Rebellion and Redemption
Father, you are greater than anyone or anything in all the universe. For you created all that is, all that was, and all that is to come. There is no one like you. From everlasting to everlasting, you are God. You do not treat us as our sins deserve. Our rebellion against you was unimaginable. We had everything we needed and more. A beautiful garden to tend. Fellowship with you daily. Companionship that was perfect. Yet when tempted to rebel against you and take of the only fruit you had identified as the source of death, we chose to eat of it. How could this happen? Why did we do so? It was our pride. We desired to be wise like you. We were deceived into thinking that you were holding out on us, withholding wisdom from us. How foolish we were! Yet we did it. And certain death of soul, and eventually body, followed. Immediately, we knew something was wrong inside of us. We knew fear for the first time. We felt the fear of being discovered in this state of vulnerability and death. We knew that what we had done was wrong and had severed a connection with you. Yet you sought us out. You did not throw us away. Yes, we died in our souls that day, but you did not give up on us. For you had created us in your image, and you loved us. You would not let even our rebellion stop your desire to commune with us, to make us into the people that you intended us to be when you created us. So, you made the first sacrifice for us, killing some of your precious creation, some of the animals you had created, to make clothes to cover the nakedness that we felt for the first time in our existence. Then, though you drove us out of the garden, you promised to send a savior, one who could take on the penalty for our rebellion so that our relationship with you could be restored. And you kept your promise, sending Jesus to live among us, experience life among us, and eventually die in our place so that we could have eternal life with you. And this was no small thing. For you loved Jesus, your only begotten son, the only one who obeyed you and communed with you his entire life. You and he tasted of the eternal life for man that was to come. But it required great sacrifice on your part and on his part. For when he took on our sins on the cross, you had to cut off communion with him for the first time in his life because you, being a holy and perfect God, could not look upon sin. You nature demanded that you destroy sin. So, alone on the cross, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin, crying out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” O how that was torture for him! O how that must have pained you! Yet you and he did so for our sakes, that the penalty for our rebellion against you could be paid and we could experience eternal life. And you sealed that promise of eternal life with you when you raised Jesus from the dead on the third day! Now, we can once again experience communion with you in the way that you intended from the beginning. You sent your Spirit to dwell within us so that we can commune with you each day of our lives. And your promise that Jesus will come back and take us to heaven is soon going to be fulfilled. There, and on the new earth you will create for us, we will experience the perfect life that you always intended for us. We do not deserve this, but you gave it to all of us anyway. All we must do is believe that Jesus paid the price for our sin, was raised from the dead, and lives eternally with you at your right hand. I do believe, Father. Thank you for what you have done! Truly you do not treat us as our sins deserve! Amen.
