1. There was once a man who believed in God but not in Christianity.
2. This man grew up in a Jewish home.
3. One might think a Jewish household would have been an environment where everyone was religious.
LISTEN TO HOW A YOUNG JEWISH MAN DESCRIBED HIS UPBRINGING – (STROBEL, THE CASE FOR CHRIST, P. 235): QUOTE.
a) If there is a divine being who is the creator of all, does He want a relationship with His creation?
b) Some say “yes,” some say “no,” and others say, “I do not know.”
c) This is a very important question, and it is a question we can answer.
2) Last week we implied that God does want intimacy we and noted how people often have a self inflicted barrier.
3) Today we want to build upon what has been taught and conclusively prove that God wants a relationship.
4) For our Scripture reading we heard the first 6 verses of Isa. 53.
a) What Isaiah said is repeated in New Testament verses like Rom. 3:10, 23.
b) All we like sheep have gone astray; God gave man perfection and humanity chose not to keep it.
c) Man sins and God has never been any type of divine obligation to save us.
d) He made us, we have chosen to rebel, and that could be the end of the story.
e) It is not the end of the story because deity seeks a relationship with man.
5) Thus, when we come to the New Testament we find verses like John 3:16.
6) In most translations the second word in this verse is “God” (the divine creator).
7) God “loved.” This word could have been replaced with something else.
a) John could have said God “hated” the world because of sin.
b) Or, he could have said God “became indifferent” to the world due to man’s rebellion.
c) A third option would have been God “showing a little compassion” to the world.
d) John said God “loved” (He had a supreme type of love for His creation).
8) Who did God love? The text says “the world” and then adds the word “whosoever.”
a) Does God want a relationship with people? Yes He does.
b) To whom does His relationship offer extend? The entire world.
c) Our nation does not get along very well with some other nations.
d) On an individual level people often quarrel and want nothing to do with one another.
e) God’s seeks a relationship with every single person no matter who he or she is.
f) To the person who curses Him, God extends His hand.
g) To the one who is not sure if a deity really exists, God extends an offer of salvation and acceptance.
h) To the best and brightest and the least and worst, God says, “I invite you to come.”
9) What kind of relationship is offered in Jn. 3:16?
a) Our relationships with people often vary.
b) We may have contact with someone but never meet them face to face.
c) This is a limited type of relationship.
d) We may talk to someone face to face but never go to their house.
e) We may meet someone at our front door, but we do not let them inside.
f) We may let someone come into our house, but not let them eat at our table.
g) Someone may come in and eat with us, but they do not get to spend the night.
h) Relationships come in many different types.
10) What type of relationship does God want and extend to man?
11) God offers “eternal life.”
a) What do we mean by eternal life?
b) Will God put people off on some planet far away from Him forever and ever?
c) No; eternal life means eternity with God; in His presence; not out of His sight; under His direct care.
12) God wants this relationship so badly John 3:16 says His Son was sent into the world.
a) When a loved one is sent somewhere people get concerned.
b) Thousands of military families have seen a relative go away for military service.
c) When I was shipped off to basic training my mom cried her eyes out.
d) Others families face things that are really severe.
e) Imagine how family members feel when a father says, “I have received orders for Iraq.”
f) There are war zones in our current world.
g) How does a mother or father feel when their son or daughter says, “I leave for battle at the end of the week.”
h) When these notifications are made, some cry. Others wring their hands. Some begin to pray.
i) In every single case, there is always a little hope that the loved one will return.
13) When Jesus was sent into the world, the plan was for Him to die.
14) Christ’s sacrificial death was the only means to save mankind and Jesus was sent to perish on a cross.
15) Imagine receiving word from a loved one that does not say, “You son will be transferred out to Iraq.”
16) No, this message says, “Your son is being transferred to a military post that will guarantee his death.”
17) That would be hard to handle; people would rebel.
18) God sent Jesus into the world and His mission assignment contained a plan that involved His death.
Peter commented on this in 1 Pet. 3:18 – READ.
GOD WANTS A RELATIONSHIP WITH PEOPLE.
a) We have the two texts mentioned from the New Testament plus some others.
b) We also have significant evidence of this in the Old Testament.
c) I want to turn back to the book of Psalms, Ps. 139.
d) This is what I think of as a “relationship Psalm.”
e) Again and again the writer spoke of how God had extended a relationship to him.
2) Let’s make some general observations – Ps. 139:1 – READ.
a) The writer said God “knew him.”
b) God had searched this writer through and through.
c) Why would God do that? Was it curiosity? No; God knows all.
d) Was it to condemn the writer? No, because the writer goes on to praise God.
e) This wording is used because the writer recognized that God wanted intimacy with him.
3) The degree of closeness between the writer and God is stated in verse 2 – READ.
4) If we spend enough years with someone we get to know them pretty well.
5) We may know what a special look means or understand some other subtle hint or sign.
a) Here the writer spoke about some of the most casual acts we do in life.
b) Who pays much attention to when someone gets up or sits down?
c) These are very routine items, but the Psalmist said God took note of them.
d) Notice too how from this verse that the Psalmist spoke about actions of the body and the mind.
e) God is so interest in people He pays attention to both areas.
6) Consider this point from the third verse – READ.
a) God is looking upon people when they sleep.
b) No matter how close we are to someone, there are times when they lose connection with us.
c) If a husband and a wife are asleep in bed, they lose track of each other for a while.
d) Sleep “disconnects” them. The writer said such is not the case with God.
7) God is so concerned about intimacy He does not remove Himself from His people when they sleep.
8) Not only does the writer mention sleep he added, “all my ways.”
a) There are some things about people we may not want to know.
b) God’s level of intimacy is so high He says it is all before Him.
c) There is nothing too personal, too nauseating, too unpleasant.
9) Someone might say this is all just a little too much to fully grasp.
10) You would not be the first one to draw this conclusion – verse 6 – READ.
a) Why would an all powerful God want to have a relationship let alone an intimate relationship with man?
b) It is a great question and the Bible offers some answers in both the Old and New testaments.
c) As David considered this information he made an observation – verse 17 – READ.
11) A king said God’s thoughts were “precious” to him.
12) Knowing that God was thinking about Him made an impression on the writer.
13) Knowing that God wanted a close, personal relationship was important to David.
14) Someone might say, “Maybe God does not have much else to think about.”
15) Perhaps God was bored so He decided to look in on the writer.
a) There are times when people’s minds do not have much to consider.
b) Because there is not much mental stimulation, the mind goes back to the same old things.
c) Is this the way with God? Let’s see how God’s thoughts are described - verse 18 – READ.
16) How many granules of sand are there in the world?
17) We will never know, but we can say they are bunches and bunches.
18) God’s thoughts are far more numerous than the grains of sand, and in His thoughts is this:
19) A desire for a deep and personal relationship with every single person.
20) The evidence in the Bible about this matter is overwhelming and we have seen just a small sample.
21) God does want a relationship with people—all people.
22) This is possible, and it comes in the way we have described for a long, long time.
a) People must believe in deity—a personal deity who is the creator of all things.
b) We cannot have a personal relationship with God unless we are willing to live as He has said.
c) We come close to beginning that relationship by confessing Jesus to be the Son of God.
d) We start intimacy with God by taking the final step in conversion: baptism for the forgiveness of sin.