Reading in Jeremiah we see the "still-ness" of God. Although Israel and Judah were a land "filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel", the LORD did not abandon them. He was still with them. In their sin, He remained their God. That brings up a question. Does it not say in scripture that sin separates us from the Lord? Yet, how can one be separated from an omnipresent God?
Certainly, those who have not acknowledged the Lord, confessed sin and repented, live apart from God. Ephesians 2:12 speaks of those who are "excluded from citizenship" and do not know the covenant promises, living in a world without God and without hope. These are those dear ones who are truly lost. Later in the same book written by Paul, he describes those whose minds are full of darkness, wandering far from a life of following God, having their minds closed and their hearts hardened against Him (4:18).
But, can sin separate a Christ-follower from God? The prophet Isaiah writes in Isaiah 59:2, "It's your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, He has turned away and will not listen anymore." It is a frightening place to be "cut off from God". Does that mean He can abandon us? I think it is vital to see who has caused the separation. It is "your" sin". Because of "your sins". It is our acts of sinfulness against a holy God that separates us from the Lord. God is never the initiator. He does not separate Himself from us, but we separate ourselves from Him. Think back to Adam and Eve in the garden. Sin separated, causing Adam and Eve to hide, but God came looking to find them.
God's proximity to us is not affected by sin, but His intimacy is impacted. As believers, our position in Christ is forever secure, but if we act in unfaithfulness our fellowship with the Lord can be broken. We can become spiritually barren in our sin and miss the blessings of God's promises. All sin is an act of rebellion against God and consequences follow disobedience. Sin does not disconnect us from our status of being justified through the life and death of our Saviour Jesus Christ, but it greatly impairs our fellowship with our Heavenly Father.
God's promise is true: "I will never leave you or abandon you." (Hebrews 13:5 ESV) However, when we choose to sin, even though God will not leave us, nor will we lose our salvation, we will face a sense of separation if we persist in disobedience. Consider an earthly friendship. We might be sitting right beside a friend who is still very present in our lives, but because of a disagreement or misunderstanding, the companionship that was once enjoyed is temporarily strained because there is something standing between the relationship. There is still deep love for one another, but closeness has been severed. Until the air is cleared there can be a loss of love, joy and peace. The same is true with our connection to the Lord. He is still with us, but until we repent of our sin, our fellowship with God cannot be restored.
Sin will not cause us to lose our salvation if we are truly a child of God. If it did, then our sin would be more powerful than the blood of Christ. Even in our sin God does not or will not abandon us. "Sin is mighty; but there is one thing that it cannot do, it cannot make God forsake those whom He has adopted into His family." (Meyer)
I do not know who needs this reminder today, but God is still your God. He has not abandoned you. If there is something standing as a wedge between your relationship with Him, now is the time to confess and seek forgiveness. Immediately intimacy will be restored. As with Adam and Eve, He is nearby, looking for you and waiting for you to acknowledge and desire Him again.
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