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READING WITH GOD
A. Introduction: In our current series we are working on helping people read the Bible more effectively by
learning to read it relationally, or reading the Bible to get to know Jesus. With this type of reading, you
read with the idea that God wants to reveal Himself to you so that you can know Him.
1. Almighty God wants to be known by the beings He created, and the primary way He makes Himself
known to us is through the Scriptures (the Bible). God Himself inspired the words. II Tim 3:16—
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God (NKJV); Every Scripture is God-breathed (Amp).
a. Through the Scriptures, God reveals Himself (His character and His works), and He reveals His
plans for man (His purpose for us, why He created us, and where we are headed).
1. God reveals Himself to us, not because He is an ego manic. He does it for our good. For a
human being, knowing God is the only place of true life, satisfaction, joy, and peace.
2. Ps 73:25—Whom have I in Heaven but You? And I have no delight or desire on earth
beside You (Amp); Ps 16:5—Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing (NLT).
b. The Bible reveals the salvation that comes to us through faith in Jesus—a salvation that delivers
us from the guilt and power of sin and restores us to all that God intends us to be. II Tim 3:15
1. Knowing God as your Creator shows that you are not an accident, a mistake, or unplanned.
You are the product of an intentional, loving God. Ps 119:73: Ps 139:13-14
2. Knowing God as your Savior shows that even though you have made mistakes, you have not
lost your value to God, and there is a future and a hope for you. Luke 19:10; John 3:16
3. Knowing God through His written Word helps us trust and love Him, which deepens our
relationship with Him. Ps 9:10
c. The Bible is progressive revelation. God has gradually revealed Himself and His plans and
purposes in the Bible’s sixty-six books. Jesus is God’s fullest revelation of Himself. The New
Testament was written by eyewitnesses of Jesus—men who walked and talked with Him.
1. Jesus is God become man without ceasing to be God. Jesus is God Incarnate, fully God and
fully man. Jesus is called the Word of God. He is the Living Word of God who is revealed
in and through the written Word, the Scriptures. John 1:1; John 1:14
2. Jesus said that the Scriptures testify of Him (John 5:39). We read the Bible to get to know
the Lord Jesus Christ, to get to know God.
2. For many sincere Christians, reading the Bible is a challenge because it seems like one more thing
that they have to do to stay in good standing with God. Then they feel guilty and condemned
because they get nothing out of reading the Bible, or they simply don’t read at all.
a. But we don’t read as a duty or a religious requirement. We read to get to know a Person, the
Author of the Book, our Creator and Redeemer. We read to engage and connect with the Lord.
b. There are different ways to read the Bible. In recent years I’ve encouraged you to read it
systematically, meaning read each New Testament book, start to finish, as quickly and as often
as you can. You do this to get familiar with the content and see the context of individual verses.
c. Relational reading isn’t in place of systematic reading, but in addition to. In relational reading
you read, not to finish a book, but to encounter the Lord. Your goal isn’t to get to the end of the
chapter, but to think about what you’re reading and the One who inspired the words on the page.
1. We connect with God through His written Word because He inspired the words, and He
reveals Himself to us through His Words.
2. Jesus said: John 6:63—All the words through which I (Jesus) have offered myself to you
are meant to be channels of the spirit and of life to you, since in believing those words, you
would be brought into contact with the life in me (J. Riggs Paraphrase).
3. We could call this type of reading “reading with God” because we are reading with the awareness

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that these are His Words, given to us by Him so that we can know Him more fully.
a. When we read relationally, we read prayerfully, with our mind and heart open to Him, as if He
were reading to us. We’re learning to listen to Him as He speaks to us in the Bible.
1. Jesus referred to the Scriptures as God speaking to men when religious leaders tried to trap
Him in His words by asking a question about marriage and resurrection of the dead (Matt
22:23-32). He easily escaped their trap by quoting the Bible to them (Ex 3:6; Ex 3:16).
2. Note that in His answer to the men Jesus called the Scriptures God speaking to them: But
concerning resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God,
saying…(Matt 22:31, KKJV).
b. At this point, we need to make something clear. God’s purpose in revealing Himself to you
through the Bible is to deepen your relationship with Him and your awareness of His presence
with you and in you—not give you specific guidance and direction (marry Hilda, take the job
offer, buy a new car). Nor is it to reveal hidden secrets or special knowledge no one else sees.
