Man’s Broken Relationship Restored by God

1 John 4:14-16 “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”

God’s preoccupation in His universe is to have precious, warm and harmonious relationships – that’s why He created us in the first place! Before there was any other intelligence in the universe, there was the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit. These three enjoyed such a beautiful relationship that they couldn’t keep it to themselves. They had to create others to enjoy what they enjoyed and so they did, right down to the last planet – this planet, earth. The focus of every creature of God should be to love God with all his heart, mind, strength and soul (as this is the first and great commandment that Jesus expressed). Mark 12:30 “And thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

All who worship the Lord and follow this commandment will be personally wrapped with God. Those around them that do the same thing will be benefited. The love they then have to one another will be ignited by the love on which they are all focusing.

Patriarchs and Prophets pg 35 “And while love to God was supreme, love for one another was confiding and unselfish. There was no note of discord to mar the celestial harmonies.” When you are young you open your heart to someone you think you can trust – someone you think won’t let you down, but you soon learn (as you get older) that people will keep letting you down. The only place where you can release a confidinu love is amongst those who look to Jesus with all their heart, mind, strength and their entire being. If they are not doing this you can’t confide in them because there’s nothing holding them in a confiding love. They will sooner or later spill the beans, and gossip will start.

The beautiful love that God wants us to have is sadly, just an ideal we all harbour in our hearts and yearn for, but we keep on being disappointed. We keep on being shattered because we have all lost that important ingredient: to so love God with all our hearts, and to exercise our whole strength, mind, soul and body for the single puipose of focusing on Him and His way only.

We’ve all lost that love and a relationship with God because of sin. God knows the total incapacity of fallen man to love Him. He also knows that we have it as a wonderful dream, but that it is beyond our capability to put that dream into effect. Is He going to wave a magic wand and give us that special love? No, He is not an arbitrary activist. How then will He reach into our hearts to achieve this object? Phil 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

What does He actually do to create inside of us “the will” and the action? Follow the first step.
The Ten Commandments were especially adapted for sinners to show what standard must be kept, in order to have true happiness. God gave them, in all grandeur, from Mt Sinai. The people of Israel were so affected, and touched by God’s greatness that they said in amazement, “All the Lord has said, we will do and be obedient.”

The law was given to crush and destroy the pride of man. The very egocentrism of the Israelites (that is also in every sinner) spoke, saying “1 will attain to the keeping of all the commandments”. But God knew their inability. When He puts the law in Iront of us and says, “keep it”, we in our human abilities try, but fall flat on our face everv time. It’s amazing how long it takes for us to learn.

The Apostle asked the question, “What is the purpose of the law?” When we remember that the angels served God without even considering it a law, why was it verbalised and brought to our attention?

Gal 3:19 “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added, because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.”

So the law was deliberately given (in all its beauty and grandeur) in a written form for the puipose of identifying transgression. Rom 3:19,20 “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” By the law we receive the knowledge of sin, and guilt becomes manifested. We quickly try to justify ourselves, and remove the sense of guilt – but we
can’t. We can try to hide behind all sorts of self-justifying fabrications, but we can’t get rid of it. It eats away at the spring of life and if we don’t deal with it God’s way, it will destroy us at the end. The guilt is horrible and oppressive, but it is given to help us desire a relationship with Him.

We see a horrendous experience in Rom 7:7-13. “What shall we say then?
Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For 1 was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and 1 died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.”

When we are pointed to the law, something happens inside of us. The law brings all the nastiness out of us. If you don’t tell a child it’s wrong, it will be nice to you, but if you tell a child its wrong, it will be nasty to you – this same principle occurs with regards to the law. When we are shown the law, we become negative, and often we don’t even know it! Sin creates a reaction because of the law. We wouldn’t have any trouble if the law wasn’t there. For as Paul says, “I was alive without the law once but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died”.

As humans, everything we do is with regards to ‘self – that’s what we are taught in society. Even the good that we sometimes do can be motivated by total selfishness, because we are boosting our own egos. Yet we often wonder why everything goes wrong. If we only do things for ‘self, we are gradually killing ourselves. This principle is also at work in nature.

Plenty of water flows into the Dead Sea, but no water flows out as there is no outlet – and this causes stagnation and everything in it dies. So, when confronted with the law, we are told that sin revives, and “the commandment that was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin taking occasion, … deceived me, and by it slew me.”

So, what did God have to do to regain a relationship with sinful humanity? He had to proclaim the Holy law and place it before the mind’s eye so the sinful nature (which is totally unconscious of its estrangement from God) will sense more and more intensely its death-like state. That is what is referred to in many passages of scripture – people are “alive in sin”, yet they are the ‘living dead’. They are physically alive, but are spiritually dead and don’t know it. Therefore, the law was added (because of transgression) to show them their true condition.

