Title: Where Are You? (Genesis 3:6-10,...
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where are you (Genesis 3:6-10, 1 Corinthians 15:10) February 6, 2000
As far as I know, humans are all shameful creatures. No one walks the streets naked and proud. If you take it all off, you won't be able to walk around because you're embarrassed. This is the image of humans, descendants of Adam.
Animals have no shame even if they don't wear clothes. Because they did not eat from the forbidden fruit, their eyes were not opened, so they did not know that they were ashamed or that they were naked. However, after eating the fruit of the forbidden fruit and knowing what is shameful, people still wear clothes to this day. I wear pretense clothes. Dress diligently. Immediately after realizing that they were naked, Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves and put on a skirt. So, after the two of them put on a skirt, God called Adam.
But what is strange is the fact that even though they wore skirts with their hands, they said, “Because they were naked, they were afraid and hid themselves.” Although they were obviously leaves, they were wearing clothes, so why did they still say, “I am ashamed because I am naked” when God seeks me? Their leaf skirts had no effect before God. It was too little to hide their shameful appearance.
That's why Hebrews 4:13 says, "There is not one thing that has been created that is not hidden before him, but all things are revealed naked before the eyes of those who have dealings with us." In front of God's flame-like eyes, that poor leaf skirt had no effect at all. The shameful face is exposed as it is.
In the center of the Garden of Eden, there is also the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of life symbolizes Jesus Christ. And the tree of the knowledge of good and evil symbolizes the law. In order to explain these two great contrasts in the future, God presented the two contrasting trees as a type in the days of Genesis.
Through the law, we came to know what sin was, and we were able to see our shameful side and realized our sin. It makes us realize that we are truly shameful before God. But that law cannot cover my realized sin. There is only the effect of enlightenment. There is only the effect of brightening the eyes, so there is only the effect of seeing one's naked body, and there is no effect at all to cover up one's shameful appearance with it, to make him like God, and to stand proudly before God without shame.
In our society, we educate and teach good and evil. Other religions also teach good and evil. The teachings of good and evil are, in fact, all true. But the problem is that when I find myself ashamed and sinful and evil because of the teachings of good and evil, what to do next is wrong.
Buddhism emphasizes good deeds and asceticism, such as offering three hundred stones of offering rice, bowing a thousand times, performing zazen meditation for a month, and releasing fish when a sin is revealed. But isn't this all human hand-made and my own hand-made leaf skirt to wear?
But look. Adam, the founder of mankind, wore a leaf skirt with his own hands, but where could he stand proudly before God with it? Did you not hide in fear even after wearing a skirt? A leaf skirt is absolutely not a good thing. Since I ate the fruit of the forbidden fruit and saw myself naked, even if I cover it with a skirt of leaves with my own hands, complete coverage is not achieved in the sight of God.
What did God do when he saw this human form?
God took off Adam's leaf skirt. Then they caught an animal. This animal was sacrificed instead, shedding blood to cover Adam's shame. Because someone must shed blood to wash away sins, He sacrificed an animal, took off the bloodstained skin, and put it on Adam and Eve.
Since you can't wear a leaf skirt, aren't you wearing blood-stained leather clothes? The problem of man's shameful sin before God can only be covered by the blood of Jesus. This very skin robe symbolizes the shed blood of Jesus. So Paul also said: “Only in the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14), “so that they may not be found naked” (2 Corinthians 5:3).
The leaf skirt refers to the deeds of the law, and since the skirt could not completely cover up one's own shame, God has already shown from the time of Genesis that salvation is not by the works of the law.
Only when we put on the skin of Jesus, that is, we believe in Jesus Christ, who shed His blood, can we not be condemned as shameful and naked before God's judgment seat. Those who did not wear robes at the heavenly feast were cast out. Those who did not wear the robe of faith given by God, not the skirt of leaves, which is their merit and deed, but the robe of the shedding of blood believing in Jesus, were cast out of the sight of God. Now, every sinful life must be clothed with the blood of Jesus. Only then can you stand before God and your relationship with God will be restored again. Not with the leaf clothes I made.
In the Bible, there are many scenes where God directly calls people and asks questions. "Where are you?", "Where is your brother?", "What do you see?", "What is in your hand?" and asks directly.
Now, in the text, he also asked Adam. Adam shifts the blame to Eve, and then asks Eve again. However, when Eve spread her responsibility to the beast, she cursed the beast at once without questioning it. Human beings created in God's image are the primates of all things and are personal beings, so this is God's question.
So are we. When we're not in the right place, when we can't fulfill our mission, "Whoever, where are you now?" It is God's mercy and God's grace that awakens us to our surprise, calling our names and sometimes calling our titles.
