God's Default Setting

One of the most debilitating problems I have seen in Christian's lives since I began constantly traveling in ministry fifteen years ago is a faulty concept of God the Father. It seems that there is a worldwide perception that, while Jesus is gentle and kind, the Father's holiness and justice causes Him to be more like a stern parent who says he loves you, but all he seems to think about is whether you are behaving or not.

How did the Father come to get such a bad rap? He certainly never did anything to deserve it. He has shown His heart toward us from the instant man breathed his first breath. The Bible describes that moment when man was created: God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:27)

What did he do then? Did He sit them down and start rattling off a list of rules they had to obey to stay on His good side? Did He remind them that, after He was good enough to give them life, they ought to spend it serving Him?

There are three words in the Bible that tell exactly what God did right after He created Adam and Eve. These three words are the very first thing the Bible says happened after "male and female He created them." Do you know what it was?

"God blessed them." (Genesis 1:28) That's right, He blessed them. He spoke fruitfulness and abundance and authority into their new lives. The Trinity must have laughed in delight and pleasure to now have others with whom they could share the love and life He had been enjoying for all eternity past. After all, when it comes to a party - the more the merrier.

So then, the very first mention of God and man tells us that God blessed man. That's because it is His nature to bless. What else would One whose essence is love want to do? A little later, when Adam and Eve sinned and hid themselves in the garden, we again see God's heart.

God and Adam had established a wonderful habit of walking in the Garden together every evening around sunset. But when Adam sinned, he assumed that God surely wouldn't want to walk with him now. So he hid - the same thing man still does when he mistakenly thinks he has behaved in a way that disappoints or even angers God. Sin changed Adam's mind about God. He now saw God is a different way. He perceived Him to be angry, so he hid.

What did God do? He came for His walk, just like He had done every day. Get this point: sin didn't change God. It changed man. The Father, Son and Spirit still adored man although mankind had now become blind to that fact.

What did the Father do when He finally coaxed Adam and Eve out of the bushes? He looked at their feeble attempts to make themselves look more presentable to Him with a heart of compassion and love - His default setting. Then God took animal skins (a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God) and covered them so they wouldn't be ashamed.

Notice that through it all, God never changed in His attitude toward man. He banished them from the Garden, not because He was angry, but because He didn't want them to eat from the Tree of Life and cause all mankind to be forever trapped in their fallen estate. Before they exited the Garden of Eden, He assured them that One would come who would totally vanquish the evil one who had lured them into this mess in which they now found themselves. (See Genesis 3:15)

Here's where people still miss it today: God isn't angry with us. He loves us and has "proven His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) There is nothing you have ever done or could ever do that could change how God feels about you. He is Love (1 John 4:8)and love keeps no account of wrongdoing. (1 Corinthians 13:5)

God's default setting will forever be to love and accept you. The only unanswered question that remains then is this: Will you accept His acceptance?