I See Jesus Everywhere!

Broken Relationship

Chapter 13

 

It was Sunday morning, and it was time to get ready for church. As it is sometimes, our teenage children were having a hard time getting ready, especially our oldest child, Colin. My wife Helen gave him twenty minutes, and he was finally was ready and out the door forty minutes later. This brought stress upon my wife and I; and we had words with each other. Instead of focusing on going to church to worship our Creator, we got angry at each other and fought. The drive to church was very quiet, no one speaking because of Helen and I. We were in a broken relationship for the moment.

Once in church, I wanted to worship God; but I could not if I remained angry with Helen. I immediately forgave Helen in my heart, and then I asked God to forgive me and my sin against my wife. His peace came over me, and I knew I had received forgiveness; and I began meditating on God.

I was filled with thoughts of broken relationships. I thought of broken relationships that are permanent—a break up with a girlfriend or boyfriend, lost friendships that cannot be repaired, relationships in business that sour, a marriage that ends in a bitter divorce. These are all examples of broken relationships that are permanent; you may never have the opportunity to mend those relationships you once enjoyed.

Getting back to my wife, the broken relationship we were experiencing was temporary. I knew, especially after twenty-seven years of marriage, that we would mend our relationship through forgiveness and love. The love we have for one another would endure this anger we had toward each other at this moment.  As it happened, Helen had done the same thing as I did when we entered church; and she received the same peace of forgiveness that I received.  During the “Greetings” part of service that we greet one another with, Helen and I both apologized to one another; and we mended our broken relationship on the spot.

I returned to my meditation, I was so thankful to God, and as I was praising him, my thoughts began to turn toward mankind’s relationship with God. The thought came to me that all of mankind is in a broken relationship with its Creator. It began early in our relationship; in fact, it began with our very first parents, Adam and Eve.

Genesis 3: 17-19 ¹⁷And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

 ¹⁸Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

 ¹⁹In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Talk about a broken relationship. This was not brought about by God’s will, but by our own free will. Just as Adam used his free will to break the one command that God gave him to do, we today continue in our parents’ steps and freely sin against God.  Humans are capable of such evil!  Where does all this evil come from?  People ask, "Why is there pain and suffering in the world?" Why is there sickness and death? Why is there evil? People ask, "Where is God?" The answer to where God is simple; because of our sin, we are separated from God by the curse.  God cursed all of his creation because of this broken relationship brought about by our sins; therefore we cannot see God. Our sins and lack of interest in knowing him are why we cannot see him.

For people who ask, ‘Where is God?  I cannot see him”, little do they know that not only did God appear to mankind in physical form a little over 2,000 years ago, Jesus was from the beginning because he is God.

John 1: 1-2 ¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

 ²The same was in the beginning with God.

John 1: 10-11 ¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

 ¹¹He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (Remember chapter 7, when the Landlord God sent his Son, and we received him not, but killed him instead.)

John 1: 14 ¹⁴And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Scripture clearly states the “Word” is Jesus, and Jesus is God; and God became flesh and dwelled among his creation. Why did God do this? It was his plan before creation to mend this broken relationship with his creation. He longs to have a personal relationship with us.

Ephesians 1: 4-6 ⁴According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

 ⁵Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

 ⁶To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Scripture is telling us we can become children of God.  Also, we can live forever with him.  Because you are reading this book, isn’t He what you are searching for? Isn’t He what your soul is craving for? He is God that loves you!

2 Timothy 1: 9-10 ⁹Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

 ¹⁰But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

From the beginning God foreknew we would break his commandments. He foreknew we would reject him. He foreknew we would break our relationship with him. Therefore, he planned before time began a way to mend this broken relationship with the creation he loves.

How did God do this? Simple—first, He paid the ultimate price for our sins. He took the mocking, the sneering, the insults, the pain, and suffering that crucifixion brings. Luke describes the event in chapter 23.

Vs 33: ³³And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors (two thieves), one on the right hand, and the other on the left.

Vs 34: ³⁴Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

Vs 35: ³⁵And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.

Vs 36: ³⁶And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,

Vs 46: ⁴⁶And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

If this was all there was to the story of Jesus—his death, he would have long been forgotten by us, maybe only a footnote in the pages of history.  Possibly, He would have simply been remembered as a carpenter that began a ministry at 30 years of age that lasted for only three years. He made the rulers of Rome and the Jewish elders angry, and they hung him on a tree to get rid of him. If this was the end of the story, our broken relationship with God would still be; and we would still be cursed in our sins.  We would be on our own to face God at judgment day. Thanks be to God; the entire Bible declares this is not the end.  Jesus wins and destroys death and brings mankind back in its relationship with God. Jesus does this through his victorious resurrection.    

The resurrection is the most important event in history.  Without the resurrection, there would be no hope for eternity. The eyewitness accounts are in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  I have chosen the book of Luke to describe the events that took place on that special Sunday morning:

 Luke 24: 1 - 8 ¹Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher (tomb), bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.

 ²And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher.

 ³And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

 ⁴And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments (angels):

 ⁵And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

 ⁶He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,

 ⁷Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

 ⁸And they remembered his words,

The resurrection of Jesus is what makes Christianity different from all other religions.  No other religion has such a belief.  All other religions have their leader still here, in the grave, including Mohammed.  Only followers in Jesus have a leader who did not die, but lives and promises to return one day!  Those who hope in him will be resurrected to everlasting glory.

For those who believe God’s word, we are invited back into the relationship with our Creator as a free gift—forgiveness of our sins by what God has done on the cross, not by our works, but by his shedding his blood for us, by becoming the Sacrificial Lamb who bore our sins.

1 Peter 2: 24 ²⁴Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

How can we receive this free gift? Simple!

John 3: 16 ¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Faith! Faith is what brings us back into a relationship with God: faith in Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross; faith by grace and not by works.

Ephesians 2: 8-9 ⁸For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

 ⁹Not of works, lest any man should boast.

For those of you who are in a broken relationship with God, and cannot see him or sense his presence, but want to—Jesus is the answer.  Jesus came to earth for that purpose: to restore our relationship with God. For those who desire him, your broken relationship with God is only temporary. For those who don’t: you are on the road to a permanent broken relationship with your Creator. You will never see him even though he was always there for you, offering his love.