Intimacy with Jesus

Intimacy with the person of Jesus

Welcome to “the essentials of healthy community,” a blog series exploring necessary ingredients for a thriving, Jesus-centered, grace filled church family. Here is #1 in the series. Hope you enjoy and read the other blogs coming soon.

#1 That we would be a community made up of people who are loved obsessed with Jesus Christ. 

As we gather together and seek to build small communities, let us not forget about our first love, our heart’s obsession, Jesus Christ Himself. We are in love with the very person of God. This is what compels us to meet together. Community only works when we each taste the riches of God’s fellowship; this drives our passion to share it with one another. When each of us know the depths of His intimate love and kindness, we find our gatherings rich and full of life. Communing with Jesus individually is the adhesive that holds us together collectively.

The great joy of this life is to know Jesus, intimately, and near. John put it this way “For this is eternal life, to know (ginosko) the Father and the Son he sent” (John 17:3) The English word used there “to know” is the Greek word ginosko. Ginosko means to know something in every way it can be known or understood. It means “to be aware of, perceive, and to understand.” God is inviting us to know Him in every way that He can possibly be known, to be aware of him, perceive him, and understand him. This greek word Ginosko is even used as a Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a women. Think of that: to know the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as intimate lovers know one another. Sounds scandalous doesn’t it?

And this knowing that I’m talking about is much more than merely knowing a story or theological doctrine about Jesus. He’s more than a new age “force,” “frequency,” vibration,” “energy,” or “source.” He’s not some “cosmic Christ” out there somewhere in the ether, a sky god in the clouds, out of touch with our humanity. He’s not just a “higher consciousness," “one of many ways,” “one of many paths,” “one of many teachers,” or “one of many great prophets.” 

He is the very blue print of God Himself, Abba’s very DNA (Heb 1:3) The Way, The Truth, The Life, (John 14:6) the logic of God, (John 1:1) the gate/doorway (John 10). God has spoken so clearly through Jesus that we no longer wonder what God is like. God is like Jesus. Jesus is the Word of God; he’s what God had to say. He is the mystery revealed. The truth of God’s character unveiled. Jesus is perfect theology. As the Nicene Creed states, He is “light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, one in essence with the Father; through Him all things were made.” 

I was a Christian for nearly twenties years before I began to really understand that God wanted to actually know me. For real. Deeply and intimately. For the majority of my life, I thought I was supposed to serve, obey, and believe in God; I thought I was supposed to worship and read about Him. And, all those things are true, but it’s so much more than that! It’s about knowing Him in the deepest parts of who we are.

I remember when I stopped asking myself “do I believe in God?” and started asking “do I know God?” It was an entirely different question. And my answer at the time, grieved me. “No.” I didn’t feel like I knew Him. Do we know his likes and His dislikes? His laugh or smile? What does he spend his time thinking and talking about?

I went through a whole season of unlearning and relearning Him. This is when a deepening friendship with Jesus began. I was on somewhat of a quest to know Jesus which landed me in Saint Louis, Missouri. I remember walking on the cobblestone streets in 2005, and I began to hear the whisper of Holy Spirit within my own soul. It was like striking a match and tossing it on gasoline. Something within exploded! I felt alive for the first time! I felt like I was taking my first breath. I remember telling Jesus, “to hear your voice is the reason I’m alive.” Before this moment, Heaven never made sense nor excited me. I envisioned angels floating on clouds playing harps and singing songs, prancing around on streets of gold. But when I began to hear Him and know Him—Everything. Made. Sense.

Jesus is the great reward of Heaven. The best thing about the kingdom of Heaven, is the King Himself. Heaven wouldn’t be Heaven without Jesus!

I can’t wait to hug him in the flesh and lay my head against his chest to hear his physical heart beating. I can’t wait to gaze into his eyes of fire that burn with passionate love for us. I can’t wait to hear the actual sound of his voice. I’ll probably cry. Maybe even ugly cry. Or I might laugh and joke with Him like best friends often do. Will there be moments of extended laughter? Will we let the laughter continue far too long to the point of giggles? I hope so. I simply can’t wait. And the great news of the gospel is I don’t have wait, and neither do you.

It all starts now.

For many of us, our journey in really knowing God began by rediscovering Him as a tender Father. Personally, I use to project attributes of my earthly dad onto my Heavenly Father. I thought God was as frustrated, easily angered, and critical as my own dad. I grew to understand that God was far more equipped to love me than my earthly father. He is far more gentle and kind. He pours out His affection on us and speaks affirming words to our hearts. After God revealed Himself as my Father, He turned up the heat!

