The Closest of All Relationships
by Rebekah Leavell
“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” Romans 18:14-17
“For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” I Corinthians 11:2
Have you ever stopped and contemplated the fact that throughout His Word, God has presented Himself to us in almost every form of our closest human relationships? The verses above are simply a small sample! He is a perfect Father that we can run to expressing the sentiment of “Abba” as a young child would have called their daddy. In Christ, we are adopted into the family of God being made joint heirs. We are granted the Heavenly legal status of a sibling to Jesus Himself! He is described as a close friend and then, most amazingly, as Bridegroom to His Church!
I was contemplating the dynamic of these various relationships as I was watching my children together. Our two youngest children have a very special close bond with each other. They have been inseparable since our youngest was a toddler and the way they can play and talk together for hours is heartwarming to watch. I know they have a relationship that is very different and unique to their relationship with us as parents.
As their parents, we have a relationship with our children that is equally as special. It is vastly different than their sibling relationships and they will never understand a parent’s love until they have their own children. Similarly, my own husband and I have a unique relationship with each other that our children will never come close to understanding until they get married themselves.
I find it very fascinating the way God made a specific point to express His love and desire for relationship with us in all these various ways in order to ensure we could comprehend some measure to the complete depth of His affections towards us. He may have done so in these different ways so that no matter who reads the love letter of His Word, each individual can relate with and understand at least one of those close relationships from personal experience. It helps each person, whether a child, parent, or a spouse, connect with how they are loved by God.
One idea is to read through the New Testament or even the whole Bible itself taking note of all the various descriptions God uses to expresses His love and desire for His people to experience the closest of relationships with them!
This is the beauty of the Gospel. Jesus did not simply come so that we could escape Hell and then go on our way alone. He came so that we could have an intimate relationship with God Himself that will never end.
What a comfort to trust in when our world is going through such difficult times! What a gift to lean into the one relationship that can never be thwarted and can meet all our ultimate needs for connection.
If you would like to talk through difficulties of viewing God as a perfect Father, brother, best friend, or spouse because of real hurts that you have experienced through any or all of those relationships, please reach out! The counselors at Biblical Counseling of Arizona would love to walk through that hurt with you and help you experience God’s healing.
