Separation between Mankind and God

Anytime there is a break in a relationship, a separation takes place. There is distance where once there was no distance, barriers where once there were no barriers. And until that distance is closed, until the barriers are brought down, there can be no reconciliation. The gospel provides reconciliation between God and sinners. That is exactly what God intended to do and what he has accomplished by sending his Son into the world. People today often fail to appreciate the significance of what God has done, and the importance of reconciliation, because they do not understand the separation that exists naturally between mankind and God. Henry David Thoreau was a nineteenth-century American philosopher and naturalist, an agnostic. When he was on his deathbed, his aunt came to him and asked him, have you made your peace with God? He responded, I didn't know we had quarreled. Well, he may not have known that they had quarreled, but indeed, there is a quarrel. In fact, there is a war between God and mankind, because God made us for Himself and we have rebelled against him, and in our rebellion, we have set ourselves at enmity with him. When God first made humanity, he made us upright, without sin. He put our first parents, Adam and Eve, in a garden that was sinless and they enjoyed wonderful, intimate communion, fellowship and open relationship with God. Adam walked with God. They could talk to him. He knew them, they knew him.¹

Tom Ascol