God desires that we have a relationship with Him. Intimacy between us and Him is of ultimate importance, both for His glory and for our well-being. It therefore shows that what matters to God is relationship, not religion or denominations. Presented here are four (4) principles that we all should know in establishing and having a relationship with God. I pray that these principles, which are highlighted in scripture, will help you draw closer to Him.

#1: A Relationship with God can only be established through Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

John 17:3 (ESV)

Jesus Christ emphasised to all that He encountered that He was (and still is) “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (see John 14:6). John 1:1 describes Him as the Word of God, with the greek word for “Word” being logos. The Greeks were familiar with this term “logos” as a “logos” was not just a word or name, but was seen as the connection between the realm of the gods and the physical realm. Jesus is the true “Logos” in that He is the Word of God and He is the connection and mediator between God and mankind. Therefore, if you seek to establish a relationship with Almighty God you must seek after Christ first and foremost. Hebrews 1:1-4 describes Jesus as “the exact image of God” and “the radiance of the glory of God“. So to draw closer to, accept, encounter, and grow in God you must know and encounter and accept Jesus Christ.

In Him you also, when you heard the Word of Truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit

Ephesians 1:13 (ESV)

The role of the Holy Spirit of God should also never be overlooked. As a matter of fact, as seen in Ephesians 1:13, He is the One who seals us, assuring us of our salvation and our reception of eternal life. The Holy Spirit communicates with our spirit to help us to know that we are children of God (see Romans 8:16), thereby confirming to us continually that we are truly redeemed. If anyone does not have the Spirit of God, they are not children of God (see Romans 8:9). We receive the Spirit of God when we surrender to Jesus Christ. His Spirit becomes our seal and transformer.

#2: God’s glory must be seen and achieved in our relationship with Him

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV)

When a relationship between us and God is established (through our faith in Jesus Christ), we must understand the goals that such a relationship seek to achieve. The principal goal is that God be glorified. God’s glory must be the aim of our lives. It is through God’s glory that all of His attributes – His nature, power, presence, and promises are expressed and experienced. That is why God desires that we do everything for His glory, for in doing so He is both glorified and we are also empowered and satisfied in Him. His glory even facilitates the forgiveness of our sins (mercy is an expression of His glory), as well as our surrender and His ownership of us (this ownership is through our surrender to Jesus Christ).

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

Isaiah 60:1 (ESV)

Because of the manifestation of His glory to and on us, we can “arise and shine”. This was prophetic, but could not be accomplished by us making any human effort in “arising” and “shining”. There had to be a mediator, a connector between God and us to help. That mediator and connector was and still is Jesus Christ. As Romans 3:23 highlights, all of us have “sinned” and “fallen short of God’s glory“. The Amplified version puts it as us “falling short of the honour and glory which God receives and bestows”. We had put ourselves in a position where we missed out on what God had in store for us. Only a relationship with Jesus Christ can help us become the people that God desires us to be.

#3: God’s love is the driving force behind His glory being received and bestowed

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

1 John 4:16 (ESV)

After realising that everything is for the glory of God in our relationship with Him, we must understand how much He loves us. In fact, His love for you drives Him to show forth His glory to you and through you. Everything that God does is for His glory, and everything He does is driven by His love. The aim is His glory, the vehicle is His love. He loves us, and desires that we abide in Him and He in us. This is so that, in loving us and in us receiving His love, He will be glorified in and through us.

“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high”

Hebrews 1:3 (KJV)

Christ is the “brightness” of the glory of God, and the “expressed image” of God Himself. When you see and hear what Christ does and says, you encounter God Himself. Christ then engaged in “purging” us from our sins, all before sitting down at the right hand of God. His aim was God’s glory, but the process involved Him revealing Himself to us and cleaning us from unrighteousness. This was him showing forth God’s love to humanity, for as the scripture says, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13).

#4: God’s love for us is not determined by our obedience and surrender, but the manifestation of His glory in our lives is

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:16 (ESV)

For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

Ephesians 5:8 (ESV)

God loves us even in our sinful, disobedient state (see John 3:16 and Romans 5:8). This means that even when we do not want to have anything to do with Him, even if we might heretical, rebellious, or even hard-hearted, God loves us. His love for us is not contingent even on our obedience. Nothing can separate us from His love (see Romans 8:37-39). However, as seen in Matthew 5:16 and Ephesians 5:8, God’s glory being manifested in and through our lives is facilitated by our surrender and obedience to Him, to become “light”. If we desire to see God glorified in and through us, there must be a requisite obedience and surrender. Surrender and Obedience are necessary because:

(i) In Surrender and Obedience, we submit more to the will of God

(ii) In Surrender and obedience, we become more like Christ and reflect and represent Him

(iii) In Surrender and Obedience, we become more equipped to overcome the attacks of the enemy.

In submitting to God’s will, becoming more like Christ, and overcoming the enemy, we will see Him glorified more and more in and through us.

Conclusion

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (ESV)