1. God speaks the meaning of the passage, and we listen to Him through the words He inspired
the authors to write. This doesn’t mean that God can’t or won’t give you something
personal in a verse. But what He gives will be consistent with the meaning of the passage.
2. However, communication can be more than words. The first time I read through the New
Testament as a new Christian, I didn’t understand most of what I read. But God spoke to me
personally in a powerful, life-changing way through one particular passage.
A. Gal 3:26-28—For you are all sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus…There is neither Jew
nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all
one in Jesus Christ (NKJV).
B. For years I struggled with feelings of inadequacy as a female. (It wasn’t anything sexual
or confusion about my gender). I was average looking tomboy, and I wanted someone to
see me as a person first, and not assess me by what I lacked as a female.
C. Gal 3:26-28 is affirming the equality of all people in Jesus, no matter their social status or
gender. But when I read this passage, God gave me a personal application (consistent
with the meaning) that was life changing for me. I realized that He saw me as a person.
Facts on the page became a reality in my heart and it deepened my relationship with Him.
4. Consider an example of reading relationally or reading with the Lord. The night before Jesus was
crucified, He prayed a prayer for His twelve apostles (John 17:9-19). But then He expanded the
prayer to include all who will come to faith in Him through the work of these men.
a. John 17:20-23—I am praying not only for these disciples, but also for all who will ever believe
in me because of their testimony…that just as you (Father) are in me and I am in you, so they
will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me…and understand that you love them as
much as you love me (NLT).
b. There is a lot in this prayer that is based on things Jesus told His apostles earlier in the evening
(another lesson). But just because you don’t understand every word in these verses doesn’t
mean you can’t get something out of this passage. Notice the last part of the prayer.
1. Jesus wants you to know that God loves you and me as much as He loves Jesus. You can
read this relationally by pausing to think about it and talk to the Lord prayerfully.
2. Prayerfully say it back to God: Lord Jesus, you lived your life with a continual awareness
that the Father loves you, and you want me to know that you and the Father love me. Help
me to know and believe this, Lord. Help me to live and abide in your love.
B. Jesus prayed this prayer at the end of the Last Supper, the meal that took place just before He was
arrested, tried, and sentenced to death by crucifixion. In the last lesson we began to examine John the

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apostle’s account of that event (John 13-17). We considered how to read it relationally, read it in a way
that helps you fellowship or interact with the Lord.
1. Remember, this is a historical record of an actual event, reported by an eyewitness (John). Twelve
men (including John) sat in the presence of God Incarnate and heard the words He spoke to them.
a. Jesus wasn’t giving religious principles. He was interacting with men He loved, men who have
been His closest followers for His entire three plus year ministry.
b. They didn’t know it at the time of the meal, but their world was about to be upended. Jesus
would be arrested that night and then crucified the next day. All of their hopes and dreams that
He was the promised Messiah (Savior) were about to be shattered.
1. At this meal Jesus shared information with them to help them deal with what was coming and
why, and what it would mean—much of which they did not understand as He spoke.
2. We actually know more than the apostles did at the time. We know that Jesus came into the
world to die as a sacrifice for sin in God’s greatest expression of love for the world, and that
He would rise from the dead on the third day, having conquered death, Hell, and the grave.
c. Jesus wasn’t trying to confuse the apostles (or us) by saying things they didn’t (we don’t)
understand. God tells what is going to happen before it happens so that men will know that He
is God: Isa 46:10—Only I can tell you what is going to happen even before it happens (NLT).
1. That night, Jesus told them He was soon going to leave them, but to trust Him. He said that
they couldn’t go with Him right then, but He promised they would one day follow Him.
2. To comfort them He said: I’m leaving you to go to prepare a place for you. But I’ll come
back and take you to where I am—my Father’s house (Heaven). You know the way to my
Father’s house because I am the way—I am the way, the truth, and the life. John 14:1-6
3. How would we read this relationally? Talk to Him: Lord, when I don’t understand what’s
happening, you tell me to trust you because you’re preparing a place for me, and what is
ahead is far better that what I’m dealing with now. Thank you for hope. Help me trust you.
2. Jesus went on to promise His apostle that He was not going to abandon them, but that He and the
Father would send the Holy Spirit to be with them and to help them.
a. John 14:16-18—I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper (Comforter), to be
with you forever, even the Spirit of truth…You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in
you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you (ESV).
1. Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit who will apply the effects of His upcoming sacrifice.
The Greek word translated Helper literally means called to one’s side to aid or help, and the
word that is translated another means another of the same sort. Jesus said: He’s like me.
2. The Bible reveals that God is Triune. We see it in this passage. God is one God who
simultaneously manifests as three distinct, but not separate, Persons—God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They coinhere or share equally one Divine nature.
3. The Father is all God. The Son is all God. The Holy Spirit is all God. They are coequal
and coeternal. They have eternally existed in this unique relationship. This is a mystery
beyond our comprehension. We simply accept and marvel at it.
b. All three Persons were and are involved in our creation and our redemption. The Father planned
it. Jesus purchased (or provided) it through His sacrifice at the Cross. And the Holy Spirit
produces (or applies) the effects in us when we believe on Jesus (lessons for another day).
1. This aspect of God was hinted at in the Old Testament, and then clearly revealed when the
Second Person (the Son) incarnated, and the Father and the Son poured out the Holy Spirit.
2. The apostles believed in the Triune God because they experienced Him. They walked with
the Son, heard the Father speak from Heaven, saw the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus at His
baptism, and then were indwelled by the Holy Spirit. Matt 3:16-17; Acts 2:1-4; etc.

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c. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have enjoyed a loving, intimate (close,
personal) relationship since forever. In fact, John opened his gospel with these words: In the
beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1, NKJV).
1. The Greek word translated with (pros), as it is used here. has the idea of close personal
relationship. We have been invited into and are welcomed into this loving relationship.
A. Paul the apostle wrote: I Cor 1:9—God is to be trusted, the God who called you to have
fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord (Good News Bible).
B. He also wrote: II Cor 13:14—The grace (favor and spiritual blessing) of the Lord Jesus
Christ and the love of God (the Father) and the presence and fellowship (the communion
and sharing together, and participation) in the Holy Spirit be with you all (Amp).
2. At the Last Supper, in the context of not leaving His followers alone and sending the Holy
Spirit to them, Jesus further assured them that He would continue to make Himself known to
them by the Holy Spirit through His Word, which He called Truth (John 17:17). Jesus said:
A. John 14:21-23—Those who obey my commandments are the ones who love me. And
because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will reveal myself to each one of
them…We will come to them and live with them (NLT)
B. John 16:13-14—When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth…the
Spirit will reveal to you what he receives from me (NLT).
3. How can you read these passages relationally? Pause and stop to think about the fact that Almighty
God wants to live with you and in you. He wants you to know Him and love Him. Thank Him for
His love and concern for you. Praise Him for His presence with you and His Spirit in you.
a. We were created to know God. God is incomprehensible or beyond our comprehension, but we
can know Him to the limit of our finite capacity and participate in relationship with Him.
1. Paul the apostle wrote: For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I
know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known (I Cor 13:12, NKJV).
2. The Greek word translated to is the same word used in John 1:1 (pros). Mirrors at that time
were made of polished metal, not glass, and the reflection could be quite poor. This passage
was written to believers in the city of Corinth which was known for its well-polished mirrors.
b. Paul prayed for Christians: Eph 3:19—May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so
great you will never be able to fully understand it (NLT).
1. Our capacity to know the Lord grows as we grow in the knowledge of Him, even though
there will always be more to know and an infinite amount that is incomprehensible.
2. Paul asked God to give Christians “spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you might
grow in the knowledge of God” (Eph 1:17, NLT). Ask God to help you grow in
understanding as you read His Word. (Remember that getting good teaching from a
competent Bible teach is vital to growing and understanding God’s Word.)
c. The Bible reveals God, who is Infinite and Eternal and parts are hard to understand. In some
ways, the Bible is like a book with all the information we have about mathematics.
1. This means that there are verses about the number system, addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, all the way up to verses about
quantum math. Your understanding is connected to your level of knowledge and grow.
2. It’s easy to get focused on what you don’t yet know and understand, get frustrated, and miss
the beauty and help in the passages that you do have the capacity to understand right now.
C. Conclusion: God doesn’t need us, but He wants us. This Transcendent Being wants to be known by
you and me. Keep this in mind as you read: You’re reading for more than to get information. You
are reading with the Lord, reading to know your Creator and Redeemer more fully (more next week).