The Three Levels of Relationship Possible with God

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

There are three distinct levels of relationship that man can have with God. An understanding of these levels and what it takes to achieve them is critical to everyone entering ministry. Since everyone who believes in Jesus has been called into a ministry of one sort or another, this means that all Christians would benefit from understanding these relationship principals. Understanding them means that if you are sincerely seeking Jesus you will then find the pathway that leads to a closer relationship with Him and you will find the breakthroughs you have been praying for. With that said, lets start by looking at what these levels are, what they mean and then identify the path to moving toward a closer relationship with God and a more effective ministry.

 

The three levels of relationship possible with God are:

 

1. A Relationship of Grace. At this level a person obtains forgiveness of their sins in return for their belief in Jesus and the contrition of their heart. This grace has been provided as a part of the new covenant that Jesus gave us at the last supper and then shortly afterward, sealed by giving up His body and blood on the cross as payment for our sins. This grace is enacted by our free will choice to believe that Jesus was God’s Son who lowered Himself to human form so that the bondage of the devil over us would be broken. This relationship of grace provides the assistance of the Holy Spirit in understanding nature and attributes of God that were demonstrated here on earth by Jesus. This is often accomplished with the reading or knowledge of scripture that is illuminated by the Holy Spirit that we may understand the truth. Often we read, meditate and pray for understanding as we continuously seek for the truth of God. It is in this searching that the Spirit reveals the truth about God that enables us to see ourselves in the eyes of God. This reflection of light from the perfect example that Jesus provided us enables us to contemplate our readiness for a higher ministry. It leads us to seek to be like Him. Over time and with the help of the Spirit we change from being conformed to the world, to being conformed to the will of God.  This is not typically an instantaneous process but more often a journey of cycles of illumination and transformation. When it is completed, the person taking the journey is now prepared to enter into a closer relationship with God. This closer relationship with God will empower them to enter into successful ministry, which is the spiritual warfare of Jesus.
2. A Relationship of Empowerment. At this level a person obtains the tools necessary for successful ministry from God in return for their devotion and dedication in seeking Him and changing their life to become more like Him. At this level a person becomes a part of God’s immediate family. His pathway and purpose in life are made known to him. He therefore receives protection and guidance from God by way of the Holy Spirit. The empowerment of the spiritual warrior is essential in entering into the spiritual army of Jesus. The spiritual warfare of prayer and action brings down principalities of evil. It includes doing the things that Jesus did in His ministry and often much more. The Holy Spirit enlightens our pathway as He did for the disciples after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Becoming a spiritual warrior is a prerequisite to moving to the next level which is the most intimate relationship man can have with God.  
3. A Relationship of Covenant. At this level a person enters through the vale that was torn in two at the time of Jesus’ death on the cross. He enters into the place were God the Father dwells. A place of the highest priest. A person at this level stands with the angels that surround God and they talk to God face to face like Moses did. They are God’s spokesmen and the leaders of God’s people. They are intimately knowledgeable of God’s covenant and they work toward its propagation to the world.

 

What I have laid out here is a map that you use to see where you are on your journey toward God. Many of us simply have difficulty hanging on to our Relationship of Grace as we fallback into sin and then return back for forgiveness over and over again. If this is the case for you then I suggest that you initiate a daily program to develop and closer relationship with God. Follow the outline above and seek God and pray that your nature is conformed to Gods will. This is the way to ensure your salvation, as one never knows when our final breath on this earth may come.

 

If you are in a ministry that is struggling then perhaps you have not received sufficient empowerment to accomplish the mission. If this is the case then initiating an effort to move toward a Relationship of Empowerment will prove to be the cure you need. In fact, one would have to wonder how any true ministry can be pleasing to God without the guiding path of the Holy Spirit and His power to overcome the fiery darts of the devil. Without the power of the Holy Spirit in ministry how will the world come to know the truth? Will it be by our words and actions alone? I don’t think so, as this was not even enough in the ministry of Jesus where even miracles did not convince everyone. We find that in the ministry of Jesus that He proclaimed, took action and then the miracles came.   

