Never Alone

the Promise of His Presence

I

t is not good,” said God, “for man to be alone.” Yes, “alone” is the loneliest word you will ever hear at the final judgment. God does not want us to be alone. As a matter of fact, the plan and promise to save us from being alone with our sin and our self forever, is the coming of Immanuel: “God with us.” God wants us to be with Him, and it is His grace that makes it possible for Him to be with us. The sad truth is, “He came unto his own and His own received Him not.”  Knocking on the church door in Laodicea He said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and sup with him, and he with me.” Having God with us is everything. Not having Him is worse than “nothing.”  It is what is described in Genesis, before God began what we call creation; it is to be without form, empty, and in the dark. God want’s more for us. The Bible says, “with God, nothing is impossible.” Only a blind fool would reject and refuse a life in which “nothing was impossible.” It is God’s presence and wanting to be “with God” that makes such a life available. Are you with me? Faith is wanting to be with Him. To be with someone is to understand, agree and to follow. Immanuel came to be “with us,” but that is only possible if we follow.  Jesus said, “I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly. That means eternal life in the hereafter, and an overflowing life of abundance for the here and now. Abundance means, enough for you, and more to share with others. Joseph did not always have his coat of many colors. He was thrown into a hole in the ground and then “laid in iron” and sold as a slave. As if that was not bad enough, he was falsely accused of a crime he did not commit and cast into prison. But that was okay, because “God was with him,” all the way.
   Jesus was crucified between two thieves and surrounded by jackals, wild dogs, and the bulls of Bashan. The crowd gawked, squawked, and jeered.   His enemies cheered, but that is not what made what happened there so awful. It was when God the Father had to pour out His judgment on Sin, with the sacrifice of His Son. Christ described the aloneness of Hell with the words, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Once you are by God “forsaken,” you are “alone” forever.  Jesus died “alone” in our place, that we would never have to be in the eternal solitary confinement of a dark and lonely prison cell of our own making. On the other hand, there is nothing quite as wonderful as Christ’s promise the believer, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” -id