostile toward God; what matters is how God views us. Our sin, both the sin we inherit from birth and the acts of sin we commit after birth, separates us from Him and makes us His enemies. He uses false teachers to deceive people by proclaiming peace with God to them when there is not true peace Jer. Because alienation from God due to sin is the universal human condition, we must be reconciled with God through a just resolution of our sin problem before we can begin a friendship with Him.
Abraham believed God concerning the Son who would come forth from him who would be the Savior of the world, and God credited the work of that Savior to Abraham as righteousness Gen. The apostle Paul cites this verse twice in the context of arguing that we are declared righteous by God on the basis of faith, not by works Rom. James cites the same verse in the context of arguing that genuine faith always results in a life of good deeds James 2: In other words, we are saved justified by faith in Christ alone, but genuine faith in Christ never stops there, but always shows itself in a life of progressive godliness.
But the point I am insisting on as foundational is that you must trust in Christ as your sin-bearer before you can develop a friendship with God. Friendships take time, and friendship with God is not an exception. I realize, of course, that Abraham lived in a completely different culture than ours. It would be centuries before somebody invented the clock and the telephone, let alone the beeper and car phone!
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I have to use an appointment calendar to survive. When I was in college, the couple who worked with our church college group were mavericks who decided that the clock is our enemy. This was nice for them, but it thoroughly frustrated all of us who had to work with them, because they somehow never managed to get to meetings before everyone else. They were always the late ones who inconvenienced the rest of us!
You may have to put it on your daily or weekly schedule. But a friendship with God is not magic. Hospitality is a wonderful quality we all need to work at improving. It is a qualification for a church elder 1 Tim. A hospitable host makes his guests feel welcome and comfortable.
Here Abraham entreats these visitors to stay and be refreshed Abraham demonstrates several ingredients of hospitality:. He ran from the tent door to meet these men and earnestly entreated them to stay. All of this hurried activity shows how eager Abraham was to fellowship with his heavenly guests. Do you have that same eagerness to fellowship with the living Lord? Or could your initial enthusiasm have died down over the years? He goes room by room, showing how the Lord cleaned the dirty books off the shelves of the study, took down the filthy pictures, how He cleaned the dining room of unhealthy appetites and desires, etc.
The drawing room was a comfortable room with a quiet atmosphere. The Lord agreed to meet him there each morning for fellowship. At first, it was wonderful, as they met and the Lord would pull a book of the Bible from the book case and they would commune together. But as the pressure of outside responsibilities grew, that time with the Lord got crowded out. Faithfulness and loyalty are key to true friendship. Without them, we often feel betrayed, left out, and lonely. In true friendship, there is no backbiting, no negative thoughts, no turning away.
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True friendship requires certain accountability factors. Real friends encourage one another and forgive one another where there has been an offense. Genuine friendship supports during times of struggle. In true friendship, unconditional love develops. We love our friends no matter what and we always want the best for our friends. Abraham responds by telling God his thoughts and feelings about the situation.
God and Abraham are able to do this because they trust and respect each other. First Samuel 20 focuses on the friendship of David and Jonathan. These two men truly cared for each other and had great trust and confidence in one another. David was running for his life from Jonathan's father, Saul. Jonathan recognized that David was innocent. Because of the true friendship they shared, David survived Saul's assassination attempts and went on to become one of Israel's greatest kings.
True Friendship
Real and true friendship involves freedom of choice, accountability, truth, and forgiveness. Peter and Jesus give us this example: Peter, afraid for his life after Jesus is led away from the Garden of Gethsemane, denies knowing Jesus John Real friendship looks at the heart, not just the "packaging. True friendship is both challenging and exciting. It risks, it overlooks faults, and it loves unconditionally, but it also involves being truthful, even though it may hurt. Genuine friendship, also called "agape" love, comes from the Lord. Relationships in real life involve different levels of friendships, and that's okay.
But humans are designed by God for lasting relationships.
Often our isolationist society offers only vague, empty relationships. God wants us to have friends here on earth. Most of all, He wants us to be friends with Him! God's Word tells us that a friend sticks closer than a brother, and that in order for one to be a friend, one must show themselves friendly Proverbs Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with iron bars. We must be careful not to break the trust.
But when not speaking the truth will cause greater hurt in our friend's life, we must be willing to sacrifice our needs for those of our friend. That is true friendship. If we sometimes offend a friend without meaning to, God's Word offers a solution.