What Does it Mean to Have A Relationship With Jesus?

“Having a personal relationship with Jesus” may seem like an odd concept. After all, we can’t see Him. He doesn’t go to work every day or physically gather with friends and family over the dinner table. I’m unable to text Him, follow His Twitter account, or friend Him on Facebook.

However, a little over 2,000 years ago, He did walk the earth. While His journey here may seem ancient and irrelevant, it is precisely what enables you and me to know Him personally and intimately. Through taking on flesh and living a sinless life, Jesus Christ was able to accomplish for us what we could not do on our own -- that of meeting the standards of a holy and perfect God. Serving as our substitute, His life, death, and resurrection allows us to freely relate with our Creator.

Jesus calls us “friend” in the Bible (John 15:15). A relationship with Him is a relationship of intimacy and security, of being totally known and totally accepted. It is not a relationship of equals, however. Jesus is fully God as well as fully man, and as such He remains Lord of heaven and Earth. But, unlike an unmerciful dictator, Jesus uses His authority to usher His followers into greater freedom. Contrary to most concepts of power, Jesus wielded His power through complete humility, thus inviting us into intimate fellowship with Him. It is a relationship where we can be loved completely, challenged to grow in our faith, and transformed into the exact person He created us to be.