There are many things that cause separation. God provides pathways to bring them back together.
Sin. The first sin caused Adam and Eve to be cast out of the Garden, away from God’s presence, blocked from access to the tree of life (Genesis 3:23-25). Since then, sin continues to cause estrangement from God. “Your iniquities have separated you from your God” (Isaiah 59:1). “Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). Those who do not obey the gospel “will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day” (2 Thess. 1:9-10).
But God, through a great sacrifice, provided the means for our return. In Christ, He “reconciled us to Himself through Christ” (2 Cor 5:18-19). God cannot countenance sin, but the blood of Christ washes away that sin, so that we may confidently enter His presence (Heb. 10:19-23). Access to the tree of life will once again be granted in Paradise (Rev. 22:1).
Estrangement. Human relationships suffer breakup due to sin or even just misunderstanding. We can think of so many examples—Abel killed by Cain, Joseph sold by his brothers, Uriah betrayed by David, Hosea abandoned by Gomer, the father insulted by his prodigal son.
Thankfully, the gospel of love contains the formula for healing relationships, as we forgive others as we have been forgiven (Matt. 6:14-15) and as we become peacemakers like Christ (Matt. 5:9). The gospel also shows us how to avoid harming relationships further, by avoiding “anger, wrath, malice” (Eph. 4:29-32). This should be especially evident within the family of God, but in our dealings with outsiders, too. “So far as it depends upon you, live at peace with all men” (Rom. 12:18).
Death. Each year brings a list of joyous births but also grievous deaths. A look at an old directory will reveal the names of countless people who have passed away. Even people without church families are mindful of the losses in their extended families and among their acquaintances.
But for those who belong to Christ, there is the promise of being reunited. In some ways this happens right away, as saints who die are “gathered to their people” (Gen. 25:8). I imagine the same angels who bore Lazarus to Abraham (Luke 16:22) bearing Christians to be received by a cheering “great cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1).
Better yet, when God makes all things new, when the holy city comes down out of Heaven, then will God’s people dwell together forever, and will God Himself be among them (Revelation 21:1-5). Many of the things we associate with separation won’t be there—no death, no mourning, no crying, no pain.
Distance. I have come to dread this time of year. I try to associate graduation with joy, but now it also means departures! Every May, some of my very closest friends move away. People I have worked with, laughed with, shared with, and come to rely on. Paul experienced it too—at the beach in Miletus he “knelt down and prayed with them all, they began to weep aloud … grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again” (Acts 20:36-38).
What makes it bearable is the assurance that God will bring us back together again. We comfort each other with the knowledge that at the last trumpet, all of God’s people “will be caught up together … in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:16-18).
Until then, “The LORD bless you, and keep you; the LORD make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace” (Numb. 6:24-26)!
—John Guzzetta