6 Reasons Christianity Really IS a Relationship, Not a Religion (2 OF 6)
You’ve likely encountered the expression: “Christianity is a relationship not a religion”. Perhaps you’ve also heard opinions to the contrary. It’s an important distinction. The two ideas are not the same. While the modern concept of religion may be convenient for professors and expedient for politicians and journalists, it actually distorts the Gospel. Members of Christ’s body should ask a pointed question: how did the biblical writers conceptualize their faith and practice? These six articles are written to give you bible-informed confidence in a “relationship-focused” life in Christ.
In the first article, we saw the worldview of the Old Testament writers present all of reality as Yahweh’s domain, after all “In the beginning, God created” everything. He has no rivals. In this second point, we note that God’s sovereignty is expressed in terms of being a king, particularly in regard to the nation of Israel.
Reason #2 - Old Testament writers communicate a Kingdom, not a religious, paradigm.
If not a religious paradigm, how does the Bible talk about Yahweh and Israel? The Hebrew writers employ a kingdom paradigm, Yahweh’s sovereign rule over all of Creation as its author and sustainer (Genesis 1-2, Genesis 6, Exodus 7 - 11, Job 40 - 41, Psalm 19). Even the tabernacle ,and later the temple, are conceived of as Yahweh’s palace( 2 Chronicles 9:18, 1 Chronicles 28:2, Psalm 11:4, Psalm 99:5, Psalm 132:7).
As an aside, if God’s Tabernacle/Temple is God’s place of personal rule (Exodus 40:34-38), we who are inhabited by the presence of God are now the seat of Jesus’s good rule in the world. (1 Cor. 3:16). Okay, back to the Old Testament…
As the “God of gods and the Lord of kings” throughout the prophets (Daniel 2:47), Yahweh both punishes (Daniel 4:24-26) and makes use of foreign kings (Jeremiah 4:16-17) , demonstrating his international authority. He also shows benevolent, sovereign compassion on even the most feared and hated of Israel’s enemies (Jonah), true kingly condescension!
Even after being rejected by Israel in favor of a human king (1 Samuel 8:7), the kingdom motif continues with Yahweh’s promise of a descendent of King David who would have an everlasting, world-wide kingdom as Yahweh’s son and sovereign heir (2 Samuel 7:8-16, Psalm 2, Daniel 2:44).
As we’ll see in Part 3, it is this kingly mantle of the Son of David as well as the divine/human Son of Man that Jesus lays claim to when he enters into history.