By Olubunmi Adebayo
*Today, if we say that the paradigm of man’s relationship with God has shifted profoundly and fundamentally, it is simply saying the obvious.*
*In the beginning, God was the center of man as the Creator, and man so saw God as the Creator :*
*Genesis 1:[1] In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.*
*Again in the beginning, God was the purpose of man. Man’s decisions and actions revolved around God :*
*Gen 1: [27] So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.*
*[31]And God saw every thing that he had made (including man), and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.*
*In fact, while God was creating different elements, He had man in mind till the very point when He said :*
*Genesis 1:[26] And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.*
*Let us look at man relating with God in the beginning :*
*Gen 2: [7]And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.*
*[8]And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.*
*Immediately after creation, man’s connection and relationship with God was sound and excellent :*
*Gen 2: [19] And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.*
*[20]And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field;*
*Can you imagine, God even allowed man to give names to everything He had created, and without fail, whatever names man called the animals, that is the name they bear till date.*
*The question therefore is : at what stage was there a shift in the paradigm of our relationship with God, when a disconnect from God was established?*
*It was at the stage of self consciousness of man :*
*The expectation of man changed.*
*The thoughts of man shifted.*
*The will of man changed.*
*The desires of man changed.*
*His needs and feelings changed too :*
*Genesis 3: [6] And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.*
*[7]And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.*
*With the fall of man in the garden of Aden, even after accepting Christ into our lives, man has not succeeded in returning God back to the center point of his life.*
*Today, all that man does is to be commanding God :*
*Do this for me, do that for my wife, do the other one for my children. Do this for town/state/country.*
*Not that these requests are bad, but they have overwhelmed our relationship with God, such that our lives are no longer God centered, but SELF and man centered. Whereas it was not so in the beginning.*
*Today, the heart cry of God is that man should return to Him as it was in the very beginning when man thirsted for God and sought after Him.*
*While I agree with you that several people are yet to accept Jesus Christ into their lives as their personal Saviour and access to God, most of those that have accepted Jesus, are only using Him for their personal and selfish interests, THE GENUINE LOVE FOR GOD IS NOT THERE. And this is the pity party we are celebrating today. What a pity!*
Top of the day to you
©️ Olubunmi S Adebayo.
