In all of the unsaved world and in most of Christianity the term "God the Father" is a meaningless title.  To the unsaved a personal relationship with the God of the universe is incomprehensible and quite out of the question.  To the born again who are trapped in institutional religion, it is a misunderstood and short-changed expression.  In truth, to many in Christianity a personal relationship with God is as unthinkable as it is to the unsaved.

The person that has not accepted the gift of Christ has no personal relationship with God at all.  For all people living apart from Christ there is only legalism as a basis of relationship with God.  To these people God will always be "the judge of the universe."  This is equally due to the limits God has placed on the creation and the personal decision of the unsaved to be unsaved.

God has ordained that His creation will be governed first by a set of principles.  These are the  physical laws and the moral precepts that define both the physical universe and right and wrong.  These are part of those parameters we spoke of earlier.  These define the limits of our physical world.  You cannot walk though a solid object no matter how hard you try or how much you believe that you can.  Likewise you will never be able to set up a legitimate situation where envy, greed and deceit are "good."  These statements are true because of the bounds that the Father has placed on the creation.

If you choose to deal with God purely on the level of the physical (including the emotional and mental) these are your bounds.  In this case you cannot have a personal relationship with God because there is no basis for that relationship.  When we deal in the physical we are restricted to legal or institutional relationship.  These relationships are based on works and God's written laws.

If you accept Christ's death on your behalf you now have two choices of relationship with God.  You can, as a child of God, continue to relate with God on the institutional/legal level or you can choose to have a personal relationship with the Father.

I should mention at this point that there is a spiritual truth that comes into play at this point that is outside of our choosing.  This is the fact that when we accept Christ's sacrifice on our behalf we automatically become members of God's household.  This occurs whether we know it or accept it.  I believe that this occurs without our knowledge or consent because of the enormity of the Father's love for His children.

Life and Relationship

This writing is primarily about relationship.  It is about personal relationship with God.  The deepest desire of God is to be a Father to a household of children who have chosen Him to be their Father.  God arranged everything both known and unknown about the universe and the history of humanity to create this very condition.  God has carefully crafted the entire scope of reality to make it possible for us to be members of His family.

 God has extended His offer of adoption to every person.  The Father has also allowed all of the competing options that we must deal with.  All the worldly diversions and false religions are allowed by the Father.  All the misconceptions and legalistic understandings people have are permitted by God.  All these things are merely the contrasts used by the Father to show us what does and doesn't work and to provide alternatives for us to choose between.

In the end however it is always the same choice - life or something else.  The interest of God is life.  The only business that the Father is in is the life business.  It is life and the things of life that are the concern and desire of God.  This brings us down to growth and relationship.  These are the two fundamental life activities apart from basic biological functioning.

Life may produce works and deeds but these things are not life in and of themselves.  Life is really about growing and relating.  We grow in our understanding and accepting of God and we live in relationship with our Father and with one another.  This is what this writing is about.  I wanted to write these things down because I have seen too many people who cannot accept that God really loves them or that He really wants to have any deep personal relationship with them.

This is so terribly sad because life does not have to be this way.  In fact, life should not be this way.  People are routinely abused and short-changed by law religion, works based living and institutional thinking.  We have been convinced that there is nothing more we can expect out of life than endless doing and striving to try to win God's approval. 

This is not so and I want to proclaim this truth.  Every born again believer is eternally acceptable to the Father right now.  Every one of us is loved of God and can begin to live in closer relationship with Him right now.  And this is the work of God.  It is not dependent on anything that we must do or even can do beyond accepting Christ.  This writing is about the personal relationship that is God's desire to have with every person.  This is a relationship of a Father to His children.