The fall of man in the Garden of Eden brought with it many consequences. Prior to Adam and Eve’s choices in the Garden, they had the privilege of communing with God daily and the deep enjoyment of His company. In those early days, they knew nothing but contentment and peace, a self-assuredness that they loved and were loved by a Holy God. Yet when sin entered the equation, things changed. Man who once applied his focus to enjoying the riches of the Garden, fellowshipping with God, and loving the mate God had provided for him, suddenly became self-aware. With that self-awareness came many things, but three traits bore a lasting impact: feelings of insecurity, guilt, and shame brought on by the realization of sin.
After the fall, man saw himself in the cold hard light of reality. This new revelation unveiled a man with flaws and human frailties, bringing with it doubts and uncertainty. Yet in spite of man’s failings and penchant towards sin, God remained consistent in His love.
The Bible teaches in Romans 8:38-39 this powerful truth regarding God and those who have accepted His free gift of salvation:
“ For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Though we sin and our sin causes God pain, He remains steadfast in His love for us. We cannot deny that our sinful nature brings a rift in the depth of the relationship a Holy Saviour wants to enjoy with His children, but we also have forgiveness in Him and the assurance that His love for us is not dependent on the things we do or choose not to. God makes the choice to love us in spite of our sinful state, and He continues to encourage us towards the higher calling of a right relationship with Him.
It is a precious truth that nothing in this world has the power to separate a believer from the love of God. Even though our sin grieves His heart, it does not possess the strength to cause Him to turn His back on His beloved children. The most potent forces of separation this world has to offer have no foothold over God’s love and His willingness to bestow it freely.
When the devil tries to persuade us that our lives are too marred by sin for God to forgive, it is only a ploy to get us to willingly limit God’s ability to use us. The devil wants to remind us of the things we feel make us unworthy. If he can succeed in this way, he gains an advantage when Christians voluntarily sideline themselves from God’s work, feeling they are too sinful to be of use for our Lord. But God does not view us in this way. When He looks at a believer, God sees only the blood of His Son which has washed us and made us clean. Though He longs for us to make better choices and to be freed from the bondage of sin, His love for us is given without any conditions on our behaviour.
In Ephesians 1:6, Paul encourages us with these words:
“ To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”
For those who have received Christ as their Saviour, they now bear the mark of heavenly approval through the blood of God’s Son. This simple choice makes us “accepted in the beloved.” Satan wants to remind us of our past decisions that took us away from God’s path; Jesus wants to remind us of our future with Him.
If you belong to God, nothing can separate you from His love. Whether in life or in death, in this world or the world to come, those who have called upon the name of the Lord are loved freely; without any conditions.
Have you experienced the acceptance of the beloved? Are you ready for a love that will not let you go? To learn more about how you can know the unconditional love of Christ, contact our ministry at (306) 940-9554 today.
