Relationships Series
Connecting with God #1
Selected verses Genesis 2-3
Good morning and welcome- glad that you have joined us this morning.
We start a new series this morning on relationships. We connect or have relationships in many ways.
Mother father
Brother sister
Boy friend Girlfriend
Husband wife
Friends / Good friends/Best friends
Acquaintances
Co workers
Marriage/ Divorce
Step families
You get the idea… there are a lot of ways to connect with each other.
There are other ways that people could connect. I am talking about connections from the word of God. As a believer, one who has professed Jesus as Lord of their life and one who allows the Lord to direct our path. The word of God is our guide.
What does the Lord say about relationships and what does he say is or is not a healthy or even an acceptable relationship?
So as we look in our lives at these different connections of relationships we are looking to the Holy Bible to be our guide.
There has to be an authority otherwise it would be everyone’s opinion and if you have not noticed everyone has an opinion on everything said and done today.
If you do not take the bible to be the authority of your decision making and you are one who believes that your opinion is over God’s Word there could be circumstances that you will not line up with God’s Word.
Tolerance- (my definition)
The ability or willingness to disagree with other people’s opinions and behavior either partially or at all.
Tolerance is not always agreeing with someone- it is letting them make their own decision without hating them for it. So if you go through this series and you at some point disagree with me and I am soundly standing on the word of God then you must take up your argument with the Lord and not try to fight me to sway me to your way of thinking. We can be tolerant of each ones decision.
Question
Does God intersect into our lives?
The short answer is yes- the longer answer would be on how much of your life will you allow God into your life and does what He says have authority in your life.
Remember- two roads crossing each other is an intersection
Two roads going in opposite direction and they at one point come to the same spot for a moment.
At that point of intersect for a believer the Lord speaks to us and directs our path when we go off the rails and away from Him.
For an unbeliever, these same cross over take place and a person has to decide wither they will be listening to what the Lord says or go their own way if they disagree.
Perspective
“Drawing the right objective from at least 2 positions”
My perspective may be different than your perspective.
If we throw in how many times people throw emotions in their decision making process-perspective can become muddy.
As a believer, the perspective we take must line up with God’s Word even at times when our feelings are saying different and we would rather it be another way.
God has a perfect plan how man was created and how we are to get along with each other.
Genesis 2:7
“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man become a living being.”
We see from the beginning of time for man (Because God is eternal and always was) that our existence is a God thing!
God took the dust of the earth (dirt) and created man and breathed life into him.
He took life (Himself) and breathed life into man.(Man could not have done life without God)
He put man in a perfect garden. (Area of life)
He took a rib from Adam and formed Eve.
On this perfect Garden there was everything man and women needed to exist and flourish.
In this garden was two trees forbidden of God- the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2)
“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Genesis 2:25- “Adam and his wife were both naked and they felt no shame.”
Adam received life from God
Eve born from a rib of Adam
Both placed in a garden of perfection to live and multiply because of the goodness of God.
Then the fall of mankind Genesis chapter 3
God from heaven throws out Satan from heaven, Satan the worship leader of God thrown out for trying to take the place as being God. 1/3 of all the angels in heaven were thrown out of heaven for joining the coup (cue) attempt. (Isaiah14)
Satan thrown down to earth who then temps and succeeds to cause Adam and Eve to sin and lose their place in the perfect Garden of God.
They were both naked and felt no shame…they sin against God and now chapter 3 verse 8- “ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden. But the Lord God called to man, where are you?”
“I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid”
So now instead of naked and not ashamed, he is naked and ashamed and hid from God his creator.
The first connection between man and God after the fall of mankind-
“Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that
I commanded you not to eat from?”
The blame games begin-
The man says it is the women you gave me
Eve says…The serpent (Satan) has deceived me, and I ate.”
To Satan
Cursed are you
You will crawl on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life.
The snake at one point had legs and was cursed to crawl on the ground.
