Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” (Genesis 3:8-10 NIV)
God was going for a walk. In fact, it sounds like this was a regular occurrence: God “was walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” Isn’t it amazing to imagine what life was like in the perfect Garden of Eden? Did God himself go for a walk each day with Adam and Eve? What a joy that must have been!
But not anymore. After they sinned, Adam and Eve had a very different attitude about God’s presence with them: They were scared! So scared that they tried hiding from God among the trees of the garden. What a sad sight! The crown of God’s creation hiding in shame and fear from their Creator.
This is a powerful reminder of what sin does. “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). Sin is like a huge canyon that separates us sinful people from our perfect God. Adam and Eve aren’t the only ones who have foolishly tried to hide their sin from God. We do too!
But do you know what God does? He seeks us. He called out to Adam, “Where are you?” What words of grace! We sinful people could never come to God on our own. We could never cross that canyon by ourselves. So God bridged the gap. He sought those sinners in the Garden of Eden. Later, Jesus himself became one of us. In fact, he even took on the name Immanuel, which means, “God with us.”
Here’s the best part: God doesn’t seek us to punish us. He wasn’t looking for Adam and Eve to destroy them. Far from it! Jesus put it like this, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). Like that gracious father who forgave his long lost son, like that caring shepherd who searched and searched for his lost sheep… That’s our seeking God of grace. You don’t need to run. You don’t need to hide. Jesus is here to seek and save the lost.
Dear Jesus, when I sin, the devil tells me to run and hide. Instead, lead me to trust in you and your forgiving grace. Amen.
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