Why is restored fellowship so important to God? ?

LOVE IT! Love the question! I think you're hitting the nail on the head!

Many times people are consumed with anger and dismay at the way God seems to *punish* the people in the Old Testament. It's true, He does appear kinda harsh - but the age old problem of humanity has always been bad relationships ... Bad relationships with God and espeicially bad relationships with our human brothers and sisters.

We have Adam blaming Eve in the garden, we have Cain killing Abel, and on and on. We have Joseph's brothers selling him into slavery, Jacob tricking Esau out of his birthright. When Israel was "exiled" there was all kinds of injustices being done in the neighborhood. People had gotten so cruel they'd become numb to humanity, they were sacrificing their OWN CHILDREN to idols. Some people use Sodom and Gomorrah as a case against homosexuality - but I just want to inject that I think the REAL crime was not so much that they were gay, they were RAPING people, ganging up on them and torturing them in the cruellest way imaginable!!

If God seems harsh over these types of things, can you blame Him? It didn't have to be God who "sent punishment" on these people. If you'd taken God right out of the picture and just left people behaving this way - the very same thing would have happened: war, crime, murder, the harsh treatment of human beings without mercy... That's precicely what God HATES, if you ask me. Why should God protect people who continually act this way, never see the error of their ways and repent?

It seems to me that God injected Himself into these situations through the prophets so that they'd have some clue as to what, exactly was wrong with their behavior - so that they could see what it was leading to, and so that when they were ready to turn from their ways they'd know exactly Who they were turning back *to*. So they'd appreciate the "protection" they'd been unwittingly enjoying until they spiralled out of control.

Jesus talked about going to make things right with your brother before offering a sacrifice. He talked about forgiveness, yes, but REPENTANCE is very central - not just to GOD!! But "when your brother comes to you and ***repents*** you are to forgive him. We need to both RECONCILE with the people we've hurt AND forgive those who've hurt us.

And I don't think forgiveness is just a switch that we flip inside of ourselves. We were warned to forgive from the heart. Sometimes we have to take serious time to try and understand just where a person was coming from when they wronged us. Oftentimes we find that person was dealing with a lot themselves. I think this is precicely why Jesus cried "forgive them, Father, they don't know what they do!"

When we take the time to understand another person we often find that they didn't know what they were doing, or that they were so damaged themselves they were acting under the principle of cause and effect: If hurt, scared, angry - Then freaked out reaction, protecting oneself, retaliating...

It all starts to make sense and it becomes easier to forgive a person when you understand them. This causes healing and right relationships. This brings peace.

I found that by seeking God, I had a hard time understanding Him until I could understand **and forgive** myself. This pulled a huge plank out of my eye so that I could see others more clearly as well. This makes loving God and loving my neighbor much, much more authentic!

He does not fellowship with sinners

He cleanses them and makes them clean

so they then can have fellowship with Him

One has to have fellowship with God our Creator

or we will never know who God is

and what His will for you is

They had to be cleansed even in the OT to come before God

For when they sinned God separated Himself from them

and did not stand for them and they were alone without Him

and its No different in the NT

and its still no difference today

God is the Same , yesterday , today and forever

HE changes Not

IF Sin is in your life...God is not there

Your sin separates God from You

HE will not dwell in an unclean Temple

There is no such thing as love the sinner hate the sin

God does not , nor can look upon sin

so how then can he be with the sinner ?

He hates a lying tongue , so how then does He love the mouth its in ?

if Sin is in , .....God is Out

If God is in , sin must not happen !!

God is Holy and Righteous

So must we be holy and acceptable unto the Lord

its our reasonable service to do so !!

Not at all, If I am not mistaken, in the parable of the prodigal son it is the only time when we see god run, he is running to the child who has returned to him.

The reason he created us was because he wanted to fellowship with us. He loves when we come to him and he willing to forgive us in order to have that relationship because he loves us.

When man sinned we separated ourselves from God. He made a way so we could restore that relationship and not be separated from Him.

Restored fellowship with God is important first of all and should be taken most seriously, but restored fellowship with others may not always be possible or not possible soon, although we are to forgive and we are to try to restore fellowship.

Totally agree. Look how all the walls come down when a person will just approach another with humility and admit their mistake. So much will be forgiven to a person who is opening themselves up and admitting their flaws.

