The Friend of God

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. (James 2:18-23 ESV). What a great week we had moving our way through the days of Passion Week. Today I wanted to begin to meander a bit through the Scripture. In coming to our reading today, I found the following quote by A. W. Tozer: The image of God in man cannot extend to every part of man’s being, for God has attributes which He cannot impart to any of His creatures, however favored. God is uncreated, self-existent, infinite, sovereign, eternal; these attributes are His alone and by their very definition cannot be shared with another. But there are other attributes which He can impart to His creatures and in some measure share with His redeemed children. Intellect, self-consciousness, love, goodness, holiness, pity, faithfulness these and certain other attributes are the points where likeness between God and man may be achieved. It is here that the divine-human friendship is experienced! God, being perfect, has capacity for perfect friendship. Man, being imperfect, can never quite know perfection in anything, least of all in his relationship to the incomprehensible Godhead. The more perfect our friendship with God becomes the simpler will our lives be. Unquestionably the highest privilege granted to man on earth is to be admitted into the circle of the friends of God. Righteousness and being called the friend of God are synonymous. It is true, as Tozer suggests, that we are not meant to be identical to God; we are redeemed that we may become like him in these incredibly wonderful attributes that make for a life of peace and joy. Think of it. To develop our intellect, self-consciousness, love, goodness, holiness, mercy, and faithfulness to the extent that we reflect the image of God can only bring us to a point of great joy and peace. Imagine a world where every inhabitant found himself knowing who he is and respecting all others to the extent that every decision was governed by mutual affirmation and positive well being. Of course there would be no envy, strife, jealousy, or anger. All of that would be eclipsed by a nature driven to seek the good of another. That would be a world worth living in! And, that is the world God is creating again. Sin will have no place in that world. He will rule in the hearts of every man and they will reflect His purpose and will in all things. We will all be the “friends of God,” his children forever!