I know that’s a mouthful! I could have called it something else but that seemed to capture what I was going for best!

What the heck am I talking about?!

A few years ago a friend asked me if I’d ever thought about humanity as a whole, and its relationship with God. I said that I had sort of, but not extensively, and what did he mean? He went on to explain something SO beautiful that helped me see the fall of Adam and Eve, the old Law, the new Covenant, and heaven itself in a whole new light! It helped explain why parts of the old law might no longer apply to us! And why we are expected to have a more personal relationship with God than the Israelites were!

The whole discussion had started since I had mentioned to him that one of my favorite aspects of growing into an adult was my changing relationship to my parents! I love and respect both of my parents SO much! And I have no issue with being subordinate to them, but as I grew, and moved out, and got married, I became my own man. Apart from them, and at first I feared, far from them. But I am closer with both of my parents now than I ever have been in my life! Mom is one of my closest friends! There’s no one that I’d rather play board games, or watch movies, or just talk about our lives with! (Aside from my gorgeous wife of course!) And dad isn’t the boss of me anymore! But I find myself looking to him for guidance and wisdom more now than ever before! The relationship with both of them has transformed from one of a child with a parent, to something much closer to peers! Dad asks me for advice on things occasionally, and I do my best to give wise advice. And when I ask him for advice he knows that I will consider it and weigh it, I usually follow it since he’s WAY wiser than me, but I don’t do so because he’s in charge of me, but because I trust and value his opinion as a fellow man!

Out of that discussion he mentioned that the same thing happened with mankind and God in the Bible! AND I NEVER EVEN NOTICED!

Infancy

So he started by pointing out that Adam and Eve were made in God’s image, as children are in ours. They were made innocent, not knowing right from wrong, and in that they were close to God, He walked personally among them, talked with them and knew them!

Toddlers

After Adam and Eve spurned God there was separation! They hadn’t wanted to be held in His arms and loved, they wanted to strike out on their own! At this time there was good and evil, and the people knew it. But there was no hard and fast law! They only learned what to do and not to do via direct intervention from God, or their conscience. Just like with toddlers, even before they can speak they learn to scream, they learn to throw things that they don’t want. They start pushing against your chest when you try to hold them close! And during this time you can’t tell them the rules. Or at least they wont fully understand, so you teach them with discipline. When they reach for something you say no and then swat their hand. They cannot yet understand the law, but they can still learn to follow your guidance by your loving, firm hand.

Childhood

Childhood is when they are old enough to understand the rules. Not yet old enough to understand the why, but for now they don’t need to! You teach them so many things in this period! How to read and write, to do math, to ride a bike, to share, to clean up, to be kind, to play games. You also teach them what not to do, except now you can actually tell them ahead of time. You tell them do all these things and it will go well with you! Do these other things and you will have sorrow and suffering! At this age they don’t really know why they shouldn’t lie except mommy said not to. But they can understand the rules and that there will be consequences that come for breaking the rule, without having to first break it and learn the hard way.

It’s also during this time that there come some of the most interesting rules! You likely tell your children not to touch the stovetop! Not to touch the knives, or the guns. Not to go outside after dark or alone, not to touch snakes, or approach any wild animals, and especially not to talk to strangers. These are good rules!

Adolescence

Here is where the kids start to think that they have it all figured out, they know the rules and they’re starting to think that maybe the don’t need them all! They’re starting to get new freedoms! Getting to drive themselves around, maybe getting a job which means they have their own money to use how they see fit! All this new freedom and yet you and society are trying to smother them with even more rules! When driving don’t speed, and always wear your seatbelt, and don’t play your music so loud, and don’t brake so hard, and don’t run yellow lights but also drive smooth, don’t take your eyes off the road and always check your mirrors, etc. That’s not even starting with rules for money, work, social lives as their getting more mature and looking to have boyfriends or girlfriends! So at the same time that they have more freedom than ever before they also have all these new rules, many of which are unspoken until broken.

On top of that, this is also when old rules are relaxed! You teach your young adult that acutally, not only can they touch the stove, they should! It’s important that they know how to cook! And to cook they also need to touch the knives! Again something that is actually good and beneficial even though it used to be prohibited. Sometimes they’ll have to go outside at night, or alone, touch snakes, approach wild animals, and they’ll have to talk to strangers nearly every day! Even though these were good rules, as the child matures they move past them to more nuanced rules!

This is also where your relationship with them starts to shift. They are not yet peers, they still need much guidance, but they are in the final phase before becoming adults. You start expecting them to understand the rules and the reasons behind them, so that when they encounter a situation that has no specific rule, they can use their best judgement to decide what is right. When they make a mistake you don’t discipline them in the same way, instead you talk to them. You want to make sure that they understand that what they did was wrong, and that it shouldn’t be done again. Not because you’ll get’em if they do, but because that’s not what is right.

I think that this is where we are spiritually as a species now. We have moved through the old Law, and some of the rules like not eating pork have been removed, since it was never about eating pork. There are far fewer official laws, and yet far more is expected of us in our actual worship! The Israelites were told to do these things and they would be saved! We are told to “love the Lord your God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind” and to believe in His Son Jesus Christ and we will be saved! We have more freedom than ever, and yet we are now told that we must make ourselves slaves to righteousness!

Adulthood

This is the longest stage. I heard someone giving advice on raising children say: “You are not raising children, you are raising adults! They will be adults most of your life and almost all of their life. So raise them to be the kind of adult that you want to be around!” This is the stage in which your child is no longer yours! They are free to make whatever decisions they like and you only have whatever influence they give you! This is either the best time, or the worst time. And either way it’s the longest time! It’s at this stage that you will either be friends and peers with your child, or you will drift apart, animosity may even grow.

This is hypothetically heaven, or in the worst case, hell. When we are either closest to God, having grown up to be peers (Or as close as we can be to that with GOD) with Him. Sharing laughter and stories, asking for advice, growing closer and closer. Or when we have grown up into our enmity with Him. All children are angry with their parents occasionally, but many adults hate or fear their parents, they try to distance themselves from them, ignore their advice even to their own detriment, growing farther and farther apart.

Takeaways

This veiwpoint gave me some perspective on my relationship with God! When I was young, and my mother spanked me for something bad that I had done, I was angry, I was bitter, I regretted what I had done but even more I regretted that it had resulted in my pain. And I somewhat blamed mom for inflicting that pain on me! (I was a bad and rotten kid) But looking back on it, it all makes sense! I see how what she did was almost always in my best interest. Now I thank her for the discipline she gave me, and I tease her that if anything I probably needed more! I hope that when I get to heaven I can look back on my time here, my trials and temptations, and realize the same thing! That it was all actually for the best! To make me the kind of person that wants to live close to God and that He wants to spend time with! And it helps me while going through these times to think about that!

And even though I sin, and I keep on sinning! I am encouraged that I am still a child. And I am still learning, and at this point it matters most that I keep trying to be like my Father! So long as I don’t turn away completely, I don’t spurn him, then I can keep moving toward that beautiful relationship with Him that I want!

Another evolving perspective

The 4 states of God and us

God the father above us

Jesus Christ among us

The Holy Spirit within us

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