CONVERSING WITH GOD
1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “DO NOT BE AFRAID, ABRAM. I AM YOUR SHIELD, YOUR EXCEEDINGLY GREAT REWARD.”
2 BUT ABRAM SAID, “Lord God, WHAT WILL YOU GIVE ME, SEEING I GO CHILDLESS, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3 THEN ABRAM SAID, “LOOK, YOU HAVE GIVEN ME NO OFFSPRING; INDEED ONE BORN IN MY HOUSE IS MY HEIR!”
4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.”
5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
6 AND HE BELIEVED IN THE LORD, AND HE ACCOUNTED IT TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS."
Genesis 15:1-6 (NKJV)
Through Abraham's relationship and walk with God, believers could know how to walk or relate with God. This shows us that we, believers in Christ Jesus, are called to walk in a covenant relationship with God.
Being reconciled through Jesus Christ to God is not a called to a religion, it is rather a call to walk with God in relationship and fellowship or communion.
Jesus Christ came not to present Himself to us, the mankind. He did come to take us to God, reconcile mankind to God (2 Corinthians 5:18,19). He came to point God to mankind.
In Jesus' word:
23 "AND IN THAT DAY YOU WILL ASK ME NOTHING. MOST ASSUREDLY, I SAY TO YOU, WHATEVER YOU ASK THE FATHER IN MY NAME HE WILL GIVE YOU. 24 UNTIL NOW YOU HAVE ASKED NOTHING IN MY NAME. ASK, AND YOU WILL RECEIVE, THAT YOUR JOY MAY BE FULL" (John 16:23,24 NKJV).
In other words, our requests or burdens should be taken to God the Father, but Jesus Christ is the access to Him—God. The requests are not to be taken to Jesus perse, but God the Father, and it has to be through Jesus Christ (John 14:6).
We could see in the relationship between Abraham and God, he was free with God to express his mind and to tell Him what was bothering his mind.
As a believer in Christ Jesus, God wants relationship that will grow or metamorphose into fellowship or communion. This is the reason why being a Christian is not a religion.
Religion is defined by a dictionary:
a. The body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices.
b. A specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects.
c. A body of beliefs and practices regarding the supernatural and the worship of one or more deities.
With the above definitions of a religion; it thus shows us that we are not called into religion through Jesus Christ, but called to relate and fellowship with God. That is what Abraham exhibited in our text. We could see clearly how to walk or relate and fellowship with God through what Abraham did in the passage.
Abraham was plain about it, he told God what was bothering his mind—he wanted a son of his own who would be the heir to his inheritance (Genesis 15:2,3).
We could also see in some other passages where Abraham had discussions with God, there was this rapport, in which intimacy and closeness is fully expressed and demonstrated between them:
23 AND ABRAHAM CAME NEAR AND SAID, “WOULD YOU ALSO DESTROY THE RIGHTEOUS WITH THE WICKED? 24 SUPPOSE THERE WERE FIFTY RIGHTEOUS WITHIN THE CITY; WOULD YOU ALSO DESTROY THE PLACE AND NOT SPARE IT FOR THE FIFTY RIGHTEOUS THAT WERE IN IT? 25 Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; FAR BE IT FROM YOU! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” 26 SO THE LORD SAID, “IF I FIND IN SODOM FIFTY RIGHTEOUS WITHIN THE CITY, THEN I WILL SPARE ALL THE PLACE FOR THEIR SAKES" (Genesis 18:23-26 NKJV).
READ: Genesis 18:22-33
Looking at what transpired between Abraham and God, one could see a freedom of expression—Abraham could talk freely with God because he has established a relationship with God.
Believers' relationship with God comes via or through Jesus Christ (John 14:6), that gives us freedom to approach the throne of God and present whatever is bothering our hearts in a Father-and-son's or Father-and-daughter's relationship (Hebrews 4:14-16).
READ: Hebrews 10:19-23
In the type of relationship and communion that is being discussed here, you would not need any human intermediary or go-between in your relationship and fellowship with God.
This is what Christ Jesus had come to do for mankind through His sacrificial death and resurrection. It is the core or main reason why Christianity or being born-again cannot be considered or classified as a religion. It is not about adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices, as the definition of religion stated. It is about relating and fellowshipping with God.
Through Abraham's life we could see how a believer should relate and fellowship with God.
Note:
a. Talk to God as if you are seeing Him physically.
b. Go about your daily life with the consciousness that He, God, is with you and knows everything about you—all you do and do not do.
c. Talk to Him freely while you are in your home, while driving, while at work, while walking on the street, while in your closest, and wherever or whatever you are doing.
Peace.
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