I began to discover the romance of the ages. The Bible refers to us as the “Bride of Christ” which may sound odd to some men, but when we experience the love of God, we feel safe, secure, found, and at peace like any bride of a good husband. I remember reading Song of Solomon for nearly a year. I found myself blushing about the romantic heart of Jesus. He’s such a passionate lover. Every time I would go to pray I felt almost giddy. It was weird. But His love is like no other. Knowing God is a love affair!

“Above all else, the Christian life is a love affair of the heart. It cannot be lived primarily as a set of principles or ethics.” ~ Brent Curtis

Then for an entire season I got to discover Him as a friend. Oh MY GOODNESS the friendship of Jesus! He’s everything you want in a best friend. He truly listens to understand and hear our heart’s intentions. He’s not just listening to respond, argue, or correct us.

He’s gracious and non-judgemental; He doesn’t weaponize the vulnerable things we tell him to later use it against us. He doesn’t keep a record of mistakes and moments we let Him down. There’s not a list of expectations we must meet in order to remain in good standing with Him. He’s not using us to get to other people, leveraging our relationship to ascend some social latter.

He always believes the best about us! Even when we’re at our worst, He doesn’t lose sight of who we really are. He’s wildly encouraging and supportive especially in our darkest moments. Jesus just has this way about Him—holding sacred space for life’s hardest experiences. He’s a vault and a great secret keeper. He’s wonderfully safe, doesn’t gossip, nor slander us behind our backs. He’s fiercely loyal. He’s authentic, and doesn’t over spiritualize things like some Christians do. He’s a refreshing friend.

“You are my friends” —Jesus Christ of Nazareth (John 15:14)

Many gatherings of believers struggle because most members come to receive instead of to give. People often drag themselves into church meetings, dry, worn out, struggling, beat down, and exhausted by the world, hoping for a mere drop of spiritual drink. Most Christians today are like baby birds chirping for their parent to regurgitate some food into their mouths. And there are a few “professional ministers” who are willing to provide them that food. Instead of teaching believers how to drink from the source of the living God, ministers often pacify them with little tastes of who He is. This system is often a well-intended disservice to the body of Christ. Instead of connecting people directly to God, church clergy often become mediators between God and man.

But the gift of the gospel is that we get to actually know God directly, ourselves. We get to enjoy Jesus all day, every day, all week long. And communal gatherings really only work properly when each person dives head first into the bliss of their union with Jesus. These kind of gatherings tend to be explosive. Explosive life! Explosive joy! Explosive freedom! When each person has been drinking of the very lively Holy Spirit, church becomes more like a party than a funeral. Every person should come to the gathering with a testimony of how God has moved that week. Each of us should come to the sacred gathering with spiritual bread to share, like a potluck. Believers should come together overflowing with life like a bride after her honey moon, excited to share the love they have encountered all week long!

Our ultimate and primary aim is to ginosko the Trinity, in every moment, to ginosko Him in every season, to know the nearness of His presence, breath to breath, face to face. It is this deep and utter knowing that is salvation itself. To know Him is to know Life eternal! Paul counted his former identity as garbage “for the surpassing value of knowing Him” (Phil 3:8). It is this knowing that moves us to assemble together. Let us be a people who never forget our first love. Let us be a people who allow the love we experience with Jesus to overflow to one another.

-Jared Gustafson

About the author: Jared Gustafson is a well-respected, long-standing resident of Redlands, CA. He has served his community as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) for 15 years. As an EMT, he cared for youth diagnosed with cerebral palsy for 2 years, worked for an ambulance company for 7 years, and worked in a trauma center and emergency department for 5 years.

Jared then acquired a Master's Degree in social work practice and serves as a pediatric medical social worker addressing egregious cases of trauma and abuse.

Jared is passionate about reversing poverty in underserved nations and has led multiple cross-cultural humanitarian projects worldwide, including trips to Kenya and Mexico. Jared’s passion for Jesus has led him to speak at conferences about the value of a shared, communal life. He is devoted to helping others escape the illusion of independence and the pain of isolation by encouraging interdependent relationships and socially vibrant lives.

Jared Gustafson

Jared Gustafson is a well-respected, long-standing resident of Redlands, CA. He has served his community as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) for 15 years. As an EMT, he cared for youth diagnosed with cerebral palsy for 2 years, worked for an ambulance company for 7 years, and worked in a trauma center and emergency department for 5 years.

Jared then acquired a Master's Degree in social work practice and served as a pediatric medical social worker addressing egregious cases of abuse and trauma.

Jared is passionate about reversing poverty and has led multiple cross-cultural humanitarian projects worldwide, including trips to Kenya and Tijuana, Mexico. Jared regularly speaks at conferences about the value of a shared, communal life. He is devoted to helping others escape the illusion of independence and the pain of isolation by encouraging interdependent relationships and well-integrated, socially vibrant lives.

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