How Does God Show His Relationship To Us?
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God shows His relationship to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, and the blessings that result from being a Christian. Galatians 3:26-27 says, “For ye are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ.” We have a relationship with God the Father that is the same as Jesus Christ. We are children of God. The apostle John writes, “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are” (1 John 3:1). Because we are children of God, we have certain blessings. Galatians 4:6-7 says, “And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So that thou art no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.” God the Father blesses the Christian with admittance to His family.
God the Son shows His relationship to Christians also. Jesus is our mediator, high priest, and advocate. “My little children, these things write I unto you that ye may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). As our advocate, He intervenes for us with the Father when we have problems in our lives. “For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). God the Son shows His relationship to us by being a man Himself. He sympathizes with our weaknesses in His role as High Priest. “For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
God the Holy Spirit shows His relationship to the Christian also. When a person is baptized into Christ, he receives the indwelling of the Holy Spirit along with forgiveness of sins. Second Corinthians 1:21-22 says, “Now he that establisheth us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God; who also sealed us, and gave us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” The Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance from God the Father. God dwells in the Christian who is a temple for the presence of the Spirit. “Or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19).
Ephesians 1:3-14 is a wonderful list of blessings reserved only for the Christian by which God shows His relationship. Consider the list of blessings in these verses: election, holiness, sonship, grace, redemption, forgiveness of sins, inheritance, and the Holy Spirit. God demonstrates His relationship to us through all of these wonderful blessings and more. This is not an empirical demonstration, a better felt than told system of religion. God expects the Christian to believe His word and live accordingly (Romans 10:17). It is only when we follow the word of God that we understand the fullness of these blessings. “For we walk by faith, not by sight,” (2 Corinthians 5:7). That means as we practice these things in our lives and wholeheartedly believe them that God will fill our lives with His peace. “In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).