The Fall of Man: Separation from God

So, does sin separate us from God?  If you took a poll of most people who identify themselves as Christians they would likely tell you, “yes, it does.”  This is what religion teaches.  But what does the Bible actually say about it?  Let’s take a look.

HAMARTANO:  (Ancient Greek) to be without a share in; to miss the mark; to err, be mistaken; to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong; to wander from the law of God, violate God’s law, sin

What do we know?

God created the heavens and the earth, all the creatures and man and he looked at what he created and said it was good

God is infallible, he is not the author of confusion, he is a just and loving god, therefore he would not create something imperfect

This was a place God wanted to be, to enjoy his creation and to have fellowship with nature and man

God is the source of true goodness

God is Perfect in all His Ways

Worship is the Core Purpose of Everything God Created Including Man

God, a Supreme and Holy being created the earth and everything in it including man for the purpose of His glory, to worship Him, and fellowship with Him

God created an especially beautiful and lush garden called Eden (delight) and filled it with everything man needed to live and enjoy life without toiling

God and man communed and enjoyed each other’s company

Through deception and disobedience Adam & Eve missed the mark

Think of Romans 3:23 this way:  For all, starting with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, have missed the mark, wandering from the path of uprightness and honor by disobeying God, and have come to be without a share in the perfect glory of God.

Adam & Eve banned from Eden to prevent them eating from the Tree of Life

Because God is a perfect, Holy, righteous, loving God He could not bear the thought of  His children living forever in anything less than the state of eternal perfection He originally designed for them

In order to prevent them living forever outside of perfection God banned Adam & Eve and all humans after them from the garden of Eden and access to the Tree of  Life

This was a temporary state until God could orchestrate and bring to full fruition the way for all mankind to be brought back into perfection for eternity

The Plan of Salvation

God’s plan to get man back to the original design of living eternally in perfection and harmony with God was to provide a sacrifice so overwhelmingly supreme and unblemished that a one time shedding of the blood of the paradigm of PERFECTION would provide forgiveness once and for all

The only entity that could meet the standard was God Himself

God in the embodiment of His Son Jesus Christ was the epitome of PERFECTION and therefore the only sacrifice that would atone for the sin of all mankind

Psalm 18:30   As for God, His way is perfect;  The word of the Lord is proven;  He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

Matthew 5:48  (Jesus said) Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

God spent time with people in the Old Testament AFTER Adam & Eve were removed from the garden of Eden

If the premise is TRUE that sin separates man from God, then how could or why did God have interaction with flawed, sinful, human beings after the garden of Eden fiasco?

Adam & Eve’s children Cain and Abel brought gifts to God

God talked to and promised to be with, lead, guide, bless, heal, and direct men and women throughout the entire Old Testament from before Noah until and after the time of Jesus

There is a huge difference in being SEPARATED FROM GOD and SEPARATED FROM PERFECTION

Since Adam & Eve missed the mark in the garden of Eden, humans have been separated from the original design of perfection God intended.  Since that time God has been on our side trying to get us back to His original plan.

If we were indeed separated from God we would not have interaction with Him.  He would not be so intimately and ultimately involved in showing us love, mercy, blessings, and goodness.  If sin in the garden of Eden separated God and mankind then how do you explain David’s close relationship with a very close and personal God?

Psalm 16:8    I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

How can you follow someone you are separated from?

Psalm 46:1-3    God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling.

How can God be A very present help in trouble if we are separated from Him?

Psalm 46:7   The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

According to David, God is WITH US.  Not separated from us.

Psalm 55:22    Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

Here David indicates there are righteous in the land and this is long before the time of Jesus Christ the Messiah.  The perfect lamb had not been slain nor His perfect blood shed to cover the sins of the world.  How then could there be righteous and how could any sin separated man become righteous or be close to God?

Psalm 100:5    For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.

Here David says God is good.  God is merciful.  God is an enduring TRUTH.  If God is truth then God is not lie.  i.e. God does not lie.

Numbers 23:19    God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent.  Has He said, and will He not do?  Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

Psalm 136:1   Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

Again, David says God is good and merciful.  David is speaking out of up close and personal first hand knowledge.  David was not separated from God and neither are we.

Isaiah 26:3    You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.

How in the world could a God who is separated from His children provide peace?  Who could have peace knowing they were separated from God?  How could one’s mind stay on God if you didn’t know Him?  How could you trust someone you didn’t know?  You can only know someone by having a close personal relationship with them and spending time with them.  If you are separated from someone how could you achieve these things?  The answer is you could not.

If you won’t be convinced any other way then refer back to God:

Isaiah 41:10    Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

I AM WITH YOU does not get much clearer.

Isaiah 54:8-10
With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment;
But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,
Says the Lord, your Redeemer. “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me;
For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth,
So have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed,
But My Kindness Shall Not Depart From You,
Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”
Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.

Nahum 1:7    The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him.

God is good.  God is merciful.  God is truth.  God is trustworthy.  God shows His patience, love, and mercy over and over and over. 

Jonah 4:2   So he prayed to the LORD, and said, “Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.

The Bible DOES speak of those who WILL ONE DAY be separated from God. Here are some examples:

Psalm 37:28    For the Lord loves justice, and does not forsake His saints; they are preserved forever, but the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.

Matthew 25:41    “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:

Matthew 25:46    And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

2 Thessalonians 1:8-10    
in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day

Revelation 12:9   And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

Revelation 21:8    But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

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Number 2 in a series  ->  The Fall of Man:  What Exactly Is Sin?
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Number 4 in a series – >  The Fall of Man:  Separation from God