How We Became Friends With God- Again

We flew down to Sydney in a hurry. The doctor said my father might not last another day. He had struggled to recover from an operation and was in intensive care. The whole family had gathered around. In his condition, they were only allowing one or two people in at a time. Dad had asked to see my wife, Linda, who had always been a favourite. So, they allowed me to go in with her!

As soon as Dad saw me he began to sob. On occasions, as a child, my Father had beaten me. I had coped his temper far more than my brothers or sister. Dad had often said sorry for what he had done. I had forgiven him. This time, however, his sobs were so painful. He explained to Linda what he had done to me as a child. It was possibly his deepest regret in life.

In the end- everything comes down to relationships, our relationships with God and with others.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 2 Cor 5:17-18 NASB

As children, we learn about sin, and the 'apple' and how sin separates us from God. But why does sin separate us from God? Genesis 3 records the breakdown of humanity's relationship with God. It's worth having a closer look at what transpired in the Garden.

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat off every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Genesis 2:16-17

Someone once said, "It wasn't the apple on the tree that was the problem; it was the pair on the ground!" The problem with the pair on the ground is they believed a lie about their own value and worth. This has basically been mankind's problem ever since.

God had commanded Adam not to eat from the Tree of the 'Knowledge of Good and Evil'. What was going on here can seem like a bit of mystery, but a careful reading of what transpired sheds a lot of light on the situation.

The tree was very aptly named. 'The Knowledge of Good and Evil'. We've given our house plants names, but we have never named one, 'The Knowledge of Good and Evil'. The tree was named with a purpose. The purpose was for generations to know what the sin was, what destroyed our relationship with God.

Satan tempted Adam and Eve to become like God in the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:5). Satan was luring Adam and Eve into self-righteousness where they would pass judgement on their moral worth and the moral worth of others. Look at what happened immediately after Adam and Eve sinned.

Firstly, their eyes opened to the fact that they were naked (Gen 3:7). They obtained a sense of inadequacy. They were naked before they ate from The Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil, but it never was an issue.

Secondly, they tried to hide their inadequacy by making themselves clothes of fig leaves. They began to do works, that would hide their inadequacy. There's nothing wrong with making clothes. There's nothing wrong with good works. However, doing what appears to be good works to appear righteous has been the fall of humanity ever since.

Thirdly, they hid from God (Gen 3:10-11). Notice here that sin did not keep God from loving Adam and Eve. God wanted to fellowship with them, but they hid from Him. They hid from God amongst the other trees. God had given Adam and Eve other trees in the garden to tend and to harvest, now those trees became a way of hiding from God.

Fourthly, they began to compare and blame each other and to blame God. Adam told God, 'that woman you gave me, gave to me from the tree.' When we're self-righteous will use comparisons with others in an attempt to make us look better. There is nothing more destructive to relationships than being judged by others.

God never intending people to stand in self-righteous judgement. Self-righteousness means two things; that your goodness (or correctness) comes from your moral virtue, and the right you have to stand before others - or to be in good-standing before others, is due to your moral virtue.

In 2 Corinthians 5:14-21, God tells us of His plan to reconcile us to Himself and to others. Verse 21 says that Christ, who never knew sin Himself became sin (on the cross). The rebellion of Adam was place upon the obedient servant- Christ. Our sin was imputed to Christ. At the same time, His righteousness was awarded to us!

In effect, this means we are now free from judging ourselves or others by moral self-worth. God implores us not to do this- we're to recognise no one by a self-righteous measure, (vs 16) but by the fact that God has valued them so immensely that He forgave them and made them righteous!

Becoming aware of what God has done for us, in declaring us righteous, will restore our relationship with Him and with others. God was in Christ Jesus, reconciling the whole world to Himself (vs 19) - not holding their sin against them. We have are reconciled to God; we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We are free NOT to judge and compare ourselves to others.