When was the last time you received a friend request on Facebook? It was a good feeling, wasn’t it? It’s always good to know that someone out there in cyberspace wants to be friends with you…even if that friendship is a little overly two-dimensional at times.
Recently I was struck by the fact that the coming of Jesus a few thousand years ago was essentially a divine friend request. God reached out to us. The Creator befriended His sinful creatures.
The Gospel tells us that though we have not been friends of God, but rather enemies (Rom 5:8-10), He has been a friend to us. Though we have ignored Him and failed to honor Him as we should, He has nevertheless pursued us. Though we have pushed Him out of our lives, He sent Jesus, the friend of sinners (Luke 7:34), to re-enter our lives.
Imagine sending a friend request to one of the enemies of your past. You wouldn’t do it, would you? You’ve seen his face pop up on the screen; you know he is there, but you wouldn’t think of clicking “add friend”…no way!
But, thankfully, God is a greater friend than we are. There is no greater friend. In John 15, Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” He said this just hours before His crucifixion when He would prove Himself to be the greatest friend any of us has. He laid his life down in the most extreme way, by literally dying for us.
There was a price to be paid for our friendship with God. Because of the nature of our rebellion against Him, and the infinite debt it incurs, it cannot come cheap. But, Jesus has Himself paid that price. So for us, this friendship is free…no strings attached!
Jesus allowed Himself to be separated from His Father, “unfriended” in FB terms, so that we might be friended by Him. It is amazing!
Now, wait a minute! Doesn’t it seem a little too casual to speak of our relationship with God as a friendship? Doesn’t that go against our high view of God and our pursuit of personal piety? Not at all! This is not in any way attributed to the smallness of God, or the near humanness of God, or anything like that. It is instead a testament to the amazing love and grace of God. Yes, He is high and exalted, but He associates with the lowly.
Consider Isaiah 57:15 “For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, ‘I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit…’”
The God of the universe “dwells” with the lowly. He hangs out with the little people, those who know that apart from His grace, they don’t amount to much. That is mind-blowing. He is willing to condescend to that degree. He is that gracious…He is that kind!
So, while we should be amazed to speak of God as our friend, we shouldn’t be afraid to do so.
Jesus Himself said, “You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends.” (John 15:14-15)
In Jesus, God has revealed Himself fully to us. He holds nothing back. He has brought us near. We are His friends and we will be for all eternity. We have a lot to be thankful for!