Do you ever feel shame and fear towards God?
“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.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?””
Genesis 3:8-11 ESV
---
So much to think about here. It’s very sad, really. The Lord God walking seemed a normal occurrence, because they knew His sound as He came around. Adam and Eve’s fearful attempt to hide; clinging for protection to the cover of trees that God made to provide food, shade, and beauty. Never had the trees been used for this purpose before--they now used them to protect themselves from the approaching gaze of the God Who made them. No doubt it’s the first time they were afraid of Him, but they were afraid. They knew that their sin left them naked; not just a topical-physical problem, but a deep-cancerous, problem. Something in them knew that the goodness of God demanded recourse, and they have heard of this thing called “death” before. They knew their actions meant they had to die, whatever that was.
Shame. Fear. Confusion.
“Where are you”, God called out, though no doubt already aware. “What have you been up to?” Can you sense the heart of God, weeping as Jesus wept for us? “Who told you that you were naked?” Can you sense the sadness in this, rhetorical question? It’s all coming apart now.
But then, a promise they didn’t know about. God would put enmity between the deceiver, and the sinner. Rather than destroy them both together, and leave the enmity for being between God and the sinner, God would instead transfer the enmity to be between these two now natural bedfellows--deceiver and sinner. This holy, perfect, and unquestionably-righteous God would do the inconceivable, and separate them. It seemed that they must go together forever now, but God had other plans. His promise would take the enmity between they and Him, placing it instead between the sinner and his sin.
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.””
Genesis 3:15 ESV
So honestly, as you lie in your bed or sit thinking, and consider your sins before God, is there fear and shame? How do you see His judgment going, for you? Is there enmity between you and God? If we aren't in Christ, there should be those things, but it doesn't have to be that way.
If you are ashamed and hiding among the trees, thinking that hiding behind the things God made can save you--know that they cannot save you. You may rightly feel the enmity between you and God right now, but know that Jesus is the hope you have of reconciliation. He walks in the cool of the day and has a promise you never could have achieved on your own. He is your only hope, now. Only God can take that enmity that exists between you and Him, along with your fear and shame. He replaces the fear of certain judgment, and replaces it with the hope (promise) of eternal life.
But there is yet another choice you must make. Will you receive this gift, or will you continue to hide among the trees? God can see right through them and asks, "Where are you?" How we answer that question will determine where that enmity is placed, and where we will be for eternity. The only place we have any hope, is in Christ.
“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.””
John 3:19-21 ESV
----
“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.”
Romans 5:12-17 ESV
http://bible.com/59/rom.5.12-17.esv
No comments:
Post a Comment