I have been thinking more and more about what it means to "Walk in The Way". In Apostolic times the new church was called "The Way". And I have a lot of ideas about what it means to "Walk in The Way" or to live in a way that pleases God. But before I talk about how we determine if we are actually walking "in The Way" I thought it would be more important to examine why do we do this, or what is the ultimate purpose of "Walking in The Way"
God's purpose for us
I am not sure that everyone will agree with me on this, but I think primary our belief in God is not so much that He exists, but rather that He created us to be in relationship with Him. In Genesis we see God walking in the Garden looking for Adam. In the Gospel of John we are told that God so loved us that He sent is only begotten Son to die for us. When God loves us, its not like a human loves chocolate or even as a person loves their pet, but rather as a parent loves their child. He wants to converse with us. He wants us to live out the life He has intended for us. He wants us to succeed in the plans He has for us. Now this does not describe the whole of God's purpose in us. I really think that as He is eternal and His thoughts are not our thoughts, that we can never know the fullness of Him and his purposes. But we can know Him as much as much He is willing to reveal Himself in The Holy Bible (The Word of God), in worship, in prayer and in the person of the Holy Spirit.
Primary theme of this post
• God The Father's primary purpose is for us to be in relationship with Him
• Jesus, God the Son, points us to the Father
• God the Holy Spirit points us to the Father through Jesus Christ
• The Bible's most important purpose is to point us into a relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ, the Son of God by the guiding of the Holy Spirit
• One of the biggest obstacles to our coming into relationship with God the Father and living as his children is people misusing the Bible for their own gain or desires.
I am a trinitarian. I believe that God is the one true God who exists eternally in three persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Now in the realm of relationship I believe that what is most important is that God the Father desires for us to be in relationship with Him. To that end I believe that God wants us to come into his presence (as much as possible in this earthly realm) and to commune and communicate with Him. We see the authors of the Psalms sharing practically every human emotion as they pour their hearts out to God. In the New Testament we see God speaking to his followers through the third Person of the Trinity - the Holy Spirit.
So as I look at the Godhead and consider the workings of each part of Him, I see a theme at work. As God the Father desires relationship with us, so then each of the other aspects of the Godhead point to God the Father. Jesus tells us that if we want to see The Father, then we can look at Him. Jesus tells us that He is the way, the truth and the life. In this I see an image of Jesus pointing to the Father and saying, "This is the way." Jesus made a practice of talking to The Father and then saying and doing what He heard The Father say and did. It's as if Jesus looks at us and then points to The Father to say, "This is the way".
I see a similar role in the Holy Spirit. Like The Son, The Holy Spirit is also God, but He is not The Father nor is He The Son. Now Jesus told us that He would send the Paraclete to help us. He also said that the Holy Spirit would remind us of everything that Jesus said, as if pointing to Jesus (who is pointing to The Father) to say, "He is the way."
And God didn't leave it there, Through the work of the Holy Spirit, men wrote the scriptures. They are an account of humanity's relationship with God, the good and the bad of it. But to me, I see the Bible then serving a primary purpose of pointing us towards the Godhead. I sincerely believe that when the Bible is not used with the intent of bringing more and more people in to a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, then we misuse it. The Bible was given to us that we might know God better. I believe it has other purposes as well, but for me this is its primary purpose - to point us to God.
Now Jesus gave The Church (his body) apostles, prophets, evangelists pastors and teachers to prepare us for works of service. But whose works? Obviously these are the good works that God has prepared in advance for his people to do. Well, obvious to me. Too often I see the people who say they are leaders in God's church trying to divert God's people and pervert God's Word. Too often I see men and women saying look at me or using the Bible to say, "See I am right!" If the leaders in the church are not pointing us to God first, then no matter how well intentioned their efforts may be - they are wrong. We who believed we have been called into God's service must first be pointing people into relationship with God. Then we can prepare them for the works of service that God has foreordained them to do. I firmly believe that works come out of right relationship with God the Father, through Jesus Christ and the workings and giftings of the Holy Spirit. And like the apostle James, I believe if there are no good works there is no relationship. Works are not the proof our our relationship, as many do good works thinking that it proves they know God. But good works are an outcome of that relationship.
The greatest commandment is to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. All of The Law, The Prophets and The Writings boil down to this simple premise. But to love someone you must be in relationship with them otherwise you are just a fan. God doesn't want fans, He wants men and women, girls and boys, to know Him as their/our Heavenly Father. I firmly believe that it is out of this eternal and heavenly relationship that all of our good works will flow. As we love God, it becomes possible to love people; even our enemies. This relationship is where we will find the strength and the power and the knowledge to live as children of God. Without the relationship we are nothing more than a God fan club and nothing really eternal or truly good can come of it. As fans we will make our club exclusive only admitting those we deem worthy. As fans, we will fixate on the form of our fanaticism rather than what walking out the dictates of an eternal relationship with the Godhead.
There are rights and wrongs in this relationship. Some are more obvious than others. The Apostle John tells us that we must love our brothers (and sisters) as ourselves otherwise there is no evidence of God in us - we are not in relationship with Him. I hope to explore more of these concepts in this blog, looking at what it means to "Walk in the way of God" which to me means walking in relationship with God. I believe as we examine the written Word of God, we will see road side markers that help us stay on the path so to say. Each of the articles that will follow will examine a different aspect of our relationship with God and hopefully help us stay in "The way of God"
To God be the Glory and the Honor, Amen
