ATTRIBUTES—-
RELATABLE & RELATIONAL
WHO IS GOD? RELATABLE & RELATIONAL
God is eternal, huge, and way beyond us—there’s no way our human minds can wrap around His greatness. But He is also relatable and relational. Take a look at how John, one of Jesus’ closest disciples, speaks about Him: He is “the one . . . whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. . . . Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:1, 3).
God came close to us by sending His Son as a human just like us. He wanted us to know Him, see Him, touch Him, and have a close relationship with Him. God made this possible because He wanted to repair the broken relationship between Him and us due to sin.
When you read this description of God in 1 John 1, how does it make you feel? Uncomfortable? Confused? Does it raise questions for you? What is your response? Take some time to write down how you view God and whether it matches up with how John speaks of Jesus Christ.
WHO AM I? KNOWN BY GOD
There is an incredible intimacy John reveals in his writing about God. His descriptions show God to be majestic but also knowable. John speaks out of his joy of knowing God and being fully known by God. He describes how, in a real sense, we can be known by God in an intimate relationship.
Now, we may pause here: I get how John could relate to God like this because he spent time physically with Jesus. But I’m not with Jesus like he was, so how do I get close to God like that? It’s a good question. John’s answer is to believe in Jesus and receive a new relationship and connection with God through His Holy Spirit. How? By believing what God’s Word says about Jesus, loving others, obeying God’s commandments, and being in fellowship with Him (1 John 3:23-24).
John relays the message of the offer of friendship God has extended to us. You are already known by God, and by believing in His Son, you can know Him intimately too. He is not far. He extends His hand so that we can be in a relationship with Him. And He promises that one day we will see Jesus Christ face-to-face, like John did.
WHAT DO I DO? GET TO KNOW GOD
What keeps you from seeing God as relatable? Maybe He seems far off. Maybe you’ve heard things about Him that seem untrue or weird. Or maybe it’s simply that He’s invisible, so you wonder how you could get to know someone like Him.
There are lots of reasons we might feel far from God or like He’s not accessible to us. But the truth is spoken in this letter from John: God wants you to know Him directly—not through a priest who talks to Him for you or only in a church building. He wants you to believe the truth about Him. Jesus came to where we are to be known by us and to show God to us. His purpose is for us to be in fellowship with Him, like friends and family! God’s intention is for us to see Him as He truly is—not far off and unreachable, but close and touchable. We know God through faith. He wants to adopt us into His family, and we are simply called to believe He is real and embrace Him as our heavenly Father.