“This is My commandments, that you love one another, just as I have
loved you. Greater love has no one than
this, that one lay down his life for his friends. 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, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to
you. You did not choose Me, but I chose
you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit
should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to
you. This I command you, that you love
one another.” (John 15: 12-17, NASB)
Though we are fallen creatures,
though sin has made our life on earth full of hardship and sadness, there are
still some experiences which give us a measure of joy and excitement. One such experience is friendship.
We derive great joy and excitement being in the company of our
friends. In Proverbs 17:17 it is
written: “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for
adversity.” Proverbs 18: 26 declares: “A
man of many friends comes to ruin. But
there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Indeed friendship is about intimacy between
intelligent beings divinely designed and equipped for relationship. There is friendship between man and man. There is also friendship between man and God,
the subject of this article. We will, by
the help of the Eternal Spirit, show, with scriptural support, that in our
relationship with God in Christ Jesus over time following our conversion, we
could be brought to a point in our spiritual journey where God in Christ
regards us as His friends and makes us conscious of the fact. Actually, that, by divine design, is our
final and highest position in Christ, our highest spiritual standing and
attainment in Christ, while we live on earth.
Our text (John 15: 12-17) forms
part of the Upper Room discourse the Lord Christ gave to His original
disciples. The discourse spans Chapters
13 through 17. The subject of Chapter 15
from where our text comes is the spiritual union of the Lord Christ with those
who genuinely believe in Him, and the moral, functional, and social consequences
of that union.
On the basis of the spiritual
union of believers with Him, our Lord commands the disciples in verse 12 to
love one another, deriving inspiration and motivation from His example: “Just
as I have loved you,” referring to His sacrificial love for them. In verse 13 our Lord shows the proof or
evidence of His love for His disciples.
In verse 14, He affirms the disciples as His friends, provided they keep
His command, which is that they love one another.
To be noted is the fact that by calling
His disciples, “My friends,” the Lord Jesus was promoting and ushering them
into a new and ultimate level in their relationship with Him. In this article we are going to explore the
implications of friendship with God in Christ.
Historical Survey of Christ’s Relationship with His disciples
There is a significant phrase in
Verse 15: “No longer do I call you slaves. . .”
This phrase implies duration of some length in Christ’s relationship
with His disciples. It requires that we
do a historical survey of that relationship.
Verse 16 gives us a clue. There
the Master says: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you,
that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that
whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you.” Here is the revelation: When the Lord chose
His disciples, He ushered them into the first phase of their relationship with
Him, which is discipleship. When He appointed them “that you should go
and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain,” He ushered them into the
second phase of their relationship with Him, which is ‘servantship.’ Now He was
taking them to the third and ultimate phase, which is friendship (verse 15). I
should point out that two levels or phases of relationship were effected when
the Master called His disciples initially: sonship
and discipleship.
Here then is the result of our
survey: The disciples went through four levels or phases of relationship with
the Lord Christ. The first was sonship in which they were made
partakers of the divine nature as a result of their faith in Jesus as the
Messiah. The second was discipleship which involved their
learning from Christ, their being students of Christ. The third was ‘servantship’ which involved their serving and working for
Christ. The fourth and final phase was friendship in which they became very
intimate with, and received perfect knowledge from, Christ; they were initiated
into the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven
- “. . . but I have called you
friends, for all things that I have heard
from My Father I have made known to you” (Verse 15, italics mine).
Why were the Disciples promoted to Friendship?
Friends share personal secrets
with each other. Friends open their
hearts to each other. Friends confide in
each other. Friends counsel each other. Friends are there for each other when one
goes through a crisis of life (Proverbs 27:6-10). Jesus promoted the disciples because they
were consistent in their commitment and followership toward Him; because there is
nothing He received from the Father that He did not share with them. Their obedience to their Master was absolute,
so that He had no modicum of doubt concerning their devotion to Him.
