QUESTION: The Israelites communicated to Jehovah via a theocracy. As Christians we now pray to him through Jesus, but still require faith that our prayers are heard. Is there any basis in the Bible to believe that those living on Earth in the new system we will be able to communicate individually with Jesus and Jehovah?
ANSWER: Yes, absolutely! In the book of Genesis, in the account of the creation of Adam, it says that God used to stroll about the garden around the breezy part of the day and he would converse with Adam. We know what happened though. But the whole point of Jesus coming to earth and sacrificing his perfect human life was not merely to give us everlasting life, but to restore the relationship that God once had with the first human. Jesus said that he came to seek and to save that which was lost, and what was lost was not merely everlasting life but also our precious relationship with our heavenly Father. Sin has caused us to be estranged from him.
But just communicating with God does not necessarily mean that we have faith in him. After all, Satan and the demons have conversed with God face-to-face. The letter of James says that the demons believe there is one God but it only causes them to shutter in dread. Abraham and Moses spoke with God, although in all likelihood it was probably angels; nevertheless, their communication with him was not casual conversation. For example, when God spoke to Abraham on one occasion he ordered him to sacrifice his son, Isaac. What a test of faith that was!
In several places the Bible explains that at some point Christians will have the privilege of becoming God’s people. The Bible uses the expression that Jehovah will become their God and they will become his people. That means that God is intent on establishing a close relationship with us. That is the whole purpose of the kingdom coming, to restore that relationship.
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