The Standard of Right Relationship

Do you know why we do a majority of what we do?  I can sum up why we do a majority of what we do in one word . . . RELATIONSHIP!  The #1 reason why students participate and stay involved in youth group is relationship.  If students have a close relationship, they will come and stay involved.  If students do not have a close relationship, they won’t come or they will stop being involved.  If there is one thing that all humanity has in common it is relationship!  Regardless of gender, race, age, income, status, all human beings long for relationship with other human beings.  It’s one thing to be in relationship with others, it’s a whole other thing to be in right relationship with others.  Is there a standard that can help us be in right relationship?

To answer this question we must go back before creation, before light, before water, before land, before plants, before animals, before anything.  Genesis 1:1 provides the first clue to understanding right relationship when it says, “in the beginning . . . God”.  Before anything else existed, for all eternity past, there was God.  What was God doing for eternity BEFORE anything was created?  In a prayer to God, Jesus provides a second clue to understanding right relationship in John 17:5, 24 saying, “glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you BEFORE the world existed” . . . 19 verses later Jesus prays, “you loved me BEFORE the foundation of the world.”  Before anything else existed God and Jesus shared glory and love in relationship.  From these verses we understand that GOD Himself is RELATIONSHIP, therefore He is the STANDARD of all right relationships!  Why is God our standard of right relationship?

READ: Genesis 1:26-27

God is our standard of relationship because He, as three distinct persons (Father, Son, Spirit), exists in perfect relationship with Himself.  When God created humanity, it was His relational nature that was given to us.

God is US and OUR (Gen. 1:26) – Very simply, these two simple Hebrew pronouns “us” and “our”, referring to God who created everything, are plural!  God is not just “I” and “me”, but “us” and “our”.  Mysteriously, before anything was created God (singular) was speaking to and relating with others (plural).  “Us” and “our” is much more than multiple personality, it reveals that God is not just a singular being, but a plural being conferring with others in relationship.  Relationship is an inherent reality of God’s eternal nature.

Humanity is an IMAGE or a LIKENESS of a relational God (Gen. 1:26) – Artists will carve statues out of marble, stone, wax, or wood in order to create a lifelike representation of a person.  The Lincoln Memorial has a statue of Abraham Lincoln.  The statue is obviously not the actually Abraham Lincoln, but a lifelike representation of him.  When God created humanity He created us in His “image” or in His “likeness” in order to be a representation of Himself!  An “image” is a “statue” or “carved image” that is a representation of the actual or real thing, whereas “likeness” is a “pattern” or “copy” similar to an actual or real thing.  As representations made in God’s image or likeness, relationship is primary characteristic of our God-likeness.

Humanity is MALE and FEMALE (Gen. 1:27) – Blue/pink, handsome/pretty, trucks/dolls.  These words stimulate thoughts of either a male or a female.  Why?  Humanity was made distinctly male and female.  As much as males and females are similar, they are undeniably different.  A plural God who is three distinct persons created plural humanity who are each distinct persons, each possessing God’s image and likeness.  It is our unique individual identity and gender that serves the specific purpose of connecting us to others in relationship.

CONCLUSION

Since relationship is inherent in God’s eternal nature, and since we are created in God’s image, relationship with others is what we were designed for!  Our longing and instinct for relationship with others is no accident.  Since God created us for relationship, we can look to Him to help us be in right relationship with others.  Are you looking to God as the standard of right relationship with Him and with others?