by Peg Yarbrough

“Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” For years I have been asked the question, “Am I supposed to have a relationship with God and with Jesus Christ?” The answer is a resounding YES!

Jesus Christ is our living Savior. When God raised him from the dead He set him at His own right hand in heaven. From that exalted position Jesus is the mediator and administrator of the new covenant.

Psalm 110:1
The LORD (God) said unto my Lord (Messiah), Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

When we confess [homologeo] Jesus as Lord, we make a “covenant” with him. We recognize that he is our Lord, we choose to give him authority over our lives. We go to him for direction and instruction. And we realize that service and obedience are due him. This entails fellowship with him, as spoken of in I John:

I John 1:3,4
…and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

It is a joy to have fellowship with the Father and with His Son. Confessing Jesus as Lord is the beginning of that relationship. It is a lifelong connection. (John 15:1ff)

Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt confess (covenant) with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

We are to have fellowship, a relationship, with God the Father AND with his son Jesus Christ. And we are to be subject unto Christ, because God has given him that authority.

Ephesians 5:243,24
… even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ…

Much comfort and relief have been missed by Christians who do not believe or understand that this relationship is currently available. Nor do they realize that Jesus has a continuing ministry. This is God’s order for the Church today, and it brings glory to the Father.

Philippians 2:9-11
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him [Jesus], and given him a name which is above every name:
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The Lord God Almighty has given our Messiah an exalted position. He has done this to bring glory to Himself. This was His plan before the world began.

Ephesians 1:4-6 NLT
Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. And this GAVE HIM GREAT PLEASURE. (emphasis added)
So we praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved son.

We belong to His son. It is of the utmost importance that Christians give the Lord Jesus the glory and honor ascribed to him from God, and to cultivate a relationship with both the Father and the Son. When this relationship is fully realized, it is a comfort to our soul, it is a confidence booster, but most of all – it glorifies God!

Some of the titles that the Father has bestowed upon His Son are as follows:
The Lord, the Messiah, the Savior, the Head of the Church, the High Priest, our Advocate, the Mediator of the New Covenant, the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, the Wonderful Counselor, our Intercessor, and more.

As the head of the Church he has special authority and power from the God Almighty that he continues to enjoy. He is an individual separate from God, who, by God’s authority, is head over the Church.

It is NOT TRUE that if one has a relationship with God one axiomatically has a relationship with Jesus, any more than knowing a person would give you a relationship with their offspring. In fact the Bible says just the opposite, that we must have a relationship with Christ in order to have a relationship with the Father.

John 14:6,7
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also

The apostle Paul understood this. If anyone had a relationship with the God of the Bible, Paul had the credentials. But he understood that until he had a relationship with Christ, his salvation would not be realized. (Philippians 3:8,10,11) No man comes unto the Father but by Jesus Christ. This is not a one time event, this is God’s order for the Church today. Many people believe that there is a God, but Jesus Christ reveals the salvation of God to man. Otherwise belief in God alone would grant one salvation.

Matthew 11:27
All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

Jesus is the revealer! We know the Father because we know the Son. There is absolutely no question that the Father is greater than the Son, and yet we know God through the Son. That is the new covenant. That’s God’s order!

In John chapter 15 the beautiful illustration is given that Christ is the vine and we are the branches. The very life of the branch depends on abiding in the vine. Without abiding in the vine, we can do nothing. Jesus said that he can do nothing without the Father, and that we can do nothing without abiding in Christ. “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” John 15:8

It is in having our hearts filled with Christ that we are filled with the fulness of God. This is the order by which God is glorified through the Church, today and throughout all ages. So be it.

Ephesians 3:21
Unto him (God) be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.