Although the Father’s determination is to have a personal relationship with us, it is easy for us as humans to get into a routine and be locked into religion. It seems like no matter what God does to try to create a deep relationship with us, our desire is to keep Him a little bit at arm’s distance (Exodus 20:18–19). If we have accomplished one thing in our lives, it is making whatever God does into a religion.
When you go through the Scriptures and study the whole history between God and man, you realize how driven God is for a relationship with you on a personal level. God is driven for you. When the Bible talks about Christ coming forth, it says, “The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:7).[1] One translation of the Hebrew word for zeal is “jealousy.” The zeal of the Lord is an emotional thing, but it is also very active. No matter what, God will tear down anything that gets in the way of Him having a personal relationship with you.
God cannot countenance sin or look upon wickedness with favor (Habakkuk 1:13). So He sent Yeshua (Jesus) in the flesh to die on a cross and remove your sin so that you could have a personal relationship with the Father (Colossians 1:22). God brought His Son in the likeness of human flesh to make Himself relatable to us, and what do we do? We make an image of Yeshua on the cross and hang it on a wall. Everything we teach in religion makes God unrelatable. So you think, “I can’t be like Christ because He walked on water. I can’t walk on water, so He’s not like me.” We make Yeshua as distant in our minds as the Father was so that He also becomes unrelatable. Yet the whole purpose of Yeshua coming in the flesh was to have a bridge whereby the Father could relate to us, and we could relate to Him as our Father (Romans 5:10).
God tries to relate to us in the intimate sense of family. He says, “I know that I’m God, but I’m going to be your Father.” He wants to be in your life as an intimate relationship. Likewise, Yeshua is not ashamed to call us brethren (Hebrews 2:11). Yeshua knew the Father, so He taught us how to go into our inner room, close the door, and pray to our Father (Matthew 6:6). But we take that intimate prayer and make it into a religion when we chant by rote, “Our Father which art in heaven … .” It makes Him seem so far away and unrelatable. Yet Isaiah 54 shows that He is very intimate: “All your sons will be taught of the LORD; and the well-being of your sons will be great” (Isaiah 54:13). We are to have an intimate relationship with our Father, and He is teaching us as sons.
When you go through difficult things, you may be just experiencing the zeal of the Lord to get your attention. But sit down and talk to Him about it. A father is someone who holds you, trains you, and loves you; he disciplines and blesses you. When you are intimate with someone, you take on his or her personality attributes. And that is exactly what God wants. He is the Creator of all things, but He is your Father and your God (John 20:17). That does not happen in religion; it only happens in a relationship with your Heavenly Father.
[1] All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995).
Please use the drop down menu above to view page in a different language.