The Death & Resurrection of Relationships

Genesis 2:23-24 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

This last week, our church welcomed guest preachers Randall and Leslie Burris, whose message was on the topic of marriage and relationships. They stated that in our fallen flesh condition, we tend to believe that when we keep things secret, then nobody gets hurt. But, thoughts, words and deeds done in secret are always seen by God. In 2 Samuel 12:7, when Israel’s King David committed adultery with Bathsheba and she conceived then murdered her husband Uriah the Hittite and married Bathsheba to conceal the sin in secret, the prophet Nathan said to David, “You are the man” (Revealing the secret).

In John 15:13, Jesus said: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Love is seen at the foot of the Cross, where we are transformed from a slave to sin into a slave to righteousness and a friend of the Lord. We are not too broken to find our way out of “ourself” and get “right with God”. Like King David, we need to take ownership of our shortcomings and sins. People tend to look for 3 things in human life: (1) adventure, (2) battle and (3) beauty. Pleasure-seeking people desire and search for strength in “Self”. We have to choose to tell our own story; weak or strong, sick or well, unstable or balanced, sound or broken in spirit, knowing and believing that there is power in the resurrection. Our sins against God and our fellow man can take our spirit to the rock bottom of the well of life, but the Lord works best with “bottom-dwellers”. Beaten, battered and shattered, the only way to go is up.

Romans 6:5 “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.”

We all need to take inventory of our relationships. Where do you stand with your close relations? We need to move out of the darkness of secrets and into the light of God’s righteousness. Loving relationships take constant work because they never hold steady; they are either improving or declining. When we lose true relationship, we need to reconcile and restore in order to have a resurrection of relationship. Everyone is one decision away from a miraculous change. This includes an invitation to solidify our relationship with the Lord.

Choose to change the way that you think. Decide in advance the things that need to burn and fall off. They will burn. Make a conscience decision that you are going to obediently listen to the Lord and walk in the Spirit. Our dark nights won’t last. Decide to forgive because forgiveness sets you free, even in ridiculous forgiveness. Every day, ask God to play the new story of your life (His story) in resurrection and less of the old one of death. Change you power for God’s and live the abundant life in true relationship.

In Christ, Brian