"It's Complicated" -- It's All About Relationships

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Atonement Phase One:

“It’s Complicated—It’s All About Relationships”

Sabbath School

November 2, 2013

Larry R Evans, Teacher

Introduction

I found this definition of “It’s Complicated” in the Urban Dictionary: 

“One of the options for ‘Relationship Status’ on Facebook. Refers to a couple in an ambiguous state between ‘friends’ and ‘in a relationship.’ May also be used to indicate dissatisfaction with an existing relationship.

If someone changes their status from ‘In a Relationship’ to’ ‘It's Complicated’, expect them to be ‘Single’ and ‘Looking for Random Play’ soon.”

The Bible is clear. The plot is laid out in Genesis 1-4.  God had a plan at the very beginning and we messed things up.  The relationship got “complicated.” It got complicated in part because of a third party (Satan) who entered the scene and tried to breakup the relationship that God was building. Damage was done for sure.  The relationship was fractured but there was still hope. It was God who came to Adam and Eve.  It was God who took the initiative to meet them. He came to restore a relationship.  They were hiding.  He came wanted to talk and they wanted to hide.  It was God who asked “Where are you?”  It was Adam and Eve who in turn blamed, accused and condemned then God and each other.  Sin complicates things.  God knew that the relationship He had intended and what the three of them had been experiencing was on the verge of ending. Action had to be taken. Much was at stake . . . even more than Adam and Eve realized.

This week’s lesson is all about restoring our relationship with God.  Our study ushers us into the history of broken relationships. We’ll see how God is still at work trying to restore and deepen the special kind of friendship He wants for us. He does not give up easily. We step back into history and see through ancient sanctuary services how He tries to convey both the cost and the process of restoration.  It was no easy task to communicate with a wandering, nomadic people who had forgotten the very basics of their own religion.  I’m not convinced it is any easier today.

This week’s lesson is all about a relationship that had become “complicated.” It seems today that some are anxious to declare that they are “Single” and “Looking for Random Play.” God is moved out of the center of the relationship. Our study is about God’s efforts to restore the relationship back to His original plan.  Its about how He lays the necessary foundation for a genuine friendship and lasting relationship. It’s about two tough words that are part of any relationship – accountability and responsibility but placed in a matrix of “faith, hope and love.”  It’s about how God took upon Himself the weight of these simple but profound words.  The door is opened and inside we see how God assumes the guilt for the sin problem—that’s right, He assumes the fault for the broken relationship as if He is the guilty party.  But He’s the innocent One!  Go figure!!  There is no finger pointing but there is an invitation.  It is a wake-up call for all of us to rethink our attitudes, our feelings, and our frustrations.  God invites us to allow Him to come back into the picture and to change our status from being “Single--Looking for Random Play” to becoming “Friends in a relationship” again.  God set the pattern.  He surrendered Himself. He paid the price. He faced the problem and He became part of the solution. The dispute and hostility should have ended but change takes time and it takes a deeper understanding of what the real problem is.  Central to this week’s lesson is a central principle of any relationship: It is dangerous to remain in the “It’s Complicated” status – and especially with God. It doesn’t have to stay that way!  God has a plan.

The road to recovery begins with understanding God’s plan but understanding isn’t enough.  This study isn’t to be limited to knowing about sanctuary furniture and sacrificial rituals.  They are there to lead us now to the Sacrifice and in that journey will find ourselves confessing and surrendering and becoming.  Rituals were never the answer. They opened the door to an understanding. To help us know Him better. In this conversation with God we are taken to a giant “felt board,” as it were, located in a desert. Here, away from the distractions of an “Egyptian slavery,” we can visualize what is at stake.  It is here that God tells us His story. It is now time to let Him tell it. The good news is that we are at the heart of own God’s story! Amazing.

The Quiz

1.              The fact that there is a need for an “atonement” suggests that a relationship has been broken. True or False?  (Heb. 2:14-18; Rom. 5:11)

2.             God is “guilty” because of “our” sin. True or False? (Isa. 53:6; 2 Sam. 14:9)

3.             Blood is used extensively throughout the sacrificial system because the Israelites were no longer vegetarians. True or False? (Lev.3:17; 17:10-12) 

4.             The “laying on hands” signifies both identity and a transference of guilt.  True or False? (Lev. 1:4; 4:4; 16:21)

5.             In God’s sight all sins are the same?  True or False? (Lev. 4:3, 13, 22, 27)

6.             By way of illustration, the sacrificial system revealed that as long as sin remained with the person they were lost. (Heb. 9:22; Rom. 5:9) True or False?

7.             With such sacrificial love illustrated in the sanctuary service and in the cross of Jesus, we know that judgment is only a symbol to get our attention.  All will be saved in the end. True or False?  (Micah 7:18-20; Nahum 1:2,3; John 3:16).

8.             The sacrificial system reveals one dominant truth:  God has a recovery plan for every sinner. (Gal. 2:20)

Conclusion

Leviticus is about relationships lost and relationships restored.  Restoration is costly.  It took the life of Jesus.  Taking the life of an animal was an extreme measure of the sanctuary service. It was used to illustrate just how serious the sin problem is. Sin separates.  Sin kills.  Sin is a barrier to recovery.  The good news is that the power of sin was defeated. Grace sees possibilities when sin removes them.  Grace restores relationships. Grace brings life. Grace restores relationships.  Sin no longer has to dominate.  There is hope for broken relationships. It is not necessary to live in “Complicated Relationships.” There is hope, the kind found only in Jesus – the Lamb of God.