Intimacy With God and Man - part II

Continuing where we left off...

2. Second, let’s look at how God wants us relate to one another.

James 5:16&17 (MSG) reads: “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.” From this, we see an example of what God desires for our human-to-human intimacy: transparency and the loving response of prayer…which, in turn, can deliver from sickness and restore wholeness and health. Furthermore, there is a freedom and liberty that accompanies transparency.  Keeping secrets and burdens bottled up inside of us is a source of stress. When we are forthcoming with who we are, we allow others to lovingly bear burdens along with us. Here’s more of what the Word says:

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12) “Where two are closely joined in holy love and fellowship, Christ will by his Spirit come to them; then there is a threefold cord.” – Matthew Henry

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) Bearing one another's burdens not only lightens each one's load, but also serves to engender empathy and humility.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17) We are to help one another grow in wisdom.

Yesterday we saw very clearly in scripture that the Lord desires intimate relationship with us and that we are designed to desire the same with Him. Today we see that we are designed to live this life in community – in loving, transparent relationship with one another.  Tomorrow we’ll explore the concept of intimate relationship further and see how it is exemplified in scripture and among the Godhead.