Genesis 1:26

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Genesis 2:18

And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

Oxford Advanced English Dictionary defines relationship as “the way in which two people, groups or countries behave towards each other or deal with each other.

Merriam Webster Dictionary defines it as “the way in which two or more people, groups, countries, etc., talk to, behave towards, and deal with each other.

From these definitions, it is clear that relationship has to do with the manner in which men communicate, behave, interact and deal with one another in the confines of the societies in which they live.

Man was created a gregarious being; that is, he is a carrier of the nature that made him enjoy the company of other beings. Man is never at his best in an atmosphere of isolation and loneliness. For an average man, isolation breeds desolation. When a man is in a good company, that is, if companionship is at its best, he is bound to experience inner peace and happiness, under which productivity and fulfillment are always at their best. Hence, God said, “it is not good that man should be alone”.

Man is made to interact diversely with visible and invisible beings, including his physical and spiritual environments. For any man to be at his best, he must operate a correct vertical relationship with his Maker and a horizontal relationship with the world in which he lives. Absence of a correct relationship in these two directions, in most cases, makes life meaningless, useless, doleful and burdensome.

Man was created in the image of God to relate with God. He was spiritually connected to God in his original state. The communion between Adam and his Maker in Eden was perfect and mutually beneficial until that communion was severed by Adam’s willful murder of the rule of proper relationship.

Immediately Adam betrayed his Maker in willful disobedience, the cord of harmony between him and God got broken and their relationship went sour. That indeed was the beginning of all obnoxious relationships in our world.

“Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” (Gen 3:9-12)

The result of this breakdown was the spiritual enmity that exists between man and God till date. From that moment, man has been in perpetual enmity with God until he is reconciled back through the finished work of Christ.

Once the relationship between man and God became damaged, the relationship between man and man was badly affected. Perfect relationship ceased to exist between man and man once it ceased to exist between man and God. The result of this spiritual damage was the first murder case which, unfortunately happened within the first family.

“Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”” (Gen 4:8-9).

Cain killed his brother because of petty envy! He could no longer be his brother’s keeper but his brother’s killer! The natural affinity within brothers from the same root was too weak to stop the terrible effect of the spiritual depravity of man sequel to the lost of the nature of God in him. What a pity!

We must understand that the first relationship that man had was with his Maker. Adam knew God before he knew his wife, Eve or his fist child Cain. God was the first person he saw when he opened his eyes for the first time in life. His relationship with God was what bred the other relationships he had with other creations. Relationship with God is the mother of all relationships!

Every relationship which man has is a subset of his relationship with God. It is man’s relationship with God that gives life and meaning to all other relationships he has. A man with a wobbled relationship with God cannot have straight and sincere relationship with other people. At best, his relationship with people will be selfish, superficial and puny.

Friend, do you have a correct relationship with God? Until a man becomes the carrier of the nature of God, until he is in a right relationship with God, he cannot understand or maintain a correct relationship with anybody. A correct relationship among men which is truly and totally void of selfishness and or hypocrisy is from a truly circumcised heart of a man who is truly and totally reconciled to God.

Be reconciled truly and totally to God today!

May God’s light shine inside and around you from today in Jesus name.

May you dwell in the peace of the Almighty as His peace begins to dwell in you in Jesus name.

Have a lovely day.

Shalom!