Draw Near to God... Intimacy With God
April 7, 2002
By Brad Dyrness
In the Book of Genesis there is the story of God making man. Gen 2:7 . 7And the LORD God formed a man’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And the man became a living person.
God took a deep breath in the creation story. God breathed deeply and infused Adam with life. To Adam, the first human, God gave a breath of life, a breath with a spark of divinity. In the original meaning, there is a sense of intimacy, God breathes into the nostrils of the formed human.
When I was in college I drove a school bus and had to take a first aid and CPR class. While I never had to give CPR in real live I did have to resuscitate COR “ANNIE.”
I learned that day to help give life back to someone you had to get pretty intimate.
Face to face, mouth to mouth giving my breath to someone else.
When God created man he didn’t create him from a distance, he created man different that anything else he created. That creation was a illustration about how he wanted man different that any other living thing.
Gen 3: 8 8Toward evening they heard the LORD God walking about in the garden, so they hid themselves among the trees. 9The LORD God called to Adam, “Where are you?” 10He replied, “I heard you, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
God wanted intimacy and man was afraid. That trend has extended right to us today. We are still afraid of intimacy.
We run from intimacy in relationships with fellow man, wife our spouses, even our kids.
Exhausted from the day, nerves shot, the dad was not in a mood to pay much attention to his son. But the little boy persisted, "Dad, how much do you make?" Agitated, the dad replied, "Enough! Now go to bed." "But Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"
A quick lecture and in no mood for games: "They pay me $25 an hour." "Can I borrow $10?" Grumbled, "NO! Now go to sleep."
Next morning, the father felt bad about how he treated his son, and gave him ten dollars.
The little guy lit up like a Christmas tree and rushed to his room and got his piggy bank. He carefully counted out pennies, dimes & nickels he’d saved. Reached into his pocket for the ten dollar bill, and said, "Here, Daddy. $25. Can I buy an hour of your time?"
God was saying to Adam and Eve in the garden I want some of your time… and they hid.
God already knew what happened at the tree. Yet he still sought them out and he still is today!
Bruce Wilkerson tells of a time in his walk with God when he felt far from God. Nothing seemed to give him that close feeling. In the midst of that time he had a spiritual awakening. He was a great teacher, writer and the leader of Walk Thru the Bible. Yet he learned that…
God didn’t want me to do more for Him; He wanted me to be more with Him. --Bruce Wilkerson
The very thing that build us being close with God is the very thing that at times scares us!
John 15:5 “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing.
The discussion is about fruit as a believer, growth, helping others, sharing the life message of God with the world. But Jesus makes sure that we understand that growth is the result of being close to God not the other way around.
But like the Father in that garden God is already here calling our name we must respond.
In abiding, it’s always our move, but His resource.
How do we get near to God?
In James 4:8 – 10 it says:
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. --James 4:8-10, NIV
How?
1. Quit dabbling in sin. Wash your hands…
We will never know what would have happened if Adam and Eve would have run to God, confessed their sin and asked for his forgiveness.
But we do know what happens when we do! John 1:9 if we confess…
The enemy is tricky, he doesn’t tell us to abandon God he offers seemingly Good things that draw us away from the Best things – intimacy with our God.
Little by little we get in trouble.
Gen 3:1 - Did God really say, Any tree in the Garden, You will not surely die, your eyes will be opened…
He didn’t say God is a jerk leave him and follow me… He built on the God idea she already had. God is good, then he twisted it.
Important lesson: Psalm 1:1 – watch the company you keep
We live is a world that offers opinions, talk shows, universities, Blessed is the man who does not… but whose delight is in the law of the Lord.
2. Purify your inner life
Proverbs 27:19 As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.
What happens in the heart is of great importance to our heavenly father. Lust, Hate, Greed, Unforgiveness, Anger, Rebellion, the list goes on of the things God wants out of our heart.
I don’t like peas. Especially cooked peas. Put some in a hotdish and I have to gag it down. Just a little is still repulsive. A small amount contaminates the whole!
1 John 1:5 – 7
God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
The Hebrew word "yada" is to know Him. The opposite of knowing God is not ignorance or a lack of knowledge, but is Rebellion.
3. Humble yourself
Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet. –James 4:10, The Message
The heart of humility is obedience. Yes Lord Yes! You’re right I am wrong or at best incomplete.
After clean hands, a pure heart, and a humble, obedient spirit, God will draw near to you! Let me restate that
Cleaning our hands, purifying our hearts and humbling ourselves is part of drawing near to God – Our response his resource.
The journey is a part of the process!
Next week: Religion vs. Relationship
