That Christian Next Door

God wants connections with human beings. Period. So, as you read this, whatever your set of beliefs may be about God or His existence, God’s intent as made clear in the Bible is for close connection with us as individuals, families, nations and as a Christian collective. And for those who have never felt a connection with God or who are yet to know Him, connection with God is possible and part of His design for life.

Unfortunately, something called sin can get in the way of that. We have all most likely heard that word before in one shape or form and it has different meanings to different people. For some, sin is something to be absolutely avoided. For others, it is a means towards finding themselves. For certain people, sin is a bold act of rebellion against the establishment. For certain others, it is a thing they have heard spoken of from lecterns and pulpits that is vague, not fully fleshed out in their minds and possibly a little out of touch with the reality of life.

However, from a Christian perspective, sin signifies separation from God. It is any form of living that is or intends to be independent from God. So, sin is both the choice to do the thing that would lead to separation from God and the very thing that separates us from God (e.g. the choice to lie and the lie itself). Sin is not a label God places on anyone’s head. It is not an aisle or a section or a descriptor for a person or any group of people. It is not a person either – no one is sin-incarnate.

Sin is simply a separator. It is not the separation. It is simply any choices and actions that invariably lead to separation from God. There should be no separation between humans and God but sin puts one in. So, realistically, connection to our creator, God, for everyone, is one choice and one action away. The choice being to end the separation and the action being to stop the thing(s) causing the separation (e.g. lying, cheating, stealing, jealousy, hatred etc.) and then to reconnect.

Christian belief takes God seriously. We believe His account in the Bible of how He created the heaven and the earth, and how He created humans and made us in His image and likeness. We also believe that God is not human but He is a person, with a body and a Spirit. He speaks, hears, feels, hopes, wishes and even prays. He is loving, creative and desirous of us. Crucially, He is perfect and He made us to be perfect too. Nothing major here.

But through the ages, starting with Adam and Eve, the first created humans, sin or the act of trying to be and being independent from God has made us less perfect than when our journey began and also more and more separated from God. (We actually are our best selves when we are connected to Him and we suffer when we are disconnected.) However, according to John 3 vs 16, one thing which sin has being and will always be unable to do is separate us from God’s love.

Now for the tough part. From the Bible’s perspective, because of Adam’s choice to be separate and the act that caused the separation (disobedience to God), every descendant of Adam (all of us) has had sin and a disconnect from God passed down into their life. The perfection of God’s initial creative act, which was intended to be passed down untainted from generation to generation through family by marriage between a natural man and woman, got tainted. According to the Bible, the cost of sin is being cut off from the life-giver (God) leading to death both spiritually and physically and eventually spending eternity in Hell (a very real place, by the way.)

However, God, being all-powerful, all-knowing and all-wise, devised a way to retain us to himself and to reestablish connection with us. He asked His Son Jesus Christ (who is a part of the Godhead of Father, Son and Holy Spirit) to come to Earth and pay the price of sin on human behalf. Importantly, while on Earth, Jesus lived the perfect life we were created to live. Yet, He was physically put to death by unjust men for wrongs He did not do and died the death that is sin’s requirement of us all. (This was the plan all along.) This unjust death created a spiritual deficit that is the entry point towards reconnection with God.

So, if we confess our sin to God (remember: sin is the separator consisting of choice and action), admitting that we have lived independently from Him (which is the truth if, as you read this, you neither believe in God nor currently take the required actions that confirm that belief), and saying that we want Him and are sorry for being separate from Him and that we accept Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, then we take advantage of the spiritual deficit caused by Jesus Christ’s unjust death. Our debt becomes cleared and we are free to reconnect back to our Creator who loved us so much even before we were born that He was planning ahead for us.

Pause here: Do you feel separate from God or like you don’t know him or like you don’t believe in Him, or like you don’t have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ – specifically, a personal relationship that leads you towards being like Jesus Christ and that has followed an act of owning up to being wrong about being independent from God in the past? If yes, then it is likely that you are separated from God.

However, God, being all-powerful, all-knowing and all-wise, devised a way to retain us to himself and to reestablish connection with us.

God’s love will not ignore our will. If we choose to be independent from Him, we will remain independent from Him. While nothing can stop God’s love for us, sin can block the benefits that come with that love such as his protection, provision and peace among other numerous things. People who are independent of God miss out on all such benefits.

Are you somehow separated from God? It is most definitely not His intention or wish for you to remain that way. God wants to bring you in to Himself and He wants you to know Him like He knows you. He wants fellowship with you. He wants to be a Father and a friend to you. And for sure, He can be all that for you because He is all that for so many Christians.

God’s love is available to all as He says in John 3 vs 16 but the benefits are only felt by those who believe and choose dependence on Him. We all know it’s no use being told we are loved if it is not accompanied by companionship, togetherness, fulfillment or any of the like. The best of God’s love is in the benefits. So, if we live our lives in ways that say to God ‘I despise you’ and ‘I do not need you’, there should clearly be no surprise if, although His love is near, we do not experience the benefits of that love.

To put it another way, God does not separate us from his love or the benefits of His love. When we don’t feel like He wants anything to do with us, that is not the case. He absolutely loves and wants us. The problem is that sin separates and sin occurs both because of a human choice and a human action. So really, we and only we can separate ourselves from the benefits of God’s love.

We hope this has been a blessing to you. If it has clarified some things or sparked more questions, we would like to hear from you. You can get in touch with us through our social media channels. If you want to reconnect with God in a meaningful way, That Christian Next Door can help with that. Our Salvation Prayer resource can talk you through the steps of establishing this reconnection. Our ‘I am a New Christian‘ page can walk you through next steps.

Over the next few posts, the thrust of our output will be stemming from the Parable of the Prodigal Son detailed by our Lord Jesus Christ in Luke 15 vs 11 – 32. We hope you can come along with us on this journey.