Relationships are the key!
by Pastor Peter Bean
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Whoever confesses the Son has the Father too (1 John 2:23b).
If you have been reading the passages this week, you may well be on your way to being convinced these are the last days! But remember, these writers were saying this 2000 years ago. If ‘these are the last days’ (verse 18) 2,000 years ago, and the world hasn’t ended yet, when will it end? Can we know?
It seems to me that even though Jesus himself talks about the last days, he always brings it back to something – or someone – more important. That something today is relationship.
We confess Jesus as the Son of God, our Lord, our personal Saviour and the Saviour of the world. It is important to remember what the writer of this epistle tells us: whoever confesses the Son has the Father too.
The Son is in relationship with the Father: obvious, yet not so obvious. Sometimes we focus on one person of the Triune God. This will reflect our personal experience and preference. It might be Jesus; some prefer to begin prayers with the phrase Father God; others like to focus on the work of the Holy Spirit.
But in the gospels and epistles, the focus is always on the relationship: how Father, Son and Spirit work together. John 16 and 17 is about Jesus going to the Father and the Holy Spirit coming to us. There is this interchange of persons that makes it quite clear the trinity is in partnership. Or think about Ephesians 1:3–14, ‘In Christ we were chosen … God had decided this … giving you the Holy Spirit’. Working together for our good and blessing.
And then, of course, there are the various blessings. Let’s finish with one of the better known: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Corinthians 13:14). Grace, love and fellowship are brought to you by a loving, relational God.
Thank you, God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, for working together to bring blessings to this world. Help us to value your relationship and the relationships we have in this world. Amen.
- Click here to read previous devotions.
- We are also posting them on LCA Facebook, making it easy for you to share them with family and friends.
- Sign up to receive Daily Devotion in your inbox every morning. If you’re already doing that, please encourage others to sign up. Click here for the link.
