Last night in Disciples, we explored “Relationship” in the Bible. Relationships is a Word that we talk about all the time as Christians. e.g. ‘We have a relationship with God as opposed to a religion’. Or ‘it’s all about relationship with God’. So what does that look like if the Bible itself does not use the word ‘Relationship’ one time. How can we find out what ‘Relationship with God’ looks like. We found relationship with God portrayed in:’
1. The parable of the vine and branches
2. the creation story
3. Moses + God + Mountains
4. David & Jonathan
5. Marriage
While David and Jonathan are what theologians call a type of Christ – in that Jonathan lays down his throne (life) for his friend David, Marriage is the relationship that the Bible refers to as a direct picture of Christ and the Church. i.e. the Bible says that our marriage should represent to the world what being in relationship with God is like.
That is why it is vital that our marriages are aligned with the biblical teaching, not just so they work, but so that we can truly represent the divine mystery of relationship with God.
The vine talks about the constancy of relationship – dependance on the source.
Creation talks about the daily time together and our created nature that permits relationship
Moses talking to God as a friend – WOW
Thinking of Moses – we noticed the importance of mountains – in God encounters
– speaks of making the effort to climb up and get away from people
Which is contrasted with the fact already mentioned that most of all the Bible intends us to learn about relationship with him through relationship with people – in marriage and the church and friendships.
