God is Relational
Relational Christianity • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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References: Genesis 1:26, 2:18-25, 3:8-9, 3:14-21, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Zephaniah 3:17, Matt 6:9-13, 1 John 4:7-12
You are relational!!
You are relational!!
You are relational! Let’s start with 5 real-life statements:
You want meaningful relationships
Most people — regardless of belief — crave connection, belonging, and being known.
God made you that way!
You feel that way because you were designed that way.
Loneliness hurts because it contradicts your design.
Healthy relationships feel good because they reflect the God who made you.
This reframes a universal human longing as something intentional, not accidental.
You want to be loved without conditions
Even people who don’t believe in God understand the ache for unconditional love.
God doesn’t just do love — He is love.
The Trinity is the eternal expression of perfect love, and humanity is invited into that love.
You want purpose and identity
People often feel lost, fragmented, or unsure who they are.
Your identity is rooted in being made in the image of a relational God.
You’re not random. You’re not an accident.
Your desire for connection is part of your design and destiny.
You want relationships the actually work
Everyone has experienced broken relationships — family tension, betrayal, loneliness, conflict.
God’s relational nature becomes the blueprint for healthy human relationships.
The way God relates (faithful, sacrificial, patient, present) becomes the model for how we relate.
You want to know you’re not alone
Isolation is one of the most universal human fears.
You were never meant to do life alone — not spiritually, not relationally.
God’s relational nature means He is not distant, detached, or indifferent.
Relationship Begins with God
Relationship Begins with God
We find this in the doctrine of the Trinity - God as one God, is made of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
God patterned mankind after Himself and used the plural in this passage. Look at what He said about man...
18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.
20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.
21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.
22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Adam had relationship with God - and yet God declared that Adam should not be alone. He needed relationship (ladies you might call that adult supervision :)
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
This was right after Adam and Eve rejected God’s authority and sinned.
Notice:
God, who already knew what happened, showed up like He always does. He could have ignored them the way we do when someone hurts us, and yet He showed up.
Adam did not show up - instead he and Eve hid themselves.
Why, because relationship was broken.
Not because of what God did, but because of man’s decision to place his own will above his relationship with God.
God called to Adam, “Where are You”.
God did not need to know where Adam was.
God is All Knowing.
Adam needed to know where Adam was in his relationship to God.
Before, they were spending time together in right relationship, and now all they had was broken.
The worst part - ADAM COULD NOT FIX THE RELATIONSHIP!
Sin came in - broke the relationship and now they needed to be saved.
Do you ever feel like you messed up so bad, that there is no way God would still want to have relationship with you?
Do you feel like He is showing up to your usual spot and saying, “Son - Daughter, Where are you?”
There is hope!
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
Notice:
God defines the relationship between the serpent who represents the devil and with man.
There will be a war between you and the woman.
Here is where we see the very first prophecy of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who through relationship with God and with us, would reconcile us back to God.
He shall bruise your head… There is Jesus!
16 To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”
Notice:
Here is the consequence of sin for the woman
Here is her relationship toward her husband
This is the real reason for the extreme feminism movement.
It is rebellion against what God said in the garden
SideNote: This is not endorsing bad husbands lording over their wives. We will cover that on a future Sunday. This is what the Bible says to the woman about women.
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
Notice:
Adam has a consequence for his sin.
It suggests the ground did not need to be toiled, and probably was a joy to tend to.
Now sweat, thorns, thistles until death.
Even after all the consequence and dealing with His creations the way a loving Father should, He shows love and kindness by performing the first sacrifice and providing them clothes.
Parents: Here is a relational note if you want to parent like we see God do:
Establish clear guidance/rules
Say in advance what the consequence is for breaking the rules
When the rules are broken, follow through with the consequence
Not out of anger,
but out of love for their future
The moment the consequence is carried out, show them love, care, and provision.
