The Relational God: What the Scriptural Commands for Children, Marriages, Siblings, and Parents Teach Us about God

by Steven J Halbert

Overview

What are the most important relationships in your life?

How do those relationships shape your identity?

What does the Bible say about how those relationships thrive?

What do they teach us about the nature and character of God?

The Relational God began with the question, "If God could have created us to be in any sort of relationships, why did He create us to be children, spouses, siblings, and parents?" Because our identities are so closely tied to those relationships, we often don't take time to consider what they may actually be meant to show us. Perhaps God wants us to understand something more through our identities as sons and daughters, our identities as husbands and wives, our identities as brothers and sisters, and our identities as fathers and mothers.

The Relational God considers our common experiences in these relationships and then looks at Biblical narratives which challenge and support those experiences. The book then distills down the Biblical commands for each of those relationships to determine what doing them right might teach us about the nature and character of God.

What we discover is that God created these relationships--and the rules which govern them--to serve as living metaphors that reveal truths about Himself. He wants these relationships to thrive, because, when they do, they reflect the very nature and character of God.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780999309902
Publisher:	Tusitala Publishers
Publication date:	11/06/2017
Pages:	298
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.67(d)

About the Author

Steven Halbert is a husband, father, son, and brother. He has worked as a product manager and has held various roles in children and family service organizations. He enjoys writing, reading, and teaching adult Sunday school (which is where the idea for this book materialized). He has an associate degree in Bible and a master's degree in English. Steven has limited time to maintain a robust online presence; so you don't have to worry about following him or friending him or anything like that.

Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction

Part One – Children: Sons and Daughters

• 1 Being a Child
• 2 How to Be a Child
• 3 Spiritual Children

Part Two – Spouses: Husbands and Wives

• 4 Being a Spouse
• 5 How to Be a Spouse: Part 1
• 6 How to Be a Spouse: Part 2
• 7 Christ and the Church

Part Three – Siblings: Brothers and Sisters

• 8 Being a Sibling
• 9 Brothers and Sisters in Christ: How to Be a Sibling

Part Four – Parents: Fathers and Mothers

• 10 Being a Parent
• 11 How to Be a Parent
• 12 God as Parent

Conclusion – Being Adopted: A New Forever Family

Afterword Relational Sanctification

Acknowledgments Credit to Whom Credit Is Due

Appendix A: Structural Tables

Appendix B: Roadmap to Spiritual Maturity

Appendix C: Paraphrase of Hebrews 2:5–3:5

Notes

Index of Scriptures

Editorial Reviews

The Relational God has the weightiness of theology with the clarity and approachability of being written by a layperson. Steven consistently returns the reader to the heart-issues behind the commands for children, marriages, siblings, and parents. The Relational God is a great read and a resource that the church can return to for years to come.

--DR. CHARLES F. BOYD, pastor and author of Different Children, Different Needs and What God Has Always Wanted

In The Relational God Steven Halbert has given us a biblically based handbook for human flourishing in the context of both the human family and the family of God. His honesty in sharing his own struggles as a child to his parents, a husband to his wife, a brother to his sister, and a father to his children is refreshing. There is much God-glorifying help here for the people of God.

--AL JACKSON, pastor, Lakeview Baptist Church, Auburn, AL

I enjoyed this book and its insights. Steven is a strong writer and a serious Bible student. He has put a lot of thought into our primary relationships and how they illustrate God's love for us. The author's personal experiences also serve as great background for the principles he finds in Scripture. If you're looking for a thorough treatment of what our relationships teach us about God, I recommend you pick up this book!

--AMY SIMPSON, leadership coach and author, Blessed are the Unsatisfied (amysimpson.com)

The Relational God is a great resource in understanding daily relationships and how they reflect upon God. I would highly encourage you to read this book to better understand how the relationships we have all reflect back to God and the commands He has given to us throughout Scripture. It has encouraged how I view all my relationships as a daughter, sibling, wife, and mother!

--LINDSEY RENEE, author and blogger, 45 Days of Prayer (learninggracethrumotherhood.com)

What if one of the main purposes of every human relationship is to teach us something about God himself? In Scripture, he is known as our Creator and Counselor, our Father and Friend, and our Brother and Beloved. And what if God wants us to know him more intimately by changing how we think about our earthly brothers and sisters, fathers, and mothers, and spouses and others? That’s what Halbert is after—rewiring how we approach everyday relationships so that we might see God more clearly.

--JIM THOMPSON, pastor and author of A King and a Kingdom

I have known Steven for a decade, and I have always been impressed by his heart for God and his constant growth as a follower of Christ. The Relational God is a result of Steven wrestling through how and why to live out the principles he teaches. May this book give you greater insight into what it means to be a member of God’s family and how to live well in all the family relationships in which He has placed you.

--REID LEHMAN, CEO of Miracle Hill Ministries and author of God Wears His Own Watch and Are Those the Words You Meant to Use?

From the Publisher