 

In regard to the Relationship of Covenant I do not have much to say because achieving this level is fairly rare.

 

A valid question about all of this is; “Is this a scriptural doctrine”? The answer is YES! We will talk about the foundation for all of the above in our next posting.

 

God bless,

 

Papa Joe  

Jesus and the Tabernacle

It all started with my decision to learn everything I could about Jesus. The motivating force was a genuine desire to develop a more intimate relationship with Him. I wanted to know everything that I could know so that I could better understand who He is, so that I could model my life after His in every way possible. 

My search to know Jesus started with an examination of the bible. I read the bible and then prayed and meditated about what I read. I did this for an hour a day for more than ten years. During that time I read the bible cover to cover twice. I also read the new testament more than five times, and individual the books that really talked to me, even more. Through this practice God gave me insight into so many things about the spiritual realm and Jesus. My heart yearned for the truth and God revealed the truth to me.  

However, after I was about half way through this ten-year exercise I encountered a mystery. There were two statements that Jesus made that I was puzzled over. The first statements is:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6

This statement was an attempt to communicate to His disciples who He was and what His attributes were. While there were some clues in the passage to reveal what Jesus meant, I felt that the answers were vague. The way to where exactly? The truth about what? What life was He talking about? These are generalities and wanted to drill down and know the details. I wanted to know more as this verse certainly hinted that there was more to learn about Jesus.

In second scripture that wanted to drill down on was as follows:

He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Luke 24:44

The Transfigured Jesus With Moses

Again, I wanted to drill down to find more details about Jesus. The problem was that I could not recall reading any comments about Jesus in the books of Moses. So, thinking that I missed them somehow, I decided to read the five books of the bible that are attributed to Moses again. This time however I would examine every line with the sole purpose of identifying the prophetic things that Moses wrote about Jesus. incredibly, reading these books provided no additional insight.  I knew that this could not be but was not quite sure how I could have missed something as large as this.

After praying about this for quite some time the truth finally came to me. Jesus was the fulfilment of the Tabernacle of Moses and the laws concerning the royal priesthood of Aaron. Now it all made sense! The Tabernacle was the way through which God would dwell with His people here on earth. It was God’s covenant promise to the people of Israel, who in turn promised to obey the Ten Comandments. So when Jesus stated that everything that was written about Him in the books of Moses must be fulfilled, he was claiming to be the fulfilment of the Tabernacle, the place where God would dwell with His people on earth. He was proclaiming the dawning of a new covenant, one that was a far superior to the old covenant in every way.

With this new revelation I started to put all of the pieces information together. I then remembered that a deacon from our church once told us that the names of the Tabernacle doors were; the Way, the Truth and the Life. I wondered why I had not made that connection before. Once again, Jesus was proclaiming to be the fulfillment of the Tabernacle when He stated that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. So these two statements were tied together in this way.

This discovery was the start of a wonderful journey as I set my sights on Jesus and the Tabernacle, and what I learned was monumental. For example, I learned that the attributes and functions of each and every artifact in the Tabernacle was fulfilled in the life of Jesus. This fact is supported by the words Jesus spoke about Himself and the actions that Jesus demonstrated.  More importantly, these words and actions were reinforced by the miracles that directly supported what Jesus did and said.  The conclusion to all of this is that Jesus is the promised one of God and He is the Christ because He is the perfect fulfilment of the Tabernacle. He fulfills the prophesy of the Tabernacle in that He supplants each and every object inside the Tabernacle. This proof is very complex and lengthy indeed, and so we will put it off to another time. What we will focus on in this document is the second discovery attributed to all this research and prayer.  Something that I have never heard discussed in any Christian church that I ever attended.

This discovery is that there are three levels of relationship that man may have with God, and these levels of relationship will determine how effective your individual ministry will be on earth as well as your final resting place in heaven. Paul once spoke about the third heaven and in doing so revealed that he had achieved the closest of all possible relationships with God. There is much to say about all of this and so I am going to put all of this proof untill the next time.

God bless,