(This is the foreword to a new book that is coming out in the next few months. Look for it on Amazon.)
Hand in hand we walk each day
Hand in hand along the way
Walking thus I cannot stray
Hand in hand with Jesus. -Oatman-Huffstutler
Foreword
Simply put, the whole world is a system of relationships. Secularists and detractors have tried to convince us that it is merely a collection of random objects or events, lacking a transcendent purpose. In so doing, they have stripped it of its true beauty and essence of meaning. It is only when one pauses, steps back and drinks in all of its vast and complex interconnectivity, that the awe becomes apparent.
This myriad of relationships consists of parts that complement each other; of each individual component adapting to something or someone that completes it; of the bold and subtle, the light and dark, the loud and soft and the large with the small. Indeed, when our Divine Creator finished his work, symmetry and balance could be found perfectly woven into his entire universe. The sun and the moon, the evening and the morning, the male and the female, plants and animals, and the mountains and the streams. Each element derives its meaning from the polar opposite, and thus forever establishes the harmony found not in isolation, but in relationships.
The nature of relationship defines the essential Christ life. If we are to understand the terminology of the scriptures i.e. fellowship, communion, walking with God, following after God, living in the Spirit, discipleship, friend, working together, Christ in you, and other descriptions, our new life must be seen in the context of relationship. It cannot work in selfistic modes, independent-mindedness, cognitive dissonance or non-conformity. While the structure of the relationship places Christ as dominant and his disciples as submissive, the mechanics of the relationship work the same as any other arrangement. What one lacks, the other supplies. The highs of one need the lows of the other. In the contemplation of God, divinity needed humanity to fully appreciate divinity.
This is not to say that it would be impossible for God to exist in solitariness; rather, it is to say that He chose not to. One might speculate that God didn’t need man, and in the strictest sense of the question, that is true. It begs the question, however, of man’s existence. If God didn’t need man, why is mankind here? He had the angels. He had the seraphim and cherubim who recognize His divinity and praise Him continuously. But they were created for this purpose; they could do nothing else. He created man differently. He made us free moral agents with the ability to assess, judge and decide who or what we would worship. We would only praise him cognitively, with understanding and appreciation. God did not have that in the angels.
Thus, the need for a relationship with God becomes and inescapable conclusion in discerning mankind’s presence in the world. As we seek Him, as we enter into a relationship with Him, as we define ourselves by His existence, we find fulfillment and significance. It is this revelation that bridges the divide between temporal and eternal, between randomness and purposefulness, between nihilistic void and meaning. The purpose of this book is to help the reader find, or refine, a relationship with God. If the author can help even one person achieve that goal in some small measure, it will be a success.