“I need God because I am a sinner in need of forgiveness.”  
 
This is true, but if we are not careful we might tend to think that were it not for the fact that we have sinned, we really wouldn’t need God all that much. This presents a faulty view of God, humanity, and our purpose. God is not just some machine that we plug into to wipe away sin and then unplug from Him so we can do our own thing (which, ironically, would be sinful). We need God all the time and for everything.

 

Before Adam and Eve sinned, they needed God. After all, they were living in God’s presence by His grace in God’s creation, having the breath of life because He gave it to them, and continuing to live by the sustenance and love of God. So it is with all of us. He “gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25) and the Lord “upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3). All things were made in and through the Lord and “in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:15-17). In other words, there is no time at which we can ever say that we don’t need God. We needed Him before we sinned and we continue to need Him because we could not exist without Him.

 

Yet, it is more than mere existence. We are made to serve God, to seek after Him, to live eternally with Him (Acts 17:27; II Corinthians 5:5). God did not make us for the purpose of sinning only to receive forgiveness and that’s that. He created us in His image to reign with Him (Genesis 1:26-28). Sin was the side track, the distraction that derailed and wrecked us. Forgiveness gets us back on track where we ought to have been — a bit worn but not without purpose and surely not without redemption. By the grace of God, we can still function — no — excel according to His eternal purposes. 

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Living with God was God’s plan from the beginning and we will continue to need Him even as we are before His throne eternally casting our crowns at His feet. I don’t need God only because I have sinned. I just need God.

 

Doy Moyer