My brother and I grew up as best friends. Until college. During our early college years, we began to see things differently. Started to argue more. We drifted away from each other. Eventually we both went our separate ways. We were civil but didn’t go out of our way for each other. We once had a great relationship, but it had deteriorated. Our relationship was broken. We were not speaking much to each other. Fast forward to today. My brother is one of my best friends. We talk, laugh, work, and travel together. How did we get from being distanced to being great friends again? We had to restore our relationship. It took some work and some time, but it was well worth it.
When it comes to God,I wonder, is your relationship broken or restored?
Romans 5 says . . .
10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. –
Our friendship was restored. Restored to what? To what it was when God first created Adam in the Garden of Eden. In the garden God talked with Adam. He walked with Adam. God created in front of Adam and let him name creation. God had compassion because Adam was alone, so God made woman (and I am glad that he did). The friendship was pure; until Adam and Eve decided to disobey God. After that, the relationship was broken. Since that time God has gone to great lengths to restore a broken friendship. The Bible is full of accounts which all tell of God’s actions as he tried to restore a friendship once lost. After years of trying, God makes the ultimate move in restoration: he allows his son to be killed. You and I can be friends of God because of the death of Christ on the cross. God wants friendship with you so much that he allowed his Son to be killed. He must care a great deal for you. He must REALLY want to be a friend.
Thanks be to God for his actions, his sacrifice, and his friendship.
For more thoughts on God’s friendship, join us at Maryland Community Church. This week we begin a series called “The Gospel” where we take a deeper look at the book of Romans. (Note: this Sunday will be a “Super Sunday” where we will have one combined service at 10AM. If you can’t make it, you can catch us live on our webstream.)
photo by arjmage