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“. . .I am forgiven into a recreated relationship (with God), into identification with God in Christ.”
Oswald Sanders

I’ve read the Bible a lot and take it from me, God does some wild stuff.
We can’t put Him in a box and say, “THIS IS HOW HE WORKS.”
How can we ever know what He’s done in the lives of millions of others who have lived long ago.
Seems a little presumptuous to me.

But, sometimes God Himself writes a record of His ‘divine works’ and if you read through the whole thing, cover to cover, you might find a repeat of His previous modus operandi.

Let me sum up the first 6 books of the Old Testament by saying God made man capable of having a relationship with Him.
God hung out with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He’d show up ‘in the cool of the day’ and walked with them.

Just how awesome would that have been?
One day we’ll find out for ourselves.

Then Eve, who probably didn’t want to cook, or had run out of menu ideas blew the whole deal by eating the ‘forbidden fruit’ and Adam followed her lead and ate it too.
They ended up evicted from the Garden.
Ultimately landing in an area with bad schools which led to trouble with their kids.
It all went from bad to worse.

There must have been some extremely unsavory stuff happening because
God destroyed almost everyone and everything in a flood.
Maybe you saw the movie???

After awhile God spoke to another guy named Abraham and said, “I’ve got some good news and some bad news. I’m going to give you a whole new land for your descendants. But first, they’ll be slaves for over 400 years. Then I’ll intervene and ultimately get them to the land I’m giving you. I PROMISE.”

After the 400 years, when the timer went off, God spoke to Moses, who was stuck in a dead-end job literally in the back of nowhere watching his father-in-laws’ flock. God fast-tracked him and sent him to get all of Abraham’s descendants out of Egypt where they were building the pyramids and having lots of babies.

So Moses went along to Egypt and took his big brother with him to hassle Pharaoh until he ‘Let the People Go.’ Which he finally did, because that was God’s plan all along. When Moses recites the story to the children of Israel he puts it like this,

And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. Deuteronomy 6:23

Now that’s all a silly spin on a very special truth.
God didn’t bring them out of bondage without a plan and a purpose.
He brought them out so that He could bring them in!

He wanted to give them a special homeland of their own.
He wanted them to hang out again with Him the way Adam and Eve had, or Abraham, or Moses.
To be in a real relationship with Him.
That’s why He made us in the first place.

But what about the rest of us? Is God interested in us?
As a matter of fact, HE IS.
He is so interested in us, in every single human being ever, that He sent His Son to be a sacrifice for our sins. We don’t like talk of blood sacrifice, but the Bible says, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.
When Jesus prayed in the Garden, before His arrest, He asked the Father, “If there is any way possible let this cup pass from Me, nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done.”
There was no other way.
There is only one way for us to have our sins forgiven.
The blood of Jesus Christ.
When we discover the truth and trust in what Jesus did for us on the Cross, we find ourselves brought out that we might be brought in.

who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love;
Colossians 1:13

Brought out of the power of darkness and into the Kingdom of the Son of His love.
Brought out that we might be brought in.

Are you making time in your day to talk with God?
He’s gone to extremes to make it possible.
Tell Him about your day, your life, your kids, your job, your fears, your struggles, whatever!
He’s interested in it all.
He’s interested in you.
He sent His Son to make the conversation possible.

Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. Romans 5:1-2

You’re standing in grace.
Don’t just stand there.
Talk.