Face-to-Face with God

What would it be like to have a face to face conversation with God? The Bible says that God walked with Adam in the garden of Eden before the fall. Adam experienced a face-to-face relationship with God.

This past Sunday we looked at some interesting verses in Matthew ...

Mat 10:5-8 (NASB95)
5These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans;
6but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
7“And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
8“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.

Jesus was speaking to His disciples, ordinary men (and women) like you and me. We are His disciples today. These verses apply as much to us today as it did to the disciples 2000 years ago. Think about what verses 7 and 8 say. We are to "heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, (and) cast out demons." I believe we are part of something bigger than we can possibly imagine.

Gen 3:8-9 (NASB95)
8They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”

Before the fall God would interact with Adam face-to-face. After the fall Adam was cast out of the garden. Much of the remainder of the Bible is the story of God’s plan to restore mankind into relationship with Him. God sent Jesus Christ as a man to again have face-to-face interaction with mankind. When Jesus ascended to the Father, He sent the Holy Spirit to empower us to take God face to face to mankind.

What I see God saying in Matthew 10 is that as we go about life, we are to proclaim...

‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give" (Mat 10.7-8).

God has given to us, His sons and daughters,  His Life, and He has given us the authority to walk in the power of His life.

"Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return” (Lk 6.38).

Two important principles I see in Matthew 10.7-8 and Luke 6.38 ...

1. Give freely of what God has given to you.

2. Whatever you need in your life, give it away.

I believe, as we give, God will give to us. I am not saying we give to get, but we give to glorify God. We give to demonstrate the reality of our relationship with God and His commitment to take care of us.

Lord, thank you that you have again initiated face-to-face contact with us and that you have given us Your Life, so we can live in such a way that others will have the opportunity to meet God face-to-face. God, it is our desire to give freely to others the life you have given to us.