"And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God ... and he was called the friend of God" (James 2:23)
The image of God in man cannot extend to every part of man's being, for God has attributes which He cannot impart to any of His people, however favored.
God is uncreated, self-existent, infinite, sovereign, eternal; these attributes are His alone and by their very definition cannot be shared with another. But there are other attributes which He can impart to His people and in some measure share with His redeemed children.
Intellect, self-consciousness, love, goodness, holiness, pity, faithfulness - these and certain other attributes are the points where likeness between God and man may be achieved. It is here that the divine-human friendship is experienced!
God, being perfect, has capacity for perfect friendship. Man, being imperfect, can never quite know perfection in anything, least of all in his relationship to the incomprehensible Godhead.
The more perfect our friendship with God becomes the simpler will our lives be. Those formalities that are so necessary to keep a casual friendship alive may be dispensed with when true friends sit in each other's presence. True friends trust each other.
Unquestionably the highest privilege granted to man on earth is to be admitted into the circle of the friends of God. Nothing is important enough to be allowed to stand in the way of our relation to God. We should see to it that nothing on earth shall separate us from God's friendship!
~A. W. Tozer~
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