The Apostle Paul only came to see his true condition after meeting Jesus and being blinded by His brightness. Paul had thought that he was a ‘Pharisee of the Pharisees’, the top man of all the Jewish fraternity. But then he had an encounter with Jesus, which caused him to realise his true state, and he cried, “O wretched man that I am.” He was right at the very bottom of the pit, in his sense of knowledge about himself. We need to ask ourselves, ‘have we had that experience’? If not, we need this message. We need to feel that self-abhorrence before God can move us onto the next point.

Once we feel totally wretched, miserable, crushed, and life isn’t worth living, we think we’ve reached the end.
God doesn’t leave us there. He provides a way out for us because He loves us. In order to provide a way out for us, we must allow Him to work in us. So, what does God do next, having crashed the soul down to the very pits through His Holy Law?

Gal 4:4 “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law.”
What does it mean to be ‘made under the law?’ Is that the horrifying experience I’ve been having? Isn’t being under the law being in a state of condemnation and guilt? We all know that so well. Here I am crushed and lonely, yet I have a yearning desire for a relationship. With this crushed feeling I have no hope that I can ever have a warm joyful relationship ever again. That’s when people take their life, but when we come to that point, we must never take our life. God is the one who gives us life and if we go along and short-circuit the plan, we have no future. If we won’t shortcircuit the plan, God has the next step in readiness. He sent Jesus Christ to come and be born into the exact same experience that I’m going through.

The person who feels crushed, guilty, condemned and cursed is in desperate need of a relationship with someone who knows what it is like: “Oh! If only I had someone who understands me! If only I had someone, deep inside of me, deep in there who really understands me, who comes so close, under my skin, and really knows my inward experience. If only I had such a relationship.” Is it possible? Does God deprive humanity of a relationship while they are in this condition? Does he mock our weird and horrible condition? ST, August 14, 1884 par. 5 “God is reasonable and compassionate. The sorrows of his people [who’ve been worked by Him – His law] touch his heart of love; and will he not hear our prevailing prayer? [When you really cry to God?] Will not our very urgency be regarded? His loving-kindness faileth not. As a kind Father, he does not mock the miseries of his children.”

When He’s crushed you through His Holy law and you see yourself as you really are, all hopelessly torn and bruised, He does not mock your bruised state. In fact, He has very gently tried to bring you to that experience. He now sees that your heart’s cry is really powerful and it’s urgent: “I’m going to lose my way Lord, Please, help me!” As the cry comes up before Him, in due time, He has sent His Son, born under the law. Gal 3:10 “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.”

Here it is! Another punch line: Cursed! “I haven’t kept all those laws. I’m a terrible curse and my heart condemns me.”
1 John 3:20 “For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.”

What powerful words are in that one little statement. I’m under the curse for the law has condemned me. There’s no relief from the curse, yet when our heart condemns us, we may know that He’s greater than our heart – what a relief, that God doesn’t look upon me as a cursed, hopeless being! He’s greater than all, and knows all things, including our hearts. So, every time we have a heart that condemns us, we should thank God, for if our heart doesn’t condemn us, then we haven’t got the touch of the law. So, the Lord is greater than our heart, but what can He do?

Gal 3:13 “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” We are cursed and in a desperate state – of loneliness. Our hearts condemn us, and we need fellowship and comfort in our sufferings. Jesus came in exactly the same experience. He was made a curse for us. He was made a curse to be able to experience with us and for us, our sufferings. 2 Cor 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

God made Him to be sin for us? God made Jesus to be that? He came to enter into a relationship with us in that experience? So, when you feel God’s law and God’s perfection drawing near; when you feel condemned, remember how Jesus felt: ‘He was made to be sin who knew no sin.’ There was an occasion when He never knew sin like that, but now He comes and knows it with you.

2 Cor 13:4 “For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.” Do you understand the relationship?

He was weak with us and we are weak with Him. We suffered under the curse and He suffered with us. The sufferings of Jesus Christ were the sufferings that we suffer and as we take hold of this, we realise that our sufferings are actually Christ’s sufferings. He is having a relationship with us, but the relationship doesn’t stop there. What happened when Jesus came down and experienced our sin with us? He trusted in God, and said, “Father I’m in this terrible mess together with my brother, help me!”

Stop to think about it! As He was praying, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” what was He echoing? He was actually crying in fellowship with you as He cried, and it was God that lifted Him up. We are weak with him but we shall live with Him by the power of God. When your heart condemns you, don’t worry. God knows that He has a wonderful way out for you. Every time you feel condemned, look back to this beautiful fellowship and you will have a fellowship of condemnation to lift you into a fellowship of Righteousness, a fellowship that is high and uplifted. It’s
one of the most beautiful meditations. The God of heaven bows so low and enters into an intimate relationship with a crushed human being. When you see that, doesn’t your heart turn to Him? Don’t you begin to love Him?