Genesis says that when Adam and Eve sinned they died - but it wasn't physical. It was a spiritual death. They lost the constant awareness of God. When we accept Christ we get back what they had lost.

God loves fellowship, hence He created us in His image to have fellowship with Him. We are created to contain His love - hence when we were without Christ, we all felt empty in our hearts. Now that we have accepted Christ into our hearts, God lives in us, and the Holy Spirit has shed abroad His love into our hearts. (Romans 5:5)

The good news is that through Jesus' finished work at the cross, our fellowship with God has been restored forever. Our sin debt has been paid by His blood, so there is no more sin barrier between God and us. It is important for us to know the truth, so that we can come boldly to His throne of grace, without any conscience of sin nor guilt and condemnation, and simply enjoy His presence. He is after all our loving Abba Father.

As for the body of Christ, God desires for us to have fellowship with one another too. It is an expression of His love working in and through us. The amazing thing is that none of us are perfect, and we all fail or disappoint or misunderstand one another at one time or another, yet the Lord has confidence in us - to use us nonetheless for His glory, by restoring our souls when we take refuge in Him, so that we can continue to minister grace and truth to one another, and encourage one another in the Lord, so that we all will grow up together in the fullness of Christ.

There are times some of us are busier than others, so the Lord knows how to take care of His own by sending other people along our way to take their place to be a blessing to us. God works everything for our good and He makes all things beautiful in its time. (Ecclesiastes 3)

God bless you, sister Karen, and thanks for the reflective question.

1:1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

1:2(For the life was manifested, and we have seen [it], and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

1:3That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship [is] with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

1:4And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

1:5This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

1:6If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

1:7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

1:8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

1:9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1:10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

The scriptures state that God is love and that what you stated I agree that it all about forgiving and love.

Yes, it is repeatedly stated in scripture: if you have something against your brother, go to him and seek forgiveness. The Bible also says that unforgiveness will lead to great difficulty (you will lose your "last penny").

AMEN

Throughout all the generations, since the creation of man, all God has ever wanted was fellowship and communion with man.

On the One hand He is righteous and holy and cannot tolerate sin, and man, in essence is a sinner. Yet this God, was motivated and guided by His love for us and by His righteousness to make a way for us to enter into His presence with boldness.

This path was paved with the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can declare to the Lord.. "Just as I am, without one plea... but that Thy blood was shed for me, and as Thou bids me COME to Thee. Oh Lamb of God I come. I come!"

Each time man has sinned, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is qualified to speak for us.

Hebrews 12:24

And to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling which speaks something better than that of Abel.

Today we have bold entrance into the Holy of Holies through this Christ who has obtained an eternal redemption for us ( Heb 9:12)

How we need to be so thankful for the grace that God daily shows us. Each day, no matter where we are, He bids us come to Him. For fresh fellowship, fresh grace, fresh supply. No matter how far off we may be, as the Shepherding One, the Lord seeks us out, binds up all our wounds, pours the oil over us and carries us back to the flock where there is not just fellowship with Him, but where we learn to walk in the footsteps of the flock in fellowship with others in Christ.

Sin always comes in to cut off our fellowship with God and this is why we daily need to take what God has provided for us.

His Son's blood.

We are not perfect, but we are under the perfect blood of the Lord and whenever satan dares to point a finger at us, we point to the Blood which is our cleasning covering access straight to the Throne of Grace and into the bosom of our Father.

Hallelujah. Thank You Lord Jesus.

Keep me under Your blood. Let it speak better things for me. Abel's blood rose up from the ground for accusation and vengence ( Gen 4:10-15), but Hallelujah, Christ's blood, shed for us, speaks to God on our behalf for forgiveness, justification, reconciliation and redemption. This blood of the new covenant is ETERNAL sister! and day by day we apply it to be cleansed so that we can be KEPT in the fellowship with the Lord. It is in the rich fellowship that Christ is able to dispense more and more of Himself into us. Transforming and conforming us daily to match Him in every way. Praise His Name.

He has done it all sis... He has sufficiently furnished us with all that we need to KEEP and MAINTAIN our sweet fellowship with Him and with all the dear brothers and sisters.

We apply the Blood by faith and enjoy the peace and communion with the Lord and with the Body.

Love you in Him

your sis

sandy