I'm continuing my process of wrapping my mind around the awesome "story" that God has given us in His Word. I put "story" in quotes because the word brings with it the connotation of being fiction. This is not the case! It is truth! The beauty of this is that as a book that is written over a period of more than 1500 years and by over 40 human authors, through God's Spirit it tells one "story" from beginning to end. It holds together in an incredible way!
As you go through this process with me, I challenge you to put aside any doubts that you may have so that you can see what God has to say. His story story is not only His; it is also ours. It's a story of God rescuing us - restoring us back to that original picture in the Garden that I posted about last time.
In my last post I wrote about CREATION and this wonderful environment that God created. Part of that was a perfect relationship on a human level between Adam and Eve. There was no baggage to cause problems for either one - they were completely open and transparent with each other. The other aspect of this perfect picture of creation is a perfect relationship with God - one that was so close that Adam and Eve could recognize God's voice and His footsteps in the Garden.
All of this was short lived though (at least within the pages of our story). By page 2 of the Bible (Genesis 3) Adam and Eve make a choice that turns them against God. As part of the original creation God put a tree in the Garden, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and told them they could eat of every other tree in the Garden except that one. God gave them a choice, "Do you want to be with me or not?"
Satan in the form of a serpent (Revelation 12:9), came and convinced Eve that there was something she was missing out on, that God was purposefully withholding something good, and the way to get it all is by eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. She believed his deception, ate the fruit, shared it will Adam, and BROKENNESS entered our story.
The relationship between themselves is now broken. It is less than what God planned for them. Their relationship with God is broken as Adam and Eve are exiled from the Garden. They have chosen their own wants and desires over God’s perfect want and desires for them. And the relationship between mankind and God's creation is broken as the ground is cursed.
This idea of brokenness is something I believe we can all relate to. We have all fallen short (Romans 3:23). My guess is that you (as I) can still feel that pain of having messed up or fallen short. Unfortunately, that pain doesn't easily go away. We carry it along with us as baggage adding to it as we go through life. This brokenness that we carry impacts all our other relationships - with those close to us and with God. All of it is less than what God desires for us.
I want you to spend time feeling that brokenness today, not because I want you to suffer or get depressed. I want you to be ready to get rid of it because the rest of the story will have us learning how incredible God's love is for each of us and the extent that He was willing to go to take the brokenness away and restore us.
If God has already restored you from your broken state, give Him all your praise today!
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