**That was a bonus**
God is NOT Transactional
God is NOT Transactional
14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
There is a condition, and a blessing
This is seen throughout scripture
We can see this as something that a formula can be made
Here is how you know people are moving toward a transactional view of God:
Send your money and God will...
Follow these steps and you will...
Fool-proof way to increase your church...
7 steps to a better you...
Notice how transactional. Just swipe your card here.
Just step up to the celestial vending machine
This is not who God is! This is cold! This is unfeeling!
Listen to God’s response to Israel after disciplining them:
17 The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
Do you see how beautiful and relational that is. Even after the people of God had continued to be unrepentant, and after God disciplined, God restored.
How amazing!
You were Created for Relationship
You were Created for Relationship
18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
God made Adam for Himself
God made Eve so he would not be alone
What other relationships have been created since then to be a cheap substitute to make us feel like we have what is still missing?
9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Notice:
See how Jesus teaches them to pray.
Our Father. That is relationship.
If you have prayed this prayer before and saw God as some far off, angry being, I challenge you to hear this!
Your Kingdom Come… That is submission to Him in right relationship.
You cannot think a child can have right relationship while still being rebellion. It is impossible.
Give us this day… The provision we ask for, we ask our father for. We expect Him to answer because He is our Heavenly Father. Our Perfect Father. The one who loves us!
Forgive us… This requires the recognizing that
We have sinned and are indebted to that sin and need to be free.
We are called to forgive those who have wronged us or “sinned” against us.
Do not lead us, but deliver us -
This recognizes our temptations are not from God, but we need Him in order to be delivered when we fall into the traps of the evil one.
Yours is the Kingdom Power and Glory forever - That is the declaration of a grateful heart before an amazing Heavenly Father.
Perhaps you still struggle to shift your view of God from some transactional robot in the sky
Love is Relational
Love is Relational
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
Notice:
Love is something that was distorted in the garden
It is distorted in the “free love” and “love is love” movements of today
It is being turned into another cheap imitation of the love is from God.
Here is the HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL LINES
Love One Another because real love comes from God.
How can I love my wife right? The love that comes from God.
How can I love my kids, my co-workers, the lost, and those who enemies against me? from the Love that comes from God.
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
HOW DO WE GET A TRANSACTIONAL GOD?
When we separate Him from His love to restore relationship
Can you have love and not have God?
The World is trying it. You have tried it. I have tried it.
We will ALWAYS come us short.
Love cannot be removed from God and still be real love.
v10 is the definition of love: Starting with the origin and then flowing down.
Men, do you want to love your family? Learn to receive God’s love and only then can you love others.
Women, do you want to love those who hurt you? Learn to receive the love of God - His way - and you will be able to love the most despicable. - Even yourselves for those of you who find it hard to forgive yourself.
So, it starts with God - Flows down - Flows back up in right relationship - Then it flows from me to you, and you to me, and us to the world.
The whole man must make the decision before the heart can know any real satisfaction. God wants the whole person, and He will not rest till He gets us in entirety. No part of the man will do.10
A. W. Tozer
The Spirit of God never promised to fill a man’s head. The promise is that God will fill the heart or man’s innermost being.3
A. W. Tozer
Do you want real relationship with God?
He is not coming to you, angry with hell as his satisfaction for your sin.
He is coming as a loving father who wants to restore the relationship sin broke
I want to open the altar for prayer.
I am going to ask you to be bold today. You are among family.
If your relationship with God is broken today and you want to experience real love - real relationship with a perfect Heavenly Father.
Come and receive Him.
If you have a relationship with God, but He has been calling out, where are you?
Come and receive Him.
Jesus said if you deny me before men, I will deny you before my Father. Those are bold words.
Come and be in right relationship with Him.
If you have a family member that you want to intercede for, come and let’s pray for them.
If you have treated Christianity like it is a list of rules and lost your relationship, come find it.
Let’s Pray!
For those who have prayed, I want to celebrate with you, and help you continue your journey. Please let me know by
