Title: Where Are You? (Genesis 3:8-12)
Where are you? / Genesis 3:8-12
When we were young, we all probably had the experience of playing hide-and-seek or tag games. But what's interesting is that most of us want to be hiders and not seekers in these games. Why? Perhaps the most important reason is that those who hide do not need much effort and experience the pleasure of being able to glimpse those who seek them in hiding. It is the nature of this game that the seeker suffers much more. This is also true in the history of mankind as shown in the Bible. The fact is that most humans are hidden, and God is the seeker. According to the parable of Luke 15, is not the shepherd looking for the lost lamb, the woman looking for the lost coin, and the father looking for the lost son, are not God? This was true even in the field of the first fall of man. Even the first fallen man, Adam, chooses to become a hideout. See verse 8 of the text. "--He hid from the presence of God among the trees of the garden." But in verse 9, God approaches and calls Adam to find him. "Where are you?"
Why do we want to be hidden? One psychologist says there is a secret pleasure in hiding. It is because of the instinct to protect oneself by hiding. In general, we think that if our shame is exposed, we will be rejected. My neighbors reject me, and I think God will reject me. So we will continue the game of hiding. Nevertheless, today, God comes to our hiding place and asks us, "--Where are you?" Then the God who visits us - who the hell is he? And how should our life respond to him?
1. Who is he?
At least when we first visit people, we learn two attributes about God's dealings with us.
1) He knows our place in life.
There is this kind of complaint that my wife sometimes confides to me whenever she swears. "You still don't know me. No one understands me. Except the Lord." I agree that this statement of my wife is true. There is only one God who fully understands us.
In verse 10 and below of the Genesis text, three things are particularly emphasized in the figure of Adam hiding from God. First verse 10 points out that he is ashamed and afraid of being naked. Shame and fear are the very essence of fallen human existence. Originally, being naked was not something to be ashamed of. Genesis 2:25 says, "Adam and Eve were naked, but they were not ashamed." Because they are a couple. However, as soon as sin comes upon man, man begins to feel unnatural shame. This is a kind of guilt. And we are afraid. And this shame and fear has made the first man angry, and the first man is angry with his wife and even against God. Why does the Bible accurately describe this condition? that God knows. He knows our shame, our fear, and our anger. That's right. He knows us. He still knows us. But he is not the only one who knows.
2) He is the one who changes the shape of our lives.
God is all-knowing and all-knowing about us. At the same time, he is omnipotent and can solve any problem we face. But his omnipotence is never a violent one, but a gentle love, we see in his first dealings with humans. Best of all, he comes softly so that we don't startle. How would they have been surprised if God had come to Adam and Eve, who had sinned, early in the morning or in the middle of their sleep? How afraid would you have been if the sun had come in the middle of a scorching heatwave? However, God came to us at a time to cool off from the heat, at a time when the days are cool, and at a time when a quiet breeze blew. Look at verse 8. "They heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day--" It is written.
And he wraps us warmly so that we are not ashamed, so that we do not panic. He is not a judge who brutally investigates and exposes our sins and transgressions. Do you know what God's first action was for Adam and Eve, who were ashamed of their exposed guilt? Read Genesis 3:21. "And the LORD God made and clothed Adam and his wife with garments of skin." He made and clothed the sinners who were ashamed of their nakedness and made them warm skins. He made life feel safe, looking forward to the new day, working, working, and living. Can't you feel the warm love of God who forgives and accepts here? He knows where our lives are, and He transforms our lives into love.
2. What should we do?
The answer is simple. You must not run away. We must accept, not reject, God's hand that is coming toward us. And you must accept the gift of love he gives you. When the skin garments were delivered to Adam and Eve, they had nothing to do. All I had to do was get a leather jacket and wear it. But you need to know this. It is the fact that God, who prepared and made these leather garments by hand, had labor and sacrifice of love. Wasn't a living animal sacrificed to make this skin garment? Wasn't there any bloodshed? However, the hand of God who gave this robe made with the shedding of blood and love must have been trembling with love. He just wanted to see these beautiful first people wear these leather garments, not ashamed, not afraid, and proudly love and live.