Then God made men

Then God made man.

Gen 2:8-17

God had just made all of creation. He made the garden. And He didn’t just need someone to tend it. He could have trained monkeys to do that. But He didn’t. He made man. He made us. How inconceivable is that? God’s desire was, and is, to be relational - not just functional. It wasn’t just about the garden. His desire was about having a relationship with His creation. And then He had the relationship He wanted. And it was perfect. (Well almost - we needed a mate. That’s next week.)

The relationship between God and man was close. Unbroken. Unmarred. Then we chose wrongly and created a separation we could not fix. The relationship was then not as He wanted, nor as we now want. Yet He has steadfastly pursued us, and will pursue us, till the end of time. God loves us. Desperately. But it doesn’t feel that way to us at times. Yet, He is the One who went to great lengths - the death of His Son - to fill the great crevasse between us and Him.

He allowed a relationship to die, but only for a moment, so that our dead relationship with Him could come back to life. But we sense the divide between Him and us is still there. And we also act as if it were still there.

God’s deepest desire is a relationship with us, and at the heart of that relationship is close fellowship. He is not just our creator, but our intimate friend. How do we move toward Him? How do we do our part to draw near to God? Most of my life I gathered head knowledge about Him. From the biblical text and from the church. But to draw near, you start with a question to Him. He made us, and He is waiting for us to look Him in the face and ask…

Father, how can I know you and love you more?

He is approachable, even if you have never approached Him. He wants you to. But you think, as I still do at times, I am not good enough to draw near to Him. I need to ‘get past this thing I’m going through’, then I could have a real quiet time and I could draw near. No! He wants you to just start right where you are. He loves you and is patiently waiting for you to move toward Him.

A speaker at a couples retreat Karen and I went to said, ‘I have been having a quiet time every morning for the last 35 years.’ I just had to talk to him to afterward. ‘So, 35 years?’, I asked. We were walking back to the cabins, and I told him I had a hard time understanding how you could have a great quite time every morning. He said, ‘Oh, no… it isn’t great every morning. But I start with God every morning.’ He said, ‘Quiet times are like weather, you have weather every morning right? So, get up and have a quiet time every morning. Some days the birds are singing, the sun is shining and it is great. Other days it is gloomy and there are storms. It is the same with quite times. But with small steps every day it can get better.’

If you don’t start with Him, you start with your own thoughts, your own to do list, your own negativity, and your own angst of how can you can just get through the day. That way of doing things only deepens the crevasse which doesn’t exist. Starting with Him is the answer.

He wants to walk with you. He created the garden for that very purpose. And yet there are also days you will need Him to walk with you through the valley of the shadow of death, and He will. He is with you and He loves you. The question is: Are you with Him? Just start your time with Him. Take these small steps. See how it gets better day by day.

Ask: “Father, how can I know You and love You more?”

Ask: “Jesus, what needs to change for me to look more like You?”

Ask: “Spirit, who are You leading me to invest in?”

For further reading: 

Gen 2:8-17;

God is approachable, and He loves you. He wants your heart, not just your mind.

As you read what He has written, ask yourself, do I just know more about Him, or do I know Him better, as a person. John 5:39-40 Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees. He says, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” He is trying get them to see that they do bible studies, and they have information, but they do not know Him. They read the book, but miss the author. They know facts about Him, but miss the One who the facts are about. Remember, when you read the bible you are reading the best seller of all times. And it is the only book ever written…in all of time…ever…that when you read it, you can talk to the author. Do you hear Him?

John 3:16; Hebrews 4:16; James 4:8; Hebrews 10:19; Psalm 95:2; Matthew. 11:28; Matthew 19:14: John 11:1-3

Questions: email doug@G300Men.org