Aren’t you prepared to do anything He tells you to do? Now God is finished working in you both to will and do His good pleasure. God used the Commandments to bring you down. But there is something higher than that law that condemns us. It is a relationship and it can only be with the One who is our Creator. Review and Herald Jan 9,1883 “The Son of God came voluntarily to accomplish the work of atonement [At one-ment with me and my cursed condition. He came voluntarily]. There was no obligatory yoke upon Him, for He was independent and above all law We are under the law, but He was independent and above tke law – the lawgiver Himself. He could activate things within Himself that no other being who was obligatory to the law could do. He had no yoke upon Him. . . . . “The angels, as God’s intelligent messengers, were under the yoke of obligation; [because they Were created by Him] no personal sacrifice of theirs could atone for the guilt for man. Christ alone was free from the claims of the law to undertake the redemption of the sinful race.”

Here we see the activity of the law and something higher than the law. The law is there to bring me face to face to my obligation to God and shows me that I have failed Him miserably. As I have failed my obligation, someone who is free of obligation came down and joined himself with me – in that misery. Why? So that I might enter into fellowship with his sufferings. When we pray, ‘Lord please help me out of my sufferings’ and He says, ‘won’t you join Me?’ we realise that if we join Him, we will come out of our sufferings because He has suffered with us.

Heb 2:17,18 “Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” He came into an experience so that He can have fellowship with us and help us. When you are in a broken relationship, you need help. Now He’s there, right beside you in fellowship, suffering every temptation that ever comes upon you. When you’re cursed by the law and feel hopeless, and when life is meaningless then the temptation comes to you to take your own life. Jesus was even tempted to do that. If I have been tempted, then He was also – so that He can be a merciful and faithful High Priest. He knows exactly what I’m going through. However, unless you actually take hold of this, you will go through life as an orphan and be terribly cursed.

Heb 2:11 “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.” He is not ashamed of us because He came to save us. He’s a brother with us in our terrible state. We all have the same beginning – birth. Heb 2:10 “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of thensalvation perfect through sufferings.” I can never come out of my sinful condition without suffering. That’s a reality! To understand this, I need someone to come into a relationship with me. So Jesus comes and enters into a relationship with me, including the misery of it all. So He is one with me, my Brother, the Captain of my salvation, being made perfect by the things which He suffered. Heb 5:7-9 “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them mat obey him.”
Here is the atonement. Therefore what will you and I do about it?

Heb 4:15,16 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

He had real fellowship with us under the curse of the law and yet He was without sin. Why? It was because He committed himself unto Him that judges righteously. He committed Himself to God. This is the way out. Let God lift you up. He says, “Follow me! You are not alone in this battle.”

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. That is the answer. My Life Today pg 289 “What love, what matchless love, that, sinners and aliens as we are, we may be brought back to God and adopted into His family! We may address Him by the endearing name, ‘Our Father,’ which is a sign of our affection for Him and a pledge of His tender regard and relationship to us. And the Son of God, beholding the heirs of grace, ‘is not ashamed to call them brethren.’ They have even a more sacred relationship to
God than have the angels who have never fallen.”

What sort of relationship did Jesus have before He came down from heaven? It was a relationship, which was above the law. The angels were obligated to the law, but what sort of a relationship will we enter into with Jesus Christ – something that angels who have never fallen have never experienced. Do you love him? Do you love Him enough? If you don’t He’ll keep on taking you through the pits because He works in us to will and to do. He wants to lift us to the relationship that Jesus had with His Father.

After you have contemplated this reality you will do what Apostle Paul did.
Phil 3:5-10 “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.”

Why did Jesus come to have a relationship with us? He took our sufferings and our death and if I could come to the knowledge of that, then that will be everything to me. Submit yourselves to the workings of God. The question is – are we touched so deeply, so inwardly, that we will respond to God working in us to will and to do? There is no magic wand, so follow Paul’s example.

Heb 13:5,6 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” ‘I will never leave you’ – what a fellowship! We have nothing to fear.

How are we justified? – not by any good works we have done. God is above the law – God doesn’t refer to the law to save me. He refers to Jesus, whom He has sent. He knows our helplessness, so He sent Jesus in the likeness of sinful flesh and He will never leave me or forsake me. I love Him so much I will live only for Him. 2 Cor 5:14,15 “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” The love of Christ constraineth us. That love is so great. He’s won back a relationship with you. How did he do it? By coming your way. He says now that I’m with you. I’m suffering with you the condemnation and the guilt and the horror. Let me lift you.

1 John 4:16-18 “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God hi him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we hi this world. There is no fear hi love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

We know God is love. We can have boldness because as He is, so are we. So, because we love God like that, we have no need of the law to keep us hi check. The schoolmaster has finished his job. We have no need of the law because the love that we have experienced in this activity brings us to a higher relationship than that of the mere law, which was adapted to the human sinful race.

Rom 13:10 “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” By beholding we will be changed. He is my Saviour. I have nothing to fear.

John Thiel,
Australia