We have been talking about our relationship with God as a loving, trusting relationship in which God is intimately involved in the everyday affairs of the believer's life. However, this-understanding of God is quite different from what many we have talked to understand it to be. The general understanding seems to be that God is above all on this earth and, although generally kind and benevolent to man, is not directly involved in people's lives. This is even true of His relationship with believers. Instead, some people (including believers) mainly deal with those who have died and are closer to God. They are able to act as intermediaries between God and man to secure for man rain, health and numerous other things required for life. This FALSE idea of man's relationship with God has been examined previously in this paper and may be illustrated as follows:
Unscriptural View of Our Relationship to God and the Spirit World
Instead, the Scriptures reveal God as a divine trinity whose nature is not only light but also love. This God was revealed in the Old Testament as the Creator, Almighty God, Jehovah, and by other names. But now, in the New Testament, he is revealed in and through the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. After He arose from the dead, the Lord Jesus revealed His Father to us as our Father (John 20:17), and as we have already seen, we know Him as God the Son, and He has given us a comforter God the Holy Spirit. According to Scripture, as believers we stand in a special and near relationship to each of the persons of the trinity. It is that relationship and its resulting meaning that we want to explore in this chapter.
God the Father
When we think of God as Father, we often think of His authority and role as the head of His creation. But, in Scripture, the thought of God as our Father goes much further. In John 16:27, we find that, "the Father himself loveth you" and, as a result, the Lord Jesus says in verse 23, "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you." The relationship with God as Father is far more that one of authority-subjection. It is one of family love and affection. Just how far that love goes is revealed to us in John 17:20-23 where the Lord Jesus says, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word... that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." Could this be possible, that God the Father loves us as much as He loves God the Son? We wouldn't dare to think such a thing if it wasn't revealed to us by God in His Word. Yes it is true! And there is no love like that!
What then is the result of that love? We have previously seen from Rom. 8 that God is for us without reservation having given the dearest object of His heart for us (Rom. 8:32). The Lord Jesus stated it very plainly when he said:
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? (Matt. 7:7-11)
God the Son
What true Christian can doubt our relationship with the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ? He left His home in heaven and came to earth as a man to seek and to save us. It was unspeakable love that caused him to come and die, and so the Apostle Paul says in Gal. 2:20, "the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." While here, He never ceased to be what He always was, God, for it says in Matt. 1:23, "they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." And now that He is ascended and gone back into heaven, He still remains with those who believe on Him (Matt. 28:20). As great as the Father's love is for Him, so is His love for us (John 15:9) and there is no greater love (John 15:13).
The Lord Jesus Christ is waiting for that moment when He can come and call us away to heaven (1 Thess. 4:16-18) and desires that we should be comforted by that thought. Until then, He is in Heaven, a man who understands our troubles, cares about them, and is able and willing to help us when we are in need (Heb. 4:14-16).
God the Holy Spirit
We had seen previously that God has not given us the spirit of bondage to fear, but if we go on in Rom. 8:15, we learn that we, "have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." And so we learn, as it also says in Rom. 5:5, that the Holy Spirit has been "given unto us" and, as a result we have come to know our relationship to the Father. In addition, the Spirit of God works in the believer to help us with our infirmities and make intercession to God for us according to the will of God (Rom. 8:26, 27). Therefore, this mighty, divine person, God the Holy Spirit is for us and helps in all of the trials and difficulties of life. But Scripture has even more to say about how He has been given unto us.
All believers are individually indwelled by the Spirit upon salvation—When He was still on earth, the Lord Jesus told the disciples that He was going to go to the Father and, In John 14:16,17 he said, "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." Now that the Lord Jesus has gone back to heaven the Holy Spirit has come to earth and indwells every believer. As it says in Rom. 8:9, "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."
All believers are anointed with the Spirit – In 1 John 2:27 we are taught that we have been anointed with the Spirit that dwells in us and that He teaches us all things and is truth. In chapter 4:4, John also goes on to tell us that that same indwelling Spirit is greater than he that is in the world (Satan). So we learn that the greatest teacher and the greatest power resides right inside the believer. How this ought to give us comfort in the struggle against the powers of darkness!
All believers receive the Spirit as both a seal and earnest upon salvation – In Eph. 1:13, 14 we are told, "after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. By giving us His Spirit, God puts His seal on us indicating that we are His and gives a down payment guaranteeing that we will receive all of the inheritance.
Believers are baptized into one body by the Spirit – On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down to earth and formed all believers into one body. We find this truth in 1 Cor. 12:13 where it says, "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free." Even though we are primarily looking at the individual in this paper, we should consider how important it is for each one of us to take up our place in the body on earth. It is in this collective way that the body properly receives nourishment from Christ, the head in heaven (Col. 2:19). We were never meant to walk as Christians through this world alone, and it is in the assembly and with other Christians that we can be encouraged in our walk.
