It Was All Going Fine Until . . .
By Johnny Angel
Have you ever worked on a project that was all going fine until some
unexpected terror struck and messed the whole thing up? Have you
ever been working on a puzzle with a lot of pieces, put the thing
together, and then watched in horror as it was knocked off the table
and shattered into pieces? Have you ever been doing a lab project
that was working out just fine until you put one too many drops in the
beaker and the mixture turned pink instead of yellow? I'm sure that
we've all had experiences like these and weren't too happy when they
happened.
This weekend I visited my family and on the way home and back to
school I was able to marvel at the beauty of creation as the beautiful
fall colors worked their way into the mountains of East Tennessee. I
had a great time with God while I was driving. And it occured to me,
God worked really hard to make the whole universe. Genesis 1 gives
us the details of how hard God worked to make a perfect place for us
to live. Then He created people. Adam and Eve walked and talked
with God in a strong relationship. It was all going fine until one day
Adam and Eve decided to disobey what God had commanded. They
commited the first sin by eating the forbidden fruit.
And I'm sure God was very hurt and frustrated about what had
happened. He knew that the human act of disobeying Him, sin, was
something that He hated. I'm sure it would have been much easier for
Him to just say the whole thing is messed up now so I'll just destroy it.
But He didn't. He loved the people He created so much that He had
given them the ability to make choices. They had chosen to do wrong.
But even in the midst of their failure, God decided that He still loved
them. He knew He would have to send His only Son to bridge the gap
that sin had created. God wanted to turn "sin" into "son"! God
wanted the relationship to be restored.
I remember loving to play with Lego blocks when I was growing up. I
had worked so hard to build a massive city (or at least a whole city
block). One night two of my friends were staying over. They decided
to have a little fun and destroy my precious creation. It really made me
mad. But I got over it. And I lovingly worked to put my precious
creation back together. (Admit it, those little guys with smiley faces
deserve a place to live!) I could have just given up, but I wanted to
give it another chance.
That's how God's love is for us. I run into so many people who try to
make Chrisitanity into something that it's not. They try to make God
unreachable and uncaring. They try to say that we have to do this,
this, and this before God will even think about us. But Romans 5:8
declares that while we were still sinners, God showed His love to us by
having Jesus die for us. God wants to bridge the gap that sin has
created. But He can only do it through His Son. When we accept the
work that Jesus did on the cross, we are forgiven and we have a walk
with God. We can walk and talk with Him just like Adam and Eve did
in the Garden of Eden before they sinned.
Don't allow people to make God's love complicated. Paul explains in
Colossians 2:16-23 that Christianity is not a matter of "Do this." or
"Don't do this." because such rules and regulations are only a
man-made religion that seem good but really aren't. 2 Corinthians 3:17
tells us that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. We are
free to find fulfillment in Christ and to serve Him because we love Him.
N Prayer,
Johnny <*}}}><