God Seeking Union With Us

Tuesday, May 28, 2013     John 17:22-23

God Seeking Union With Us

In “Two Diamond Tales”, I used the illustration of determining the worth of a diamond to show that you and I are of equal value to God as Jesus, because God so loved us He gave Jesus for us. It certainly takes a leap of faith to honestly believe that God loved you so much that he gave his one and only Son for you. Even so, I believe God wants us to take yet another leap of faith. What if God loves you exactly as much as He loves Jesus? Real love. True love. Not a theological love, not a love like, or similar to His love for Jesus, but love for you that is the very substance of His love for Jesus.

Previously, I noted that G. K. Chesterton described the furious love of God as the enormous vitality and strength of God seeking union with us. God seeking union with us! Often the Bible uses God’s perspective on marriage as a metaphor for God’s desired relationship with us. In this sense, seeking union is seeking marriage. (Remember, the people of God are the Bride of Christ.) In the Bible this marriage union is described as the two becoming one: Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:5, Mark 10:8, and Ephesians 5:31.

Throughout the history of the church there have been men and women who seem to have known and experienced the love of God in a deeper, more intimate and personal manner than the ordinary ebb and flow of Christ followers. Somehow we may have conjured up the notion that they were selected by God for this honor, this privilege, and the rest of us just need to make do. I believe this attitude meets the classic definition of a cop-out: an instance of avoiding responsibility or commitment.

The mystics and saints that have gone before us, such as Catherine of Siena, Thomas Merton, Brother Lawrence, Teresa of Avila, Brennan Manning and Mother Teresa, just to name a few, are in the cloud of unseen witnesses that surrounds us, and they are all holding up signs that read, “Come on in, the water’s fine!”

Admittedly, coming to the place where I honestly believe God loves me as much as He loves Jesus takes a huge leap of faith. How do we move toward union with the furious longing of God? First, remember it is possible to do with training what is impossible to do by trying. The Apostle Paul said we are transformed into a new person by changing the way we think. (Romans 12:2) All of my meditations are aimed at helping you to learn to think differently about yourself, about God, and about the world where we live. Just keep opening your mind to the possibility that you really are who God says you are!

Secondly, be patient. While we do well to position ourselves to grow in grace, ultimately it is God working in us that gives us the power to believe. (Philippians 2:13)

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  In addition to this BLOG they are distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com. The Kindle version will follow soon.

·        The second edition First Think – Then Pray has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.