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In today’s video Rudy Ross gives the listener a vision of our future union with God. We are already united with God because of his Spirit within us. However, there is more to come.
You can view our discussion on the Bob Spradling YouTube channel.
Today’s article will focus on God’s amazing gift to us, the ability to live in union with him.
Isaiah 54 – A Picture of Union with God
The first verses of the chapter suggest the blessing of union with God.
Sing, O barren one who did not bear;
burst into song and shout,
you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate woman will be more
than the children of her that is married, says the Lord.
Enlarge the site of your tent,
and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
and strengthen your stakes.
For you will spread out to the right and to the left,
and your descendants will possess the nations
and will settle the desolate towns. (Isaiah 54.1-3)
The nation is symbolized by a barren wife. Abundant fruitfulness and blessing are the results of union with her husband, who is God.
Being fruitful is certainly a blessing, but it is exceeded by God’s gift of a love relationship with him.
In the Beginning, was Love
The night before he was crucified, Jesus prayed: “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me.
“I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17.25-26).
Jesus made God’s “name known” to the whole world. The “name” represents a person’s character and nature. Jesus perfectly revealed who God is through his behavior and teaching.
At the very beginning of John’s Gospel he wrote, “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known” (John 1.18).
The best way to know the true nature of God is to observe Jesus in action, whether by his words or deeds.
Why did Jesus make the Father known? His prayer reveals God’s desire for the love relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to be our experience too.
A fruitful and abundant life is a tremendous gift from God. An even greater gift is the ability to live in an intimate relationship with the Greatest Being of All.
Union with God
The physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual union of two humans is one of God’s great gifts to us. According to Isaiah, within this union, the barren become blessed by the grace of God.
The union of humans is a sample of the union God desires for us.
Jesus told his Father in the High Priestly Prayer, “The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one,
“I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17.22-23).
It is God’s desire for his followers to be united in a similar way to that of the Trinity.
Let’s not overlook the picture of unity that Jesus prayed for. Our unity is to be: “I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one.”
I believe that most of us cheat ourselves out of God’s very best. We settle for a good life and a ticket to heaven when we die, but there is so much more.
God wants to give us a taste of the kind of union that resides within the relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
How?
How can we appropriate the union that Jesus prayed for us? Jesus is our model and his behavior will reveal how we can live in union and love with God.
In many ways, the Gospel of John is a message about what God has done to give us the gift of a love relationship and union with God. One verse summarizes our response to this astounding offer.
Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14.12).
The secret to living in a love relationship and union with God is to “do the works that [Jesus did].”
What did Jesus do?
(1) He lived in constant communion with the Father.
If we are going to experience a love relationship with God, it will be necessary to be in regular contact with him.
(2) He obeyed the direction of the Father.
Imagine a situation where a couple declares their love for one another, but frequently offend and hurt each other. Can we say that their love is the best it can be?
Obedience is an expression of love. God does his part in the love relationship and when we respond, our love grows.
My encouragement to readers today is that we all decide to receive God’s great gift of love and union with him.
About This Blog
Rudy Ross and I discuss the first verses of Isaiah 54 and speak of God’s desire to bring us into union with him.
Please email your prayer requests to me a bsprad49@gmail.com or private message me on Facebook. The Maywood prayer team will pray for you.
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