God asks questions of mankind and demands answers. This is because humans are the only creatures that can communicate with God and are responsible for them. Among God's many questions to mankind, the first question is "Where are you?" This is a question that is asked, and it is a very important question. After God created all things beautifully, He established humans as intermediate beings between God and the created world so that God the Creator was served above, and He ruled over all things below and lived happily. However, there was one restriction, and that was not to eat only the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
What does limit within unlimited mean? It was to awaken the consciousness of creation of man, a creature, and to inform the finiteness of man. The forbidden tree was a demarcation mark between the Creator and the creature, and the placemark of the Master and the Custodian, that the Creator was above man's head and that the custodian of the Garden had a Master. Since the creation of human beings sitting in the Creator's seat would cause confusion and unhappiness not only for themselves but also for the entire creation, so a warning sign was erected to prevent such an accident.
Then one day, a tempter broke into Adam and Eve, who were living happily in the garden God had given them, and sowed the seeds of unhappiness. The seed of misery that the tempter sowed was the question, “Did God really tell you not to eat from any tree in the garden?” These questions sparked doubts and dissatisfaction with one limitation in Adam and Eve's minds, and it was a temptation to think that humans, having the same powers as God, should enjoy the same freedoms.
The greatest gift that the Creator has given mankind is ‘freedom’, and the fact that he has also given us the freedom to betray God can be said to have given us almost unlimited freedom. However, the fact that he set limits on that freedom shows that this freedom is freedom within the limits of human ability to take responsibility, and that freedom always comes with heavy responsibility.
The first humans, Adam and Eve, were tempted by Satan to leave their positions as stewards and take the place of their masters, leading them down the path of an unfortunate paradise. The manager, who made a mistake while crossing the master's seat, heard the sound of the owner appearing and hid himself in the forest, trembling in fear. The owner, who was walking in the garden at this time, said, “Adam, where are you?”, when the garden was in disarray and no custodian was in sight. and found a manager. The question, “Adam, where are you?” raises the issue of responsibility for the limits of human beings and all the problems that arise when they deviate from those limits in front of the Absolute. The Old Testament clearly teaches that man who has been endowed with freedom and duties by God must be held accountable.
1. It is the voice of love that seeks out people who have sinned (Genesis 3:9, 21).
Humans are imperfect beings who can be tempted and fall into temptation. A parent who has lost a child calls out the name of the child they love and says, “Where are you?” And what you are looking for is a matter of perception.
When the human being whom God created so wonderfully in His image, who gave all glory and honor and commanded him to be blessed, disappeared from the sight of God, God's search for him was an exercise of the Father's love and a natural expression of compassion and understanding. .
God asks, “Where are you?” like a shepherd looking for a lost sheep or a woman looking for a lost drachma, even if man has made a mistake and left God. and seeks him (Luke 15:310). The purpose of Jesus coming into this world was to find sinful humans and restore their place as children of God (Luke 5:32).
2. It reaffirms the position of man as a creature (Genesis 2:1517, 1 Corinthians 15:1011).
God made man a little lower than God, and made him superior to all creation, and crowned him with glory and honor, and gave him dominion over all things, and put all things under man's feet (Psalm 8:56; Genesis 1:2628). . However, after eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve deviated from this human position and hid in the shadow of a dark tree and trembled. Because crime entails accountability, fear accompanies it, and moral weaknesses such as cover-up and transfer of responsibility are sure to emerge.
God's question, “Where are you?” means reaffirming your current address and discerning where you will sit and where you will sit. Humanity must end the endlessly repeating history of 'departure and restoration' and ensure the position of human beings by following the order of existence of 'God, human beings and creation'. Therefore, the question “Where are you?” is a word that urges us to guard against the arrogance and destructive nature of scientific civilization that constantly challenges the position of God, and to keep the limits and position of human beings. It is also a message to be wary of bowing and worshiping like Aaron and his people in the face of diseased capitalism running like a wild horse unbridled and relentless, and to restore human beings who have become slaves to material things to their position.
Now, we must clearly confirm our present position and risk our lives to protect that position by responsibly responding to the voice of God, saying, “I am what I am by the grace of God” (1 Corinthians 15:1011). .
3. This is the content of the investigation of responsibility for the blessings bestowed upon us (Genesis 3:1113).
Man, as a creature, received the greatest love from God and was given all authority by God to manage, preserve, and enrich creation according to God's will.
The concept of blessing taught in the Bible teaches the lesson of mission and responsibility rather than the concept of enjoyment and possession. Therefore, human beings are missionary and responsible beings. Among all the creatures that God has created, human beings are the only beings who can answer God's call by saying "yes".