One of the realities of adult life is the consciousness of the multiple roles we have to play; Child, Husband/Wife, Sibling, Friend, Employe(e/r), Subordinate and or Superior. You’ll agree with me that balance and fulfilment come when we try our best to be present in all of these roles and not excessively fulfil one to the detriment of another. Every role has its own unique expectations and distinct experiences. A mother cannot replace motherhood by being a better employee.
As it is with our natural life, finding a fine balance is crucial to flourishing as Christians and it requires that we explore all the dimensions of our relationship with God. Our relationship with God is multi-faceted; Creator and Creature, Servant and Master, Father and Child, King and Heir, Groom and Bride, the list go on. Each of these dimensions represents a strand in the intricate lattice that is the believer’s total experience. Excessively focusing on just one dimension of this multi-faceted relationship is like pulling a joint out of a socket, it leaves a gap, a void that other dimensions cannot fill. Every dimension of our relationship with God is a call to an experience in and with Him distinct from the others but yet still connected. Our holistic Christian experience is a sum of the distinct parts.
The bible itself is a journey of discovery of the different dimensions available in God and consequently, the different dimensions that we are open to. Knowing God as Creator gives insights to His creative abilities and His saving and redemptive action, He made man in His own image and likeness and He did all He could to restore that relationship through the redemptive work of Christ. Understanding God as the Workman and you as His workmanship compel you to do the work of Him that has made you, it convinces you that there is a purpose you are here for and that you must accomplish. Understanding Christ as your Bridegroom and Husbandman facilitate a depth of intimacy with Him that is unmatched. Understanding God as Father is to open yourself to his provisional, protective abilities and gives you a legitimate identity in God’s family. Seeing God as King and you as His heir positions you for a life of responsibility, representation, and advancement.
Just like adulthood, your Christian growth is not just marked by the passage of time but in how you are able to unlock and step into these different relational dimensions. The Bible says an heir as long as He is a child doesn’t differ from a slave though He is Lord of All. While within everyman lies the potential to be a husband, a man cannot be called a husband until he finds a wife. So also, we cannot distinguish ourselves in certain ways if we do not catch a glimpse of certain dimensions of God.
Jesus was distinctly set apart from the Pharisees and the Sadducees because of the revelation of the Fatherhood of God that He carried and displayed. The Israelites were visibly distinguished from other nations because of the covenant relationship they had with God. So much so that even till today, no matter where a Jew is in the world, the strong belief that He has a covenant relationship with God compels Him to live his life a certain way and expect certain things.
This multifaceted relationship we have with God is one of the blessedness of Christianity. One that a lot of religions cannot lay claim to. Most other religions relegate their inter relationship as that of an immortal god and mortal subjects. The relationship we have with God is not at all transactional, it is transformational.
God, speaking to Moses in Exodus 6:3 said I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself fully known to them. In Christ, we are so privileged to experience the fullness of God because He is the express image of the Father and we enjoy completeness in Him. As you grow in intimacy with Christ, you catch different glimpses of these relational dimensions. Yet many short-change themselves by placing a lid when God has opened a gusher, refusing to enter in and partake of the fulness that is available in Christ.
Friend, can I ask you today? What relational dimensions of God do you carry in your heart? Do you know Him as Father, as Saviour, as your Husbandman, or do you only believe that you are only a pen in the hands of the creator? You have not moved one step in your relationship with God since then.
I believe God is calling you higher and to know Him better, to find and press into these dimensions available in Him. He wants you to enjoy the different dimensions He has opened to us in our relationship with Him. He is calling you to come, and today I pray that as you read this, you will not harden your heart and that by the agency of His Spirit, you would be ushered to an enriching experience of fellowship with Him.
Amen.
Have a brilliant week ahead.
Olayinka Adebayo
@layinkadebayo