Last year Vice President Mike Pence made headlines when people in the media suggested that his belief that he could have a relationship with God was like a “mental illness.” They said, “It’s one thing to talk to Jesus. It’s another thing when Jesus talks to you.” The question is a valid one. Can you have a personal relationship with God?
Many of the world’s religions don’t believe that you can have a relationship with God.
Keep in mind, this is what the religions teach—not what all of their adherents believe.
- Hindus acknowledge multiple gods and goddesses
- Buddhists say deity does not exist
- New Age people believe themselves to be God
- Muslims believe in a powerful but unknowable God
- Christians believe in a loving God who created us to know him
God can’t be understood
In Job 11:7 we see that God is an unsolvable mystery. In Job 11:8, God’s knowledge is higher than the heavens and we are fools to think we can understand him. In Isaiah 40:18, there is no image that even resembles him. I used to tell my junior high Sunday school class that trying to understand God was like trying to describe Disney World to an earthworm. The scripture gives us glimpses and pictures. We try to get our heads around it, but we fall short from really knowing. It’s not the scripture that is lacking, rather, it is our ability to begin to understand him.
God can be known
Even though God can’t be fully understood, he can be known. Jesus tells us in John 14:7 that if we knew him, we would also know his father. In Psalms 34:8 the psalmist tells us to taste and see that the Lord is good. I don’t have to know everything about God to feel his peace and presence overtake me. Nobody can convince me that there is no God because I have experienced him. Somebody who has never experienced God could think I’m crazy. But I know what I know. I have felt what I have felt.
God must be sought
God can be known; however, he still must be sought. He wants us to chase him. Isaiah 55:6 tells us to seek the Lord and to call on him. He is available to you right now! He is near to you right now! He wants to have a relationship with you. Jeremiah 29:13-14 shows us that if we look for him, we will find him, and he will bring us home. Matthew 7:7 tells us to keep on asking and we will receive. God knows what we need before we even ask, but our asking is still part of the process. Why? Because we were created for fellowship with him.
The entire point
God created mankind with a purpose in mind and that is to have a relationship with him. We are different from animals. Our ability to think, reason and have empathy makes us able to interact with our creator. Of course, we lost that relationship through sin and God desires to bring us back. Jesus died on the cross to restore us to a right relationship with God. He did not do it out of obligation or pity. He did it because he longed for a relationship with you.
The step of faith
So, people think we’re crazy. We have the audacity to believe that we can have a two-way conversation with God. There is always a step of faith when you come to God. That’s why in Hebrews 11:6 the scripture tells us that without faith it’s impossible to please God. I believe some pretty wild things about God. I believe that he created the world. With his hand he weighed the oceans. I believe that Jesus’ mother had never been with a man when she conceived him. I believe Jesus raised the dead, healed blind eyes, and cast out demons. I believe he took my sin upon himself and died on the cross. I believe on the third day he rose from the dead and now sits at the right hand of God. And best of all, I believe that when I die, I will get to see my Jesus face-to-face. Right now, I get to know him a little bit. But on that day, I will know him completely!
