Our Relational God[1]
Stephen Crane wrote in his poem, “A Man Said to the Universe”:
“A man said to the universe:
‘Sir, I exist!’
‘However,’ replied the universe,
‘The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation.’”
That may be true of the universe, but it’s not at all true of God. For
reasons beyond our comprehension He has chosen to commit Himself to us, to
respond when we call on Him, to care for us even when we don’t care for Him.
Paul put it this way: “But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ
to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8 NLT).
Yesterday, we dimly saw a transcendent God in heaven. Today, our vision
will hopefully become clearer. We get to see more up-close and personal a
loving God who left His exalted place and came down…all the way down to us.
Just as His sovereign power brought the people of Judah great confidence,
knowing God could do it, there are certain “relational” attributes that brought
them much comfort and peace of mind knowing their God would do it.
Let’s go back to Jehoshaphat’s prayer. Read 2 Chronicles 20:6-12 from
beginning to end. To me, a single word stands out in this prayer. It connects
God in heaven with people on earth. I think it is the most important word
Jehoshaphat could have uttered-other than God, of course. It opens the door to
hope and salvation. This one word was so vital to Jehoshaphat’s plea that to
remove it would have been like turning off the light inside a deep, dark
cavern.
The word is our. What a great little word! Had it not been for the
relationship implied by that word, the people of Judah could have had no hope.
He was their God, and they were His people (verse 7).
Now imagine if Jehoshaphat had stopped his praying at verse 6. Granted,
his prayer would have still acknowledged God as sovereign and powerful. But the
desperation and fear in the hearts of those people would have remained. Why? Because
they needed assurance that God would make His power available to them. They
needed more than the God; they needed their God to come down from His lofty
place in heaven and save them.
So how did they know for sure that He would rescue them from these armies
coming against them? As they stood there with their eyes lifted toward heaven
waiting for God to answer, how could they be certain God would respond to their
cry for help? After all, that is pretty important, wouldn’t you say? When you
are facing the very distinct possibility of death-swords going through you,
heads getting chopped off, stuff like that-it’s a very good time to remind
yourself of some of the reasons you know He’s your God and why He will indeed
come through!
Relational Attributes
The first reason that assured Judah He was their God was His
faithfulness to them.
There had never been a time in Israel’s history that God did not
eventually come to their rescue. And he kept every promise He made to His people.
Jehoshaphat reminded the Lord of that in verse 7. He said, “Did you not drive
out the inhabitants of this land...and give it forever to the descendants of
Abraham…?”
Remembering that must have been a great comfort to everyone listening to
Jehoshaphat’s prayer-all the times God had fought their battles for them and
delivered them from captivities, bondage, and probable death. The list is
endless. It’s always a healthy practice to recall how God has come through for
us in the past.
If you read the book of Judges, you see Israel’s moral roller-coaster
ride through those 300 or so years. Again and Again God restored them, only to
have them do “evil again in the sight of the Lord,” (see Judges 2:11; 3:7; 4:1;
6:1; 10:6).
Judges 2:18-19 describes one of the saddest passages in all Israel’s
history. Please read it now, and take a moment to think about God’s
faithfulness.
The astonishing thing is that our God remains faithful to us even when we
are faithless. That is because of our relationship with us. It’s the relationship
of a loving Father with his child-completely permanent, thoroughly dependable.
Hudson Taylor, that great foreign missionary and founder of the China Inland
Mission, often said that Mark 11:22 should be translated, “Hold on to the
faithfulness of God.” That would become the motto of his life and work. “When
you have to have faith in yourself,” he would say, “then hold on to His
faithfulness.”[2]
A second attribute the people of Judah joyfully acknowledged was His
holiness.
When Jehoshaphat appointed singers, he instructed them to praise God “for
the splendor of His holiness” (2 Chronicles 20:21). The word here for holiness
in Hebrew means “apartness, sacredness, and separateness.”
Many people think of holiness as some kind of weird separation from
reality (and from any possibility of fun!). To them the word conjures up as
Scott Dawson says, “Of images of people dressed in black, carrying 10 pound
Bibles, and jumping out of corners yelling, ‘Repent!’” Of course that is
absurd.
Nonetheless, it is true that we tend to think of holiness simply as being
without sin. And it certainly does include that. But to say that God is holy is
to recognize He is perfectly pure. The idea of sin cannot even come into the
picture.
So why was God’s holiness one of the top three reasons the children of
Judah knew He was their God? In a sentence: Holiness summed up His goal for His
people throughout their entire existence. God had told them, “I am the Lord who
brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am
holy” (Leviticus 11:45). He also laid down numerous laws that governed their behavior.
He constantly demonstrated his determination to make them a set-apart people.
Now, here is where some Christians become shipwrecked in their faith.
They don’t want to acknowledge that God is holy. Sure, it’s great to lean on
His faithfulness. But any of us who think we can act any way we want and still receive
His blessings and protection is terribly misguided. Remember, many of the same
people who heard Moses give those laws of holiness out there in the wilderness
never reached the Promised Land. God let an entire generation of rebels die
out. “Was God still being faithful even through that judgment?” you might ask.
Yes, faithful to making His people holy.
The final relational attribute of God is His mercy.
Any ugly, menacing doubt that still cowered in the corners of their minds
as to whether He as was their God was totally eradicated when they sang their song:
“Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever” (2 Chronicles 20:21b, NKJV).
Time and again our gracious God has shown mercy on His people.
Someone has described mercy as the “holding back” of God’s judgment. Now,
rather than getting theological at this point, let me ask you a question. How
many times has God held back His judgment on you? How many times did you not
get what you deserved? If your answer is anything like mine-“too many times to
count”-then you already have a great concept of God’s mercy.
Psalm 103:14, “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us
according to our iniquities” (verse 10). Although God has not dealt with us
according to our sins, Someone else was punished for our sins.
Now read Isaiah 53:1-6. Who got
the job of dealing with your iniquities and with mine?
Emmanuel, God with us. Our God came down to us. No wonder Paul’s words
practically shout from the page, “Thank God for this gift too wonderful for
words!” (2 Corinthians 9:15, NLT). No wonder we call Him our Savior.
My Daily Praise
Read 1 John 1:9 very carefully. Do you see how essential a relational God
is to this verse? In fact, all of 1 John 1 focuses on our fellowship with God.
That fellowship is only possible because of our relationship with Him. Take a
few minutes to thank God out loud for the firm relationship you have with Him.
My Daily Surrender
David cried out to God, “O Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for
mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief” (Psalm 143:1).
You might need to pray a similar prayer right now. If you don’t have a relationship
with God, admit your need for forgiveness, believe Christ died and rose again
for you, and confess Him as your Lord and Savior. If you do have a relationship
with God but have allowed sins to break your fellowship with Him, confess and
forsake those now and claim your cleansing as His child.
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