One day my wife and I were in line at a cafeteria in a shopping mall. It was a long line, and while we waited we got to talking with the family in line behind us. They had a young daughter who, we learned, was in first grade. When they discovered we were both teachers, our visiting very naturally was about school.
As we waited in line, I overheard the little girl ask her mother, “He isn’t a stranger, is he?” My heart was touched and I wanted to set her mind at ease, so I answered for her mother. “Dear, out in the mall I would be a stranger, but in the cafeteria line visiting with your family I am not really a stranger.”
Obviously our new young friend had been properly taught not to talk to strangers. You, very likely, have also been taught the danger of talking to or accepting anything from anyone you do not know. When a stranger approaches you, the best place to go is home right away, and the best people to tell are your parents.
We usually think of other people as being strangers, but did you know that you and I are strangers? The Word of God, the Bible, tells us very clearly that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)). This makes each one of us sinners and strangers to God. We read, “Wherefore remember . . . that at that time ye were without Christ . . . strangers . . . having no hope, and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:11-1211Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: (Ephesians 2:11‑12)). Yes, sin makes us strangers to God because it separates us from Him. We can’t do anything about our sins, so we need Someone to stand between God and us to settle the matter. That is exactly what the Lord Jesus has done. He died on the cross for us; He stood in our place before God for our debt of sins, which we could not pay. His precious blood has paid to God the full penalty for the sins of anyone who will accept Him as their Saviour. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)).
The little girl in the cafeteria line had been correctly taught not to talk to strangers. If the precious Saviour had not come to “strangers,” come to stand between us and God, and had not been willing to pay our debt to Him, we would be lost in our sins forever. But He did come, and He died on the cross for us. Now, all who receive Him as their very own Saviour are “no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:1919Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; (Ephesians 2:19)). Since the blood of the Lord Jesus fully pays the “stranger’s” debt of sins, all who receive Him as their Saviour receive full forgiveness of their sins.
Are you still a stranger to God?
ML-04/14/1996