Have you ever been separated from someone you love? Military deployment? Business trip? Family crisis? Most of us have experienced this to some degree. You know the feelings of emptiness which these situations create. You know the companionship which is no longer available. You know the interaction which is no longer possible: conversation, touching, doing things together, etc. The barriers of distance and circumstances keep you apart.
Isaiah declares to Israel that “your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you...” Isaiah’s words provide us insight into the real problem which sin creates: it creates a barrier between the sinner and God. In fact, it is the barrier between a sinner and God! This is more than a spiritual condition of “lostness.” The sin has broken the relationship with God. He is no longer accessible to the sinner.
This idea is aptly illustrated by what happened with Adam and Eve when they sinned. They were removed from the garden and the presence of God. They no longer had the intimate fellowship which they had enjoyed with their Creator, and they were not allowed to return for there was no remedy for their sin. They were separated from God, the source of life, and thus they became subject to death.
Now separated from God, mankind began a downward spiral into wickedness as recorded in the first six chapters of Genesis. By Noah’s day, “the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen 6:5). When relationship with God (the source of light, truth and everything good) is broken, the result is darkness.
Thank God for His Son Jesus who provides the reconciliation for us (Romans 5:6-11)! He brings us back into a right relationship with God by removing the sin barrier. Now we can have access to the Source of life, light, truth and what is good. Now we can walk with God. This is what the cross of Christ is all about. Thank you, Jesus!
