John 17:3: This is the way to have eternal life—to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the One You sent to earth.
Can you name a religion that allows you the honor of becoming a child of the Most High God? Why is Christianity so different than mere religion? It is different because it’s not a religion at all, but rather it is predicated on our relationship with Jesus Christ and His heavenly Father. In fact, Christianity is defined as being “in Christ.” A Christian becomes a child of God through the Spirit of Christ which dwells in all that believe in Him as God’s only Son.
Christ is in us; we are in Him, and He is in God the Father. Through Jesus Christ, we have been granted reconciliation with God through Jesus’ shed blood on the cross. Even the word reconciliation is a relationship term that describes the very reason for Jesus coming to earth and redeeming man back to a right relationship with our heavenly Father.
There is so much more than I could write to prove further the point that Christianity isn’t a religion that was conceived in the mind of fallen man. The Bible is very clear when it comes to revealing who originated and initiated our relationship with our Creator and Father. In the book of Revelation, we’re told that Jesus was the Lamb, who was slain before the foundation of the world. Therefore, we can conclude that man had nothing at all to do with the fact that God set out to form a relationship with man and not a “religion.”
Religion is man’s vain attempt to reach God or become like God without knowing Him through Christ. Even though we have established that Christians are indeed the children of God, and He is our heavenly Father, it’s very possible to make Christianity into just another religion simply by going through the motions without your heart being engaged in the process.
Matthew 15:8-9: These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.
Christianity or a relationship with the Father begins in our hearts as His children. If we should love the world more than Him, allow something or someone else to come before our relationship with Him or become invested in anything besides the Lord and His kingdom, then according to Jesus, our worship of Him will be in vain. This is why Jesus instructs us in Matthew 6 to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these earthly things will be added. Vain worship in the words of Jesus is the definition of religion. We must keep our heart engaged in an active pursuit of God through intimacy. Be very careful to guard your heart so that you don’t slip from intimacy over into performance-based religion.
The Scripture from Matthew 15 also reminds me of another one from the Psalms where David, the King of Israel, is repenting for his sins. In this psalm, we can see that true repentance and reconciliation begin with a humble and contrite heart. David had allowed himself to sink to a place in his heart where pleasure had taken the place of intimacy with the Lord. As a consequence of David’s misplaced priorities, Satan was allowed to seduce this mighty king into committing adultery and murder. Through David’s sin, we can see the importance of diligently keeping our heart from lusts, lest we fall from grace and enter sin ourselves.
Psalms 51:15-17: Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise You. You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice You desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
David began his prayer of repentance asking the Lord to open his lips so that he could praise Him. It is God and His grace that gives us the ability to repent of sins that we have committed. David goes on to describe what God requires of any of His children that have fallen from intimacy and given themselves to the power of sin. We must get our hearts right before the Lord if we truly desire to be reconciled back to a correct relationship with God. God doesn’t accept sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins. However, He does accept a humble and broken heart. Religion requires sacrifices and paying of penance through acts of our own strength and not of Christ.
Today, I want to encourage you to maintain a healthy fellowship with your heavenly Father. Only in His presence will you find the strength that is required to live a holy life before Him. Anything else will be in vain. —submitted by Asa Dockery, US
daisymarygoldr on May 26, 2011 at 2:19 pm
Very well said Pastor Asa Dockery! Christianity is all about relationship. It is about being restored into a right relationship with God our Father through His Son Jesus Christ—to be born again as His children. And no matter how wretched as sinners we were “Before Christ”, “After Christ” our only identity is who we are “in Christ”.
Our relationship with God will directly affect the quality of all our relationships with people. When we accept Jesus Christ, we become members of His body of His flesh and of His bones (Eph 5:30 NKJV). Hence, the foundation of relationships with people must be “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”. And then, even in relationships with others we enjoy intimacy with God. In my experience, relationships rupture when one or both of us sin and are not in a right relationship with God.
Sin breaks the relationship, but not the kinship. Like David, when we humbly repent and confess our faults we can continue to have an intimate fellowship with God and His children both now and forever. Thanks for encouraging us to maintain a healthy fellowship with our heavenly Father.
GChoo on May 27, 2011 at 8:53 am
Thank you for your sharing Asa. It is so, so true. Christianity is a faith and not a religion that man made to be near God.
In my younger days, i have actually assumed that Christianity is a religion. That we live by the moral teachings from the Bible we will be right with God. How ignorant i was then. But, i am fortunate to get to know more about this relationship when i truly put my heart, soul and mind to know God through the present church that I worship in and in my daily devotion and books. Yes, Christianity is a RELATIONSHIP with God, just like Father and son/daughter relationship, it can only be made real when we truly want to enter into this relationship with our Creator. And this is only possible through Jesus Christ. It is only when we have this real and loving relationship with God that we will walk in His Spirit and be obedient to His Word. In so, we can have a meaningful life in this world knowing God is always there to see us through our every circumstances. It can be difficult when we have so much temptation in this world to lure us away from our time with God. We really need to pray alot for ourselves and others to maintain this healthy fellowship with God.
Your sharing and the scriptures have definitely deepened my understanding of God and my relationship with Him.