FIVE LEVELS OF RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
JEREMY FONTENOT | AUGUST 15, 2020
HOW MUCH OF GOD DO YOU WANT?
Did you know that you determine the level and depth of relationship you have or don’t have with God? Once we step through the threshold of humbling ourselves at the foot of the cross and receive Jesus as our personal Lord there is no limit to the depth of relationship that we can have with him. In fact, there are five levels of relationship that we can have with God. My goal in this blog is to challenge you to locate which level you are at today and to explore what is possible with him.
ONCE WE STEP THROUGH THE THRESHOLD OF HUMBLING OURSELVES AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS AND RECEIVE JESUS AS OUR PERSONAL LORD THERE IS NO LIMIT TO THE DEPTH OF RELATIONSHIP WE CAN HAVE WITH HIM.
BELIEVER
The truth is that Jesus has many followers at various levels of relationship with him. But if we could group every follower into a single category it would be a Believer. This is the first level of relationship with him.
The most basic definition of a believer is a person that believes in Jesus as their personal Savior and becomes born again or as the Passion translation says it born from above. He or she is a brand new creation in Christ. And, as evidence of their new life and allegiance to King Jesus, they receive water baptism and begin living a life of obedience to the new-found King of their heart.
But being born-again is just the very beginning stage of relationship with Jesus. Much more is intended to be explored and experienced. Just as a new-born baby grows, we too must grow spiritually and go on from just being born again. The truth is that very few believers go beyond this most basic level to the next, being a disciple of Christ.
Disciple
Many refer to themselves as disciples of Christ but Jesus gives us a very clear picture of what it means to truly be his disciple in Luke 9:23. “If you truly desire to be my disciple, you must disown your life completely, embrace my ‘cross’ as your own, and surrender to my ways.”
Here, Jesus defines a disciple as someone who disowns their own life in favor of their new life in Christ. No longer do they live for themselves but for their master. Life as a disciple could be boiled down to these three things:
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- Living to know their master,
- Learning from him
- Becoming like him.
If this is not the goal of a believer then one simply cannot call themself a disciple of Christ according to how Jesus defined it.
A basic function of discipleship in the kingdom of God is that it acts as a filter. Those that live for themselves, that continue to walk in pride, and are not willing to change will only go so far. It has been my experience that the closer I get to Jesus the less I can bring with me including my own will.
Bondservant
After becoming disciples, I believe there is another level of maturity, and that is to become a bondservant. I think there are even fewer people that would qualify to be a true bondservant.
Jesus said, “no longer do I call you servants,” which implies they were servants or a bondservant. Bondservant is not typically a word we say on a day to day basis. The basic idea behind it is that a bondservant is someone who couldn’t repay their debt. They then enter into a contract with an employer that agrees to pay off their debt in exchange for a term of service. Once the contract is fulfilled the servant is freed. But then he or she finds that life in service to their master was so enjoyable that they don’t want to leave. Therefore they remain in service to their master indefinitely as a bondservant.
Bondservants, like disciples don’t live for themselves or to please themselves. Their heart is to please their master. Jesus lived to please his Father in heaven and he recognized that all that he had belonged to his Father in heaven. He told Father God in John 17:10 “All I have is yours….”. A bondservant has no possessions that they call their own. Jesus said you cannot be my disciple unless you give up all your possessions..
A bondservant of the Lord receives their paycheck and asks the Master first what he wants them to do with the money. A bondservant doesn’t own their own time. They wake up in the morning asking, “What does the Master want me to do?”
When someone sacrifices everything they have in this manner it shows a great devotion for Jesus. Walking as a servant, laying everything down opens the door for you to a begin a journey into the next level.
Friend of God
The next level is becoming a friend of God. Jesus told his disciples who had abandoned their own lives for him that he would no longer call them servants. They were still servants because being a servant never ends in the kingdom but they were now called friends.
John 15:15 NIV
15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
The word that Jesus used for friend is the greek word phílos – it means a friend; someone that is dearly loved (prized) in a personal and intimate way; a trusted confidant/person, someone in a close personal loving relationship. Friendship with Jesus opens up the door for us to be at a level with him where he confides in us not only the desires of his heart but his “Why?”
friendship with jesus opens up the door for us to be at a level with him where he confides in us not only the desires of his heart but his “why?”
Exodus gives us a picture of how God spoke with Moses, face to face as a man speaks to his friend, see Exodus 33:11. Miracle after miracle took place with the Israelites while Moses led them out of Egypt to the Promised Land. Israel celebrated and enjoyed the benefits of each miracle but Moses sought for something more. He wanted to know the “Why?” As Moses spent time with the Lord he began to know the Lord intimately and His ways. This is friendship with God.
Sons and Daughters
And of course, the ultimate level of relationship with God is sonship. It applies to sons and daughters. This is where we really become members of His family. Typically, adopted children experience a phase at the beginning of their new life in a family where they explore what does and doesn’t belong to them. Jesus understood that everything that belonged to his father belonged to him…see John 16:15. That is the mindset of a son. Jesus said that it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom of God.
Sons and daughters are the ones who can really withdraw from their heavenly Father’s account and make declarations. These are the ones that can speak to a mountain and tell it to move and be thrown into the sea and it will move. We see this in the life of Peter when he healed a crippled man in Acts 3. There was no prayer involved in the man’s healing. He simply knew the Father’s will and declared, “What I have I give to you in Jesus’ name. Now rise up and walk!” This is what sonship looks like!
All of creation is waiting for the sons of God to be revealed. My hope is that your appetite is whet to explore each level of relationship described in this blog.
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