A TIME WE KNOW NOT WHEN

 

Genesis 1:27
God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him…. KJV	So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them… NIV

It was, of course, in His spiritual image and not in a physical image. Have you ever pondered the wonder of the happiness and perfection of the relationship Adam and Eve enjoyed together? To think that they lived with a Heavenly Love, Patience, Compassion, Grace and Mercy which stemmed from God the Creator of Heaven and Earth! There was just nothing to compare with the pure love and companionship these two shared on a daily basis.

Then sin entered that perfect garden, bringing with it death. The beautiful relationship between Adam, Eve and God Himself was destroyed in an instant. Adam blamed Eve, Cain murdered Abel, and humanity has gone downhill ever since. The glorious image of God in which man had been created was marred.

Romans 3:23
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. KJV	For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. NIV

The Glory of God’s character once expressed so beautifully through the first man and woman became a receding memory that must have haunted them with a remorse which we cannot even begin to understand. This is how man is today. Alienated from his Creator.

•  How long will this last?	•  How long is God Patience?
•  When will all hope end?	•  How long will man continue to sin?

There is a time, we know not when, a point we know not where,
That marks the destiny of men to glory or despair.
There is a line by us unseen, that crosses every path;
The hidden boundary between God’s patience and His wrath.
To pass that limit is to die– To die as if by stealth;
It does not quench the beaming eye or pale the glow of health.
The conscience may be still at ease, the spirit lithe and gay;
That which pleases still may please, and care be thrust away.
But on that forehead God has set, indelibly a mark
Unseen by men, for men as yet are blind and in the dark.
Oh, where is this mysterious bourn by which each path is crossed?
Beyond which God Himself hath sworn that he who goes is lost?
How far may we go on in sin? How long will God forbear?
Where does hope end, and where begin the confines of despair?
The answer from the skies is sent, ‘Ye that from God depart,
While it is called today, repent, and harden not your heart!’

J.A. Alexander