John 6:43-51
Introduction: If you are in a relationship now or have ever been, maybe husband or wife, boyfriend, girlfriend or good friends, who was the first to make a move on the other? Who was the first to pursue who? What happened after one of you made the first move?
Was the other encouraged to pursue the relationship further?
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For Sheri and myself, it was I who made the first move to pursue her, how about you?
If you saw someone today whom you were interested in would you pursue them or wait to see if they would pursue you?
The Bible teaches us that God sought us out first before we sought after Him, by God making the first move to pursue us that gave us the beginning desire to want to come into relationship with Him.
We must take great hope from the fact that God was interested enough in us to make the first move in pursuing us. If He had not done so we would never have gone looking for Him. We were completely lost in sin and somewhat content with that.
Rom. 3:10–11 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
1st election when Obamma’s follower was saying how he would take care of her needs if he was elected.
Even Jesus understood that when He was there speaking to the crowd of people. He knew that the only reason they were looking for Him was because He took care of a need they had across the lake on the mountainside. Vs 26
Vs 44-45 The Father is the one who sends His Holy Spirit to touch our hearts, softening them so we might know His call toward us. If it were not for God making the first move none of us would know salvation at all.
In the pursuit of your relationship, did it end when you got it or was that just the beginning?
When you received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, becoming a child of God, is that where the pursuit ended? Is our salvation the goal or the beginning of something new and wonderful?
Psalm 42:1–2 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
God makes the first move on us, softening our hearts so we would know He is there, that He loves us and desires that we choose to get to know Him. He even went to the extreme to open up a pathway for us to enter into relationship with Him. John 3:16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
God knew that if we were left to ourselves we would not be able to come into relationship with Him unless He made a way for us.
Rom. 1:16–17 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” So, it was God who made the first move on us, desiring that we enter into relationship with Him through faith in Christ. Vs 6:27-29
So let’s say you have come to faith in Christ through the nudging of God upon you, what next? Have we arrived, accomplished all we need to do or desire to do?
Make a trip to Disney World to only stay in hotel room.
That is not what Jesus expects from us; John 17:2–3 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Our receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior is just the beginning of the relationship we can have with God, the beginning of our journey. We now have an opportunity to get to know God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, personally. Who they are, what they feel, what they are thinking. We can know what hurts their feelings and what pleases them, what makes them happy.
We can get to know them as we now pursue them in relationship, seeking to learn all we can about God, beginning with His word, from His actions toward us and even from every promise He gives us, the things He says He will do for us, unconditionally and conditionally. 2 Pet. 1:3-11 Look Together
God is a person, even though He is infinite and eternal, He still thinks, wills, enjoys, feels, loves, desires and suffers as any other person would. When He makes Himself known to us it is by His personality that He does so. He communicates with us through our personalities, our minds, our wills, our emotions, pouring out His love to us.
The best way to understand this is to look at who Jesus is:
John 14:5-11 Look Together
Jesus is the physical representation of the Father; Col. 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
If we were to look at His life here on earth we would see that he had a personality, He loved, felt emotions, hurt, rejoiced, willed and desired, all the emotions and things we do within our personalities. He related to others through their personalities and the disciples related to Him in the same way.
This is how God desires to relate to us.
It is up to us to choose whether we want to get to know God deeper and deeper in relationship. If we desire that, He will show us more of Himself, reveal more of Himself to us. Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.
A complicated person.
Understand though that God is infinite and we are finite, we will not be able to understand all there is about God while here on earth. 1 Cor. 13:12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
When we are born again by the Spirit of God our spirits open up to this new relationship with God. We can now get a glimpse of the kingdom of God and begin to understand all that is available to us.
And this is just the beginning of a glorious relationship with God, not the end or the goal of our coming to faith. We now have an opportunity to explore our new relationship with God.
If we look at the Apostles we can see that they knew the opportunity available to them, even when others thought it was a bad idea or a waste of time. John 6:66-70a Look Together
If we look to the scriptures we can find example after example of people who desired a deeper relationship with God and asked for it. Exodus 33:13-18 Look Together
Moses was even bold enough to ask God to show him His glory and God was so pleased with His relationship with Moses that He agreed to reveal His glory to Moses.
David’s life was one filled with heart ache and rejoicing, but by reading through the Psalms we will find that he desired to know God deeply. David wrote Ps. 37 our memory verses.
The Apostle Paul, who made a mark on history with the gospel of Christ, had one great desire, that he know Jesus, even if it meant suffering. Phil 3:7-11 Look Together
So, is salvation our goal or are we just beginning a growing relationship with God, who was the first to pursue us?
Marriage counselor who directs a relationship.
Do we expect others to be the ones to help us grow in relationship with God or are we willing to put forth the effort needed to pursue God and a growing relationship with Him?
Will we ask God to show us His glory or will we be satisfied with a surface relationship with Him?
Do we desire to taste and see that the Lord is good and have Him come and touch our hearts and lives in special ways?
Today the church is in decline because for too long we expected others to show us God. This has led to a sterile religion where experiencing God in our lives is a foreign concept, when all the time God wants to be involved in our lives, revealing Himself to us, showing us His glory.
He wants to be our all in all, the one we seek out and desire a relationship with everyday of our lives.
He went to great extremes to pursue us and a relationship with us, are we willing to make any effort in our getting to know Him better and deeper?
The choice is ours.
Benediction: Revelation 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
