Having Heavenly Relationships
An all-creatures Bible Message

Having Heavenly Relationships
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
28 July 2019
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Hosea 1:1-11
Luke 11:1-13
Colossians 2:6-19
James 2:18

Having heavenly relationships is not just having a relationship with the Lord, such as we have heard many “born again” Christians say, but it is having the kind of relationships with other people that reflect bringing God’s heavenly will to earth as it is in heaven.
 
Think about what we are told in James 2:18…

18. But someone may well say, "You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
NASB

James is saying that we need more than our faith to be a true Christian; he is saying that we need to show our faith through everything we do and say, which to us means that we are living in the heavenly will of God here on earth as it is in heaven.
 
In Hosea 1:1-11, we have an extreme example of having heavenly relationships in the way we live in the heavenly will of God here on earth as a witness against the ungodly people in this world.

1. The word of the LORD which came to Hosea the son of Beeri, during the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

This verse is just setting the time in history for everyone who is interested in finding out more about the times when this all took place.

2. When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, "Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry, and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the LORD."

A harlot sells her body for money or for something else she needs or wants, which is not living in the heavenly will of God; nevertheless, the Lord wants Hosea to marry such a person as part of his witness to the ungodly world he encounters.
 
And there is even more to this witness.

3. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
 
4. And the LORD said to him, "Name him Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

This is telling Hosea why He wants him to do this, but it is not telling us how this will be a part of having heavenly relationships with the people of Israel.

5. "And it will come about on that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel."
 
6. Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And the LORD said to him, "Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I should ever forgive them.

These are very harsh words, but they reflect exactly the way the people were having relationships with God, and He is returning their evil ways upon their own heads.

7. "But I will have compassion on the house of Judah and deliver them by the LORD their God, and will not deliver them by bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen."

In other words, God is putting a hedge of protection upon the house of Judah so they will not be led into captivity at the same time that the rest of Israel will fall, which we believe was to give them more time to reflect upon their own ungodly ways, repent, and return to the Lord with a whole heart that truly wants to be having heavenly relationships.

8. When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son.
 
9. And the LORD said, "Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people and I am not your God."

This is all part of a further witness against Israel, that Hosea is to present to them as part of having heavenly relationships, which as we should clearly see are not always good, but they do reflect the heavenly will of God.
 
We feel the same way about the indifference that most people seem to have against the billions of animals that suffer and die every year to satisfy their gluttonous desires, despite the fact the God has given us all the plant foods we would ever need.
 
In fact the plant foods will make people healthy as opposed to animal by-products that come with a curse that causes most if not all of our chronic diseases.
 
And even in the midst of passing judgement upon Israel, the Lord still has compassion for them.

10. Yet the number of the sons of Israel
Will be like the sand of the sea,
Which cannot be measured or numbered;
And it will come about that, in the place
Where it is said to them,
"You are not My people,"
It will be said to them,
"You are the sons of the living God."
 
11. And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together,
And they will appoint for themselves one leader,
And they will go up from the land,
For great will be the day of Jezreel.
NASB

This seems to be a prophecy of the people having heavenly relationships, but to this day, we have not seen any real signs of this happening.
 
In Luke 11:1-13, we are told a little more about having heavenly relationships…

1. And it came about that while He was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples."

Based upon the way that Jesus responds, it appears that this is a sincere effort about having heavenly relationships.

2. And He said to them, "When you pray, say:
'Father, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
 
3. 'Give us each day our daily bread.
 
4. 'And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.' " 

In Matthew 6 there is a much longer version of the Lord’s Prayer, and we tend to lean more on the Matthew version than this one.
 
However, here in verse 4, we need to look very seriously at what Jesus said in the second line, for we believe that there are relatively few people who truly forgive everyone, particularly if it involves money or material goods.
 
Then Jesus gave an example…

5. And He said to them, "Suppose one of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves;
 
6. for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him';
 
7. and from inside he shall answer and say,' Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.'
 
8. "I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

We believe that Jesus is telling us that when we are having heavenly relationships as part of our nature, neither we nor others and especially God cannot refuse us.
 
Also note that we are told that we would receive as much as we need and not what we want.
 
People who always seem to want more than they need are not living in the heavenly will of God, and could not be truly having heavenly relationships.

9. "And I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.
 
10. "For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened.

This happens when we are living as peacemaking children of God who bring His heavenly will to earth as it is in heaven, but we also need to remember that our thoughts and desires are not always what God desires.
 
As an example, Jesus didn’t want to die the agonizing death that He did, but allowed it to happen because He knew it was what His Father wanted, and there could be times in our lives when God allows others to die who we don’t want to die, and there will come a time when each of us will die if that is God’s will.
 
Part of having heavenly relationships is submitting to God’s heavenly will and not blaming Him for the results.

11. "Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?

Think about the fish being an eel, which looks like a snake.

12. "Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he?

A scorpion curled up might look something like an egg, but to give such things would be evil.

13. "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" 
NASB

The gift of the Holy Spirit could never be evil, for the Holy Spirit only presents the heavenly will of God.
 
In Colossians 2:6-19, Paul describes what it really means to be having heavenly relationships…

6. As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,

Unfortunately most professing Christians claim to have received Jesus Christ, but they don’t walk in His ways, but seem to try to walk with one foot in heaven and the other foot in the ways of this corrupt earth, and that cannot be done.
 
God will not conform to us, but we must conform to Him; we are not in control, God is.

7. having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

This is the way that we should be; anything else is of the corrupt and evil ways of this world.

8. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

This is confirming what we said about having heavenly relationships.
 
We cannot have it both ways; either we decide to walk in Christ, or we are walking in the ways of the devil.
 
In His way there is no human inflicted pain, suffering, or death; unlike this violent world that causes millions of humans and billions of animals to suffer and die every year.

9. For in Him [Jesus] all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
 
10. and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;
 
11. and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;

This is referring to the spiritual circumcision that occurs when we are truly born again.

12. having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

Having heavenly relationships only happens when we believe these things and let go of the worldly ways that most “Christians” appear to hang on to.

13. And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

This is our spiritual rebirth, but we cannot return to our former ways and still have an intimate relationship with the Lord.

14. having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

We hope we all realize what the Lord did for us.

15. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

And the greatest of these is Satan, who can never have any part in our having heavenly relationships.

16. Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day — 
 
17. things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

The first thing that comes to mind when I read or hear this passage is the food and drink of this world is death which comes for the once living bodies of animals.
 
In other words, do not let this world draw us away from living in the empathetic world where no animal suffers or dies to satisfy human greed and gluttony.

18. Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,
 
19. and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.
NASB

In other words, do not let the world draw us away from living in the heavenly will of God here on earth as it is in heaven.
 
We are to be having heavenly relationships and not worldly relationships.
 
Amen?
 
Amen.

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