Will God Ever Turn Away From You?

What do you think? Maybe there is something that you did that you think God is so angry at you about. Maybe you think that it’s so bad, God would not want to look at you ever again and this keeps you from coming closer to Him.

The thing is, if you believe that God turned away from Jesus while He hung on the cross, you will also believe that God will turn away from you when you mess up.

Am I right?

For years I held back from God because I was always taught that God did indeed turn away from Jesus and I wasn’t giving my heart to someone who would leave at the first sign of me messing up.

So … I want to propose to you a new way of thinking.

The victory side of the blood and resurrection of Jesus.

Is God everywhere? Of course! If we are in Him and He is in us, how can God turn away?

“Nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”   Romans 8:39 (NASB)

If NOTHING can separate us from the love of God, how could God turn away from His precious son?

You have an amazing memory!

Here is the first line of a nursery rhyme:

“Mary had a little lamb” …..

What’s the next line? If you grew up with these rhymes you wouldn’t even have to think about it. You would instantly know it.

Let’s try another one.

“Baa baa black sheep” …..

Now you instinctively know the rest of the song because you have memorised it but interestingly, you may not have sung that song for a very long time, unless you are around small children.

During Bible times the young Jewish boys would memorise complete books of the Bible, or the Torah. By the time they were 13 years old, they had memorised Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Proverbs, Psalms, Isaiah and Jeremiah. Very impressive don’t you think?

Now when they wanted to quote a passage of Scripture, because some are so huge, they would just say the first line because all the Jewish men knew the rest of the text. They knew the entire book! That’s how Jesus was able to go into the Temple in Luke Chapter 4 and find exactly where Isaiah 60 was and read from it. He had already memorised the entire book of Isaiah.

That truly is amazing!

God is huge isn’t He? In Psalm 139, King David says that there is absolutely nowhere we can go to get away from God.

He even says,

“If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.”    Psalm 139:8 (ESV)

Sheol is hell. So God is even in hell. That’s a difficult concept to get around. I don’t remember ever hearing that preached.

Job says,

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.”     Job 1:6 (ESV)

Even Satan could come before God and He is pure evil personified. Nothing is more evil than him and yet God didn’t turn away.

“On that day you must present a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. It will consist of one young bull, one ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects.”     Numbers 29:2 (NASB)

Sacrifices were a pleasing aroma to God. How much more Jesus?

“And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, A FRAGRANT OFFERING AND SACRIFICE TO GOD.”     Ephesians 5:2 (ESV)

Keeping all this in mind, check out Psalm 22. I would encourage you to read it in its entirety.

Psalm 22:1 says,

“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.”

Hmm. Where have you heard this before?

Remember how I said that the Jewish men only quote the first part because those that surrounded them knew the rest? That’s exactly what Jesus is doing. He was essentially saying that He was the One whom King David had prophesied about.

Psalm 22:24 says

“For he has NOT despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has NOT hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.”

How fantastic! A lot of this chapter is a prophecy about Jesus on the cross. Wow! This verse shows that God did NOT turn His face AWAY from His precious Son. This is fantastic news for you and me.

Now, if you continue to read Psalm 22 and then immediately read Psalm 23 straight after, look for the connection. You may never read it the same again. It puts Psalm 23 into a whole new light.

“About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?””     Matthew 27:46 (ESV)

I don’t know about you but if God is going to turn away from me because my sin is so bad, which it is, I am out of here. This brings unhealthy fear to the relationship. For me, the verse in Matthew 27 that we just read kept me from submitting to a loving Father. If He was going to turn away from me when I sinned, then I wouldn’t turn to Him because I was terrified that He would whack me with a 4×2 upside the head.

If God turned away, that would mean sin is bigger than Him.

God didn’t turn away from Adam and Eve when they sinned in the Garden of Eden. He actually went and sought them out (Genesis 3:9). Sin does not frighten or intimidate God.

When we take that verse in Matthew 27:46 literally, we are exalting sin as bigger than God. Jesus was God in human form at that time on the earth. Do you really think that God could or would turn away from Himself? He can’t. God is not divided.

“Can a man hide himself in hiding places So I do not see him?” declares the Lord . “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord .
JEREMIAH 23:24 NASB

Besides, Jesus only ever did what He saw His Father doing (John 5:19).

“Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will NEVER desert you, nor will I EVER forsake you,” ”    Hebrews 13:5b (NASB)

If God turned away from Jesus who was perfect and holy in every way, He would absolutely turn away from us as well. And if Jesus says that He will never desert you and He only did what He saw His Father doing …. think about that!

What an incredible God we love and serve! What an exciting life we have!

God longs for you to come to Him – no matter what you have done. The reason why God can’t allow sin into Heaven is that He is holy and if He did, Heaven would become just like earth and it’s meant to be the other way around. We are meant to bring Heaven to earth, not earth to Heaven.

I know this is a bit longer than usual but I wanted to show you why I believe Biblically and contextually that God did not turn away from Jesus. This causes a great deal of pain in the body of Christ so I hope I have encouraged you and given you some food for thought.

Don’t stay away from God because you think He will reject you. He never will if you come to Him with an honest and sincere heart.
He loves YOU …. just as you are right now.
He’ll meet you right where you are at.

What are your thoughts about this subject? After reading this, have you realised that you have kept yourself from God because you were concerned that He would one day turn away? Please share your thoughts, revelations or questions in the comments section below. I would love to hear them.

Have an amazing week and enjoy some time alone with the Lord, the One who will NEVER leave you.

Many blessings to you.

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