Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
November 13, 2005 - W0546

In the span of our lives, there will come defining moments when we come to realize what’s most important. Oftentimes, these revelations come when in our darkest hours or perhaps when we’re near death. Maybe you just found out that you have a fatal disease or maybe there’s been a tragedy in your family or you just had a near-death experience. It’s often in these times when we’re most open to God. It seems that we don’t realize that Jesus is all we need until Jesus is all we have.

When we’re faced with these situations, we tend to contemplate the meaning of life and search for the irreducible priorities in life. It is also these times that God uses to remind us of the lessons He wants us to remember. At faith’s core, what pleases God the most? In the book of Genesis, we find the answer…

“Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:24).

It was as if one day, as Enoch was walking with God, God was so pleased with Enoch that He decided to make it like that for eternity. Like what? The relationship that Enoch had with God was so honest, pure and refreshing that it pleased God’s heart and the Lord chose to capture that special moment forever. God wants that kind of relationship with all His children. So the first thing we learn from Enoch is…

1.     A SIMPLE AND GENUINE RELATIONSHIP IS WHAT PLEASES GOD THE MOST.

It is not a spiritual strut or righteous religion that pleases God, nor is it the ability to have echo and reverb on our voices as we speak. Sometimes we get caught up in all of the different rituals and distractions of this world but it is a genuine, unabashed, without-duplicity relationship with Him that pleases God the most.

The longer I walk with God, the more I want to rid myself of any kind of accoutrements or distractions that may interfere with my relationship with Him. What I really want is a solid and secure relationship with God that is free of jealousies and competition. Enoch had this kind of devotion and security, and he did not die but was automatically taken up into heaven! As the Word shows us…

“It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—‘suddenly he disappeared because God took him.’ But before he was taken up, he was approved as pleasing to God” (Hebrews 11:5 NLT).

There are just a few times in the Bible where the Father breaks open heavens, one of which is found in early Matthew: 

“…and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:17).

When I was reading this passage, I wondered why is it that God was so well pleased? Remember, this happened before any of Jesus’ recorded miracles or speeches to the masses. What had Jesus done to deserve this honor? As I mentioned, He hadn’t performed any miracles yet, not had He begun ministering. The only thing I can think of that Jesus had going for Him was His relation to the Father. Now there was a relationship!

I didn’t quite understand this all until one day after I had just gotten back from a trip. On the way to my car, I noticed a young father with his pre-school son. As we were exiting the terminal, I saw the father scoot his son in front of him as they approached the door sensors. The glass doors magically slide open as the boy and his father drew near. The son, “aaaahhed”. When they got to the elevator, the father told his son to push the elevator button and the elevator doors opened. There was such an excitement on boy’s face. And when we got out of the elevator and walked towards our cars (I was parked in the lot near them), the father held out his keys for his son to press the car door button. The boy’s eyes lit up as the car lights flashed and car chirped as it unlocked.

I chuckled to myself as I watched the exchange between this father and son, and it was there that I realized that is how our Heavenly Father is with us…

·   GOD TAKES MORE PLEASURE WHEN HIS WILL IS DONE THROUGH HIS CHILDREN RATHER THAN IN SPITE OF THEM.

Was that boy’s father a quadraplegic that he couldn’t press an elevator button by himself? On the contrary, he could do everything yet it gave him more pleasure to have his will done through his son. As shocking as it is, God doesn’t need us to do anything either; however, in His great love, it becomes His great pleasure to do heaven’s work through us.  God was so pleased with His relationship with Enoch that He opened the heavens for him. And when Jesus was being baptized, God was so please with His son Jesus (and with the relationship He had with Jesus), it allowed for the heavens to open and God’s work to flow through Jesus to the world. 

In this study, we see the key for the heavens to open is a close, genuine and honest relationship with God.  That is the bulls-eye is in a Christian’s life. While on the other had, we should realize that…

2.     THE ENEMY’S TARGET IS TO DILUTE OUR LIVING RELATIONSHIP.

The Scripture warns, “But I fear that somehow you will be led away from your pure and simple devotion to Christ, just as Eve was deceived by the serpent” (2 Corinthians 11:3 NLT).

The goal of the devil is to dilute our relationship with God. You can be religious without having a relationship with God (even the mafia goes to church every Sunday). Just as there are husband and wife marriages without a relationship (e.g., their relationship is such that the only thing they have in common is their address), it is totally possible to be a “Christian” and yet not have a true relationship with Christ.

In order for the Lord to work through us, there’s got to be a vibrant, honest relationship between us and Him. Otherwise, the Kingdom stops. If we would just take the time to nourish our relationship with God, the heavens would open because my relationship with Him will sustain my obedience.

Sometimes we think if we learn more scripture and can quote it, makes us better Christians. The simple fact is…

·   KNOWING ABOUT GOD IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR A GENUINE RELATIONSHIP.

When we keep a healthy relationship with Jesus, God will fill our souls and we will be content. However, when our souls are not filled, we become hungry for the things of the world. The devil knows that if he can dilute our faith, we will become hungry for the world and we will eat anything in sight.

We have to be aware of the tactics against us:

·   THE ENEMY WANTS TO WEAR YOU DOWN.

Oh, the devil will allow us to be “religious” but it’s still a diluted, ineffective faith without a genuine relationship with the Lord. The Kingdom will work around us or near us, but not through us. In that way, the scriptures say that the evil one…

“He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One…” (Daniel 7:25).

If the devil can dilute us (get us to compromise our values or simply wear down our steadfastness by repeatedly exposing us to questionable things such that we start to accept those things as “normal” and maybe even desirable), he knows that he can control us.

But we need to remember what the Bible says, “…I promised you as a pure bride to one husband, Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:2 NLT). And just as husbands and wives desire genuine, devoted and loving relationships with their spouses, God desires a pure, honest and uncompromised relationship with us, His bride(s).

And though our omnipotent Father could have created us to love only Him, He gives us the freedom to choose whether to love Him because He knows that…

·  LOVE IS NOT “LOVE” UNLESS IT INCLUDES OUR CHOICE.

“For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate” (Romans 7:25).

Through the story of Enoch, we learn a very important truth:  a simple and genuine relationship is what pleases God the most. He takes pleasure when His will is done through His children rather than in spite of them. But be careful, the enemy’s target is to dilute our living relationship. However, if we choose to love the Lord, it is the strongest kind of love and the devil’s plans will be thwarted.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1.      Answering as honestly as you can, what’s most important in your life right now? What’s on the top of your priorities list?

2.      Would you say that your relationship with God is simple, pure and genuine? How does God share His pleasure of you with you? (i.e., what kinds of truths has He revealed, etc.)

3.      In what areas of your life do you sense the enemy “wearing” you down? What can you do to fill yourself up with the Lord and resist the enemy’s effort? 

4.      What kinds of choices need to be made in your life to help a genuine and pure relationship between you and Jesus Christ prevail?

Thank you very much to our volunteer Sermon Notes writer Liz Texeira who strengthens her relationship with the Lord through her dedication and faithful service to this ministry.