How would Adam and Abraham commune with God? There is a difference between the two in that Adam began as a creature unfallen into sin and Abraham was a sinful man. There is a similarity, however, in that both of them had limited amounts of special revelation. In other words, they didn’t have a large book (the Bible) to serve as the basis of communion with God. So, how did they commune with God?
For the evangelical Christian, communion with God is primarily through Bible reading. I regard this as a good thing, but I wonder if we miss something. If Adam and Abraham could have communion with God without reading through a large book, then this probably tells us that communion with God is at the least not completely identifiable with reading the Bible (though it may be part of it).
In addition, Bible reading is at best one relatively small part of our day (even if we read a lot of it!). How do we live the rest of our day in communion with God? Can we live life in such a way that we are continually communing with God?
The Revelation of God
Adam and Abraham’s relationship with God begins with God revealing Himself to them. Their communion with God was a response to His initiative in reaching out to them.
1. God as Creator. Their relationship to God began with a knowledge that God is the creator of all things. God the Father is the Maker of all things in heaven and earth. Everything they saw was His work. God delights in His work and blesses it.
2. God as Governor. God not only created the world, He governs it. He governs it by orchestrating the events of this world and caring for all His creatures in it. In regards to rational beings, He governs them by giving them commands and laws that they are to obey.
3. God as Present. God is not only over the world. He is present in the world. He governs it moment by moment. They knew that they were always before the face of God.
4. God as Redeemer. In the context of Abraham, when God said that He would bless him, this meant that Abraham would not be cursed. This was a promise of redemption. This was also a promise to bless the whole world (Gen. 12:2–3).
The Response to God’s Revelation
So, what would Adam and then Abraham do with all this?
1. Meditation. They would meditate on who God is and think about Him. They would take what He had communicated and make it part of their lives. Adam, for example, would take God’s blessing and learn to think of the world as a gift from God in which He would be blessed. Likewise Abraham, though harder in the context of sin.
2. Learning for communion. The second thing is that they would seek to learn more about God. They would do this by considering what He had said in special revelation and learning about general revelation. This would occur as they learned about the world and reflected on God through His creation and through knowing about themselves. As the Belgic Confession says: “We know God by two means: First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe, since that universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book . . .” (Art. 2).
3. Response in praise and prayer. The contemplation of God was meant always to lead them to praise God in their hearts, with words, and with people. The knowledge of God was produced by meditation and reflection and then spoken back to God in prayer and praise.
The Relational Virtues toward God
This outward and mental response would shape their hearts into a character that was God-oriented. These would be relational virtues, excellent traits or characteristics that would direct them toward God as a habit. Here we discuss three: trust, love, and obedience.
1. Trust is a virtue that enables humans to have confidence that God loves us and takes care of us. This is true because we are His creatures. However, because of our sinfulness, we need the good news of the Gospel that tells us that we are forgiven and will be restored. This is trust. Jesus expressed this trust in Matthew 6, “If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?” (v. 30). It is a confidence that God is right in what He says and does and that it is ultimately for His glory and our God.
2. When Abraham and Adam had a sense of God’s goodness, saw His glory reflected in creation, and knew His care for them, this would produce love. More and more, they would desire to experience and know God above all else. This is the great commandment of the Old Testament, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:4–5). This means that they would continually seek communion and union with their great Creator God.
3. Because God was the Lord, they would need to learn obedience. As Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commands” (Jn. 14:15). This was the hard lesson that God taught Abraham by telling him to leave his country and later to sacrifice his son. God’s will is always right. This means that they could trust His government of the world and seek to find out what He would have them do with in their lives in general and in each particular situation.
Living in Communion with God
So, what does it mean to live in communion with God? It means to begin by thinking about Him, knowing Him, and learning about Him from both books (general and special revelation). It means that we take in what He has taught us and let that become part of our lives. We make use of the events of the world to lead us up to His goodness as our Creator and His leadership as our governor. We respond in praise and prayer throughout our day as we see His goodness displayed in His universe, in people, in our work, and on our table.
Based on such exercises, we learn to see life as coming from His fatherly hand. We learn more and more to think of life as coming not by chance or by accident but from His government of the world. We ask in each and every situation not only what we want to do but He wants us to do. When we go to work, we sense His divine commission that we would fulfill the earth and subdue it. When we eat bread, we remember that He has given us every seed-bearing plant. When we enjoy people, we remember God who has created community and said it is not good for us to be alone. We do this not as to some far off lord but as one who is intimately involved in the details of our lives.