From that day there is a battle between mankind and Satan the tempter is trying to destroy us.
We see that because of the fall that women will have pain in child bearing- “I will make your pains in childbearing severe.”
“That man will rule over the women- (Don’t get bent out of shape) we will be looking at the dynamics of a family in this series.
Adam because you listened to your wife and ate of the fruit- 3:17- “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, you must not eat from it, cursed is the ground because of you, through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.”
Thorns and thistles. YOU WILL WORK FOR YOUR FOOD.
By the sweat of your brow you will work.
Look in your Bibles
Genesis chapter 3:20-24 Read clearly
Because God loved us so much- He banished us temporarily from the garden (Heaven) because if we would have eaten from the tree of life we would have no way of redemption and died permanently in our sins. He placed angels with flaming swords to guard that we do not eat of that tree.
That is a good… good…God!
Our loving God made garments for Adam and Eve and clothed them in their nakedness of sin against God.
He took the blood of an animal as our sacrifice to cover us from sin.
The first Adam sinned and has fallen short of the perfection of God and the second Adam who is Jesus Christ will come to this earth and not only cover us but die for us that we can again restore a broken relationship with God and have an opportunity to walk again in His presence and in His garden for eternity.
You see if you cannot find and understand your relationship with God, you will never understand the dynamics of a God that created us to have relations with each other.(repeat)
Though we may feel lost and without compass, God's love encompasses us completely. ... He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. You are not what others think you are. You are what God knows you are.
Unknown quote
“To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.”
Proverbs 3:5–6
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.”
Romans 8:28
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Psalm 42:1
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.”
Psalm 27:8
“My heart says of you, Seek his face! Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
Matthew 6:33
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
So as I wind this first part of the series on relationships up, we see that for us to understand the dynamics of connecting with each other that we need to understand how we connect with our heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus!
John 17:3 Jesus defined eternal life saying,
“This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent”
By Jesus' loving and caring ways, by His power to meet every human need, and by His teaching the word of God, His disciples came to know the Father and the Son.
For some this morning, you struggle with relationships with others- hear me when I say that the first relationship that has to be solid and in place is your relationship with the Lord.
“All other ground is sinking sand” as the song goes- the firm foundation in Jesus as Lord will help you navigate the sometimes messy relationships with others.
Would you humor your pastor this morning- you know that I love you.
Would you make sure that things are good between you and the Lord?
Don’t try to put a circle in a square- the first piece of the puzzle is you and the Lord connecting.
The foundation is Jesus
You may be saying…How to I do that pastor?
First, you have to believe what we just looked at in scripture- it is not just printed words from a book. It is the written word of God to a fallen world.
Believe that God loves you that much!
We believe that for others but not ourselves- believe it for yourself.
Here are some first steps you can take
I don’t know where you are at in your journey, if you don’t know Him as Lord and savior…that is the first and most important step.
Make Him Lord of your life by asking Him into your life.
Ask Him to save you from your sins so He can forgive you of your sins and then begin to walk with you.
Please get a hold of us if you have made that decision today because we want to walk and journey with you.
If you have asked him into your life, then get involved.
Some ways to do that is to open up that bible and see what direction the Lord has for you and just start communication with Him in prayer as you walk this journey called life.
Get involved in something that will draw you to the Lord and not away from the Lord. Life classes, small groups, women’s and Men’s group. Our prayer and devotion group.
Stay in for the series and be determined that you will not miss a session on the relationships with others.
Precious Jesus the most important relationship we will ever have is the one with you. All others can fall into place as we serve and are obedient to you. As we look to your word for guidance and direction. As we determine that we don’t go by feelings, we don’t go by what society believes, we go by what your word says about any relationship.
If for those that are listening, if today is the beginning of a new relationship with you, e rejoice with them.
As we move forward in the series, please protect our minds to focus on what your word says so that each of us can come away with a right perspective of relationships with others.
Thank you Lord Jesus!
Amen.
