Astonishingly, when we offend God He makes it up to us in order to repair the bridges we have burnt.

“By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. (Hebrews 11:5) And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11”

Once you’ve burnt your bridges its hard to return. We’ve all made a mess in relationships somewhere and we all know how hard it is to return. Some people never do. Who hasn’t heard about a distant family member who hasn’t spoken to their family in years. Burnt bridges are very hard to cross.

Jacob had burnt his bridges. He had stolen from his brother, lied to, and cheated his father when Isaac was old and blind. How could anyone defraud a frail pensioner! For twenty years Jacob had been on the run while behind him his bridges brightly burned. But God had come to Jacob and told him to come back home. So how do you win over a brother you have done wrong to?

How will Jacob get Esau to show grace – because that’s what he’s after. Grace is that supernatural package of forgiveness and kindness that Jacob definitely didn’t deserve. Jacob has to think about how to ‘appease’ his brother. His brother was right to be angry. How will Jacob ‘appease’ that anger? Jacob does what anyone of us would consider doing: he decides to placate his brother with presents. Husbands do it with flowers and chocolate.

Jacob hopes that Esau will then accept him and he will ‘see his face’ – a Hebrew way of portraying intimate personal reconciliation. Jacob was doing more than this. Jacob was returning the blessing he stole from his brother, with interest. All this is a good way to build broken bridges with people. But… but… what happens if we have burnt our bridges with God!

Can we do the same with God? How do we repair that bridge! What ‘present’ can we give God? Religion says there are lots of ways to appease God, just follow the prescribed codes. Humanism says that we haven’t offended God, in fact, if He exists, He has offended us! Blind ‘faith’ says that we don’t need a bridge, just leap across the divide. Biblical Christianity has the Truth.

We have offended God and burnt our bridges more than we will ever appreciate. We have stolen from God, lied to Him and to ourselves. God’s anger is infinite, perfect, and right. His anger against evil is implacable. What could we possibly give Him to mollify His anger! How will we cross the divide? The answer is astonishing.

God has put up a cross across the divide! God loves us still, though we have offended Him. In fact, His love for us is what makes Him so angry at evil. Instead of us giving Him things, He gave us His Only Son. Jesus, the Older Brother, gave His life to appease God’s anger at our sin – hence the darkness and horror of crucifixion. Now Jesus, risen again, invites us all to return home to the Father.