2015 05 17 ~ Relationship Damaged

Relationship Damaged We were created for a relationship with God. Although God has plans for us on earth, He didn’t create us for those things. He desires to have a relationship with someone like Him. It is a relationship that is always intimate and available. God is never busy or asleep. He is always excited time to spend with us. He wants to know everything we experience and feel. He even wants to share what He experiences and feels with us. He wants a deep relationship of love with us, His children. When God first created Adam and Eve, He had this desire with them. He designed a special garden for them to live in and He visited often. They would walk and talk together the same way you do with your friends. God enjoyed their time together and Adam and Eve enjoyed it also. Something very sad happened in that garden. Do you know what it was? One thing we need to know about God is He is very different than people. God is Holy. He is perfect. He doesn’t make mistakes and He doesn’t have bad thoughts. He is always good and always loves. Because God is Holy, He can’t be with sin. He tells us sin causes death and separation from Him. The sad thing that happened in the garden is Adam and Eve decided to sin. God had given them instructions and they disobeyed. They had to leave the garden and the relationship God created them for was damaged. They weren’t able to be close with Him anymore. Have you ever sinned? We all have! The Bible tells us we all have sinned and that sin separates us from God. However, God’s love for us is so great He wasn’t willing to leave us separated forever. He had a plan that was hard for Him, but it would correct the relationship He desires. Sin causes death, and God knew someone had to die because of the sin in our lives. God didn’t want us to die. If we had died for our sin, it would have been forever. We couldn’t save ourselves because we aren’t pure, holy, or powerful. God knew saving us would take the power and purity of someone who had never sinned. Do you remember one thing that is different about God than us? We have sinned. God has not! He has never, ever sinned. He is perfect and holy. God knew He had the power to pay the price for our sin. Do you realize what that would mean? To pay for our sin, God would have to die. Remember, God has three parts: the Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. To be able to be our friend again, God was willing to send Jesus to earth to be a man like us so He could die to pay the price for our sin. Jesus did just that. If He had sin in His life, when He died, he would have stayed dead. However, Jesus had never sinned. He was perfect, so after He died the Holy Spirit was able to resurrect Him and the price of death was completely paid. Now, if we want to have the relationship with God we were created for, all we have to do is admit we need God because of our sin, repent, and accept the gift Jesus offers to us. Then, the sin disappears and we can know God. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) NIV