Believers are to be filled with the Spirit – All of the above relationships between the believer and the Spirit of God are unconditional and true the moment one is saved. Besides this, it says in Eph. 5:18, "be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit." This is most important if we are to stand against Satan (as we will see in the following verses later). If we are filled with the Spirit of God His power will be evident in our lives. But how can we be filled with the Spirit? Perhaps it is best to use an illustration. If you have a pail filled with rocks and you add water to it until you can get no more water in, would you say that the pail is filled with water? No, it has rocks and water. So, what do you have to do if you want to fill the pail with water? Obviously, you must remove all of the rocks and then you can fill the pail. So it is with being filled with the Spirit. If there are those things in your life that are against the truth of God or are of darkness, you cannot be filled with the Spirit and therefore you will not have the power of God in our life. These things always go together in the Word of God. We cannot trust in God and something else. We cannot serve God and Mammon (Matt. 6:24). We cannot go on with what is wrong and be filled with the Spirit.
Believers are indwelled by the Spirit but never possessed – We should make one more important point about the indwelling Spirit of God. The Scripture indicates that He lives inside of us but does not possess us the way evil spirits like Vimbuza do. In 1 Cor. 14:32 it says that, "the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets." The Holy Spirit did not even control the one whom He was speaking through. In 1 Sam. 16-19 we read of an evil spirit that came over Saul. He was not in control of it and they had to bring David to play a musical instrument to sooth it. The Holy Spirit is himself the Comforter and never works in this way. Some have suggested that the Holy Spirit is a good Vimbuza, but we should never speak that way to do so is to mix light and darkness.
Below is a diagram of the believer's true relationship with God. Comparing it with the diagram on page 46, we can see how far the local teaching on this subject is from the truth of Scripture.
Sickness and Trouble in the Believer's Life
Given the above relationship with God, you may wonder, "Why do I ever have sickness or trials in my life? There are many reasons given in Scripture, but whatever the reason, we should never doubt God, lose faith in Him, or use the difficulty as an excuse to do what is wrong. Let us look at a few of the reasons given for sicknesses and trials in the Word of God.
For the glory of God – One reason for sickness is given in John 11:4 where the Lord Jesus says about His friend Lazarus who was sick, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." We see this also in the case of the blind man of John 9 who was born that way so, "that the works of God should be made manifest in him." There are many instances of the Lord's people suffering and giving Him the glory resulting in the salvation and blessing of others. We too may be called to suffer for this reason, but as the Apostle Paul said in Rom. 8:18 "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
Tribulation from the world – When the Lord Jesus was here, He was opposed by people in this world that did not receive His message. In John 15:20, the Lord said, "If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you." In John 16:33 He also says these words: "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Just like our Lord overcame, so we are to overcome and show out His love. Those who are not real fail when this persecution comes (see Matt. 13:20, 21).
God's dealing in our life – As a Father, God deals with us as His children in discipline when we sin. He does this in a loving way as it says in Heb. 12:5-8, "And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons." According to Scripture, this chastening comes from Him for various reasons, three of which are given below:
Punishment and example to others – We know from those verses often read in 1 Cor. 11:28-32 that it is possible for a believer to eat and drink damnation to himself if he is not in a proper state to partake of the Lord's table. In verses 30-32 it says, "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world." Death for the believer is referred to as sleep in Scripture and in Corinth there were many who had become sick and even died for this reason. We find from 1 John 5:16,17 that the believer may sin unto death and an example of this is given in Acts 5 where Ananias and his wife Sapphira died for lying to the Holy Spirit.
Purging – Sometimes the Lord will work in our lives to make them more productive for Him. He tells us this in John 15:1, 2 where He says, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit."
Prevention—Another reason for trial is to keep us from continuing on a wrong path of dishonor to the Lord. The Apostle Paul was very gifted and used of the Lord in spreading the truth to many who then became his spiritual children. Because of this, he was tempted to be proud of what the Lord had done and was doing through him. To prevent this, the Lord gave him some infirmity, as he says in 2 Cor. 12:7-10, "And lest I should be exalted... through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted... For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."
As we said before, regardless of the reason for our trial we should never lose faith in God. Instead, like Job, we should go to the Lord and ask Him why He has allowed us to pass through the difficulty. We should always remember the promise of Rom. 8:28 that all things work together for good to believers. In addition, there is a wonderful promise in 1 Cor. 10:13 where it says, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
Summary: We know God as a loving Father, the Son who loves us and will never leave us, and the Holy Spirit who indwells and helps us. Any sickness, trials or difficulties that come into our lives are allowed by Him and are meant for our good and blessing. Regardless of the source of the trial, we must deal with our loving God about it just like Job did.