Connection Is Protection

Relationship amounts to the ultimate context of life.  God made you for relationship.  The first priority is to be in relationship with Him, and then secondly to be in proper order with other people.  God created mankind in Genesis 1 as male and female, but this was still the spirit stage.  At this point there was no physical representation of mankind yet.  Then in Genesis 2 God forms a body of the dust of the ground for man.  Here we meet Adam, the very first man.

Almost immediately upon Adam’s arrival in the perfect Garden of Eden we read that the Lord God said this in Genesis 2:18: “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper [one who balances him—a counterpart who is] suitable and complementary for him.”  Think about that.  God has just made this beautiful world full of resources and given Adam world dominance, but God Himself says, “It’s not enough”.  Even though the Garden of Eden with all its perfection seemed like the perfect context, God still judged it as not enough.  

Adam was not complete as an individual, even with God at His side.  Adam was meant to be part of a set, and God’s design was always for family.  We all need the right people to give to for multiplication to take place.  Adam needed his Eve, just like Eve needed her Adam to get to the goal of family.  How quickly destruction comes on this little family, even in a place of beauty, when the serpent finds Eve alone.  Just like it wasn’t good for Adam to be alone, it was very dangerous for Eve to be alone.  She was deceived, tricked.  Without her connection she lost her protection.  

The other day Pam and I were walking and saw a Canadian goose looking alert and on guard.  I said, “I wonder if he’s guarding his mate and her nest.”  Sure enough a week later as we walked around the same little lake we saw a mother goose with her five little yellow-headed chicks swimming behind her.  On guard was her sentinel mate, head high, on the lookout for danger.  Two other geese landed at the opposite end of the lake and he took off after them in full attack mode like a crazy goose!  He didn’t want anything endangering his little ones.  Geese have a strong instinct toward one another.  God has given them a built in connection so they can enjoy family protection.  

That protective heart is not part of an evolutionary process or natural selection.  God preprogrammed that instinct into the DNA of the goose based on God’s own design.  Just as God made Adam and Eve a set, He connected these geese instinctively.  The Mom and Dad will lay down their lives for those chicks.  It’s in their heart.  That family connection means protection at all cost, even if the price is their life.    

God laid down His life through Jesus on the cross, so that His children might be connected in His family.  That’s you and me!  John 1:12 says, “To as many as received Jesus, to them He gave the right and privilege to be the children of God.”  Look at what Jesus said in John 13:33-35 “Dear little children ... I give you a new commandment that you should love one another, just as I have loved you ... By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”  Jesus was reengineering the lost family connection by bridging their thinking with a new commandment.    

 3 John 2 says “Beloved I wish that you would prosper and be in good health, even as your soul prospers.”  Protection is a large part of that prosperity.  After all, who cares how much blessing you have if it’s completely vulnerable to theft, or your life is exposed to a lethal attack?  Joseph, the son of the patriarch Jacob, when connected to his brothers was vulnerable to death.  Connected to God’s plan however, even in dangerous Egypt, he was directed, protected, and ultimately promoted.  

The cross of Jesus is the only way to connect into God’s family.  Come to Jesus right now by way of the cross and receive His family protection order.  You matter the most to Father God, and oh how He longs to protect you. 

Pray the Word:

First of all Heavenly Father, we surrender our life to you in Jesus Name.  Jesus died on the cross and rose again that we might have life, and have it more abundantly.  That means living in Your family and loving one another, just as Christ loved us.  Help us to be disciples of Jesus by staying connected to Your Word, Your love, and each other.  We ask for Your direction, and for Your protection Father God.  Lead us and keep us in all of Your ways, for Your Namesake.  Amen.