“And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” ”
Before us today are some of the saddest verses in all of Scripture. Where relationship once was now exists resistance. Guilt exists. Shame exists. Sin exists. Notice what transpires.
They heard the sound of the LORD God… God himself actively comes to be with his creation. What mercy! What grace! What love! But the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God. What tragedy!
Next, God speaks, but not to gain knowledge, because God knows all things. He speaks that we might learn. Where are you? Like a father who sees the shattered vase and guilt-ridden face, he asks a question he already knows the answer to, which also reveals the immense sadness that has entered the world.
I was afraid… I was naked… I hid…
Perfect comfort and peace is replaced with fear. Nakedness no longer reveals perfect knowledge and relationship but a revealing of inadequacy and guilt. In all of this, desire to see God and be with God is replaced by the absurdity of hiding behind a tree to get away from God.
But the Good News prevails. Humanity already knows how it react to God’s presence (fear, aversion to nakedness, and hiding). But here, God’s Word shows humanity how God reacts. Remember, God already knew of Adam and Eve’s sin—he is God. In spite of this, he actively goes to be with his people. He actively calls out to his people. He actively listens to what they’ve done. In other words, God reveals himself (at humanity’s lowest) to be the God of his people (at humanity’s lowest). Dear Christians, this is the Gospel.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”