The Defining Characteristics of the friends of God
There are persons in the Bible
who were friends of God. God regarded
and designated them as His friends either explicitly or implicitly. Among them were Enoch (Genesis 5:21-24;
Hebrews 11:5), Abraham (2nd Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James
2:23), Job (Job 29: 4), Moses (Exodus 33:11; Numbers 12:6-8), Elijah (1st
Kings 17:1; 18:15), Daniel (Daniel 9:23; 10:11, 19), and King David (Acts
13:32). None of these men was born a
friend of God. Before they assumed the
status of God’s friends, they had surrendered their lives to the leadership and
guidance of God, walked consistently with Him in course of which they passed
through many experiences which The Almighty used to edify
and refine their them. God gave them the
grace and opportunities to prove themselves absolutely loyal and dependable
servants of God before declaring them His friends. A close study of the lives of these men
reveal the defining characteristics of the friends of God: (1) Intimacy with God (Exodus 33:11; Job 29:4-5. (2)
Devotion to God coupled with resolve to
keep His commandments or to live by His word (Genesis 18:19; Hebrews
11:5). (3) God’s love for them seems to be special (Daniel 9:23;
10:11). (4) They clearly possess a very high level of spiritual knowledge
and understanding (Genesis 18:17-21). (5)
They resemble God in character and in luminous or glorious appearance
(Exodus 34:29-35; cf. 2nd Corinthians 3:7).
How to become God’s Friend in Christ
From our historical survey of the
disciples relationship with the Lord Christ and exemplification of the friends of God in the
Bible, it is clear that becoming a friend of God is not something that happens
in a twinkling of an eye. It is
fundamentally a matter of choice and something we have to pursue earnestly (Hebrews
12:14). Clearly speaking, becoming a
friend of God is a function of growth
toward spiritual maturity. It is about
being passionate to become Godlike or Christlike (in character). A sadness of Heaven is to acknowledge that
so many followers of the Lord Christ on
earth at the present time are satisfied with being sons and daughters of God only; are contented with
being born again and sure of heaven only.
They do not understand that there are many phases or levels in their
relationship with God in Christ. They do
not know that life in Christ is a journey with God into God. Growing into friendship with God in Christ is
God’s longing for us His children and servants
In verse 14 of our text, Jesus
says: “You are My friends, if you do what I command you.” Doing what the Lord Christ commands is the
way into friendship with God.
Fundamentally, His command is that we be governed and driven by
love. Here then are the things we should
do to become God’s friends:
1. We
should love God for God’s sake (John 14: 15, 21; Psalm 37:4; Matthew 22: 36-38)
2. We
should love our fellowmen for God’s sake and for God’s pleasure (John 15: 12,
17; 13:34; Matthew 22: 39-40)
3. We
should love, delight in, and obey God’s word habitually (Psalm 1:2; 119: 14,
16, 131; Deuteronomy 6: 6-9)
4. We
should love and commit ourselves God’s work, serving Him diligently both in and
outside the local assembly (Deuteronomy 10:12)
5. We
should love and practice constant communion with and contemplation of God in
prayer (Luke 18:1; Romans 12:12).
The universal perception of life
as a journey is more applicable and pertinent to our life in Christ. The spiritual life is a journey with God into
God; a journey with God into the fullness of God. The Apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesian
believers that they be led by the Spirit into that fullness (Ephesians
3:14-19). It is the will and pleasure of
our Heavenly Father that we grow into His fullness, that we mature in our walk
with Him till we assume the status of His friends in the here and now. Therefore, let us not be content with
sonship/daughterhood. Let us resolve to
expand and extend our relationship with God in Christ. Let us move from sonship through ‘servantship’
to friendship. Let us make friendship
with God in Christ our must-attain spiritual goal.
If you are not yet in Christ, the
LORD God is inviting you to get connected to Jesus Christ now and commence your
journey into friendship with Him. I
welcome you to walk the ancient paths where you will find rest for your
soul.
THE LORD’S SCRIBE
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