But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:9

 

The story of the fall of man is probably  the most widely known story from the Bible. We all know exactly what happened: Eve was deceived by the serpent and ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge which God had commanded her not to do. She then convinced Adam to eat and immediately their eyes were opened to their nakedness and they hid from the Lord. When we look a little deeper we can see several things that this first fall can teach us about the nature of sin and how the love of God outweighs even sin.

First, we see that the clear definition of sin becomes “going against what the Lord has commanded of us.” We see that sin enters the world and the most important lesson about sin we see is that its fruits are everything that is bad and not of God. What is the first thing that Adam and Eve felt after eating this fruit which would supposedly make them like God? They felt shame. They were embarrassed at their nakedness. These are direct fruits of sin. Shame and embarrassment came into the world and instead of good fruit we see that sin immediately bears bad fruit.

The next thing we see about sin is how it makes us separate ourselves from God.  The enemy convinces us that somehow God doesn’t know what’s best for us and entices us to reach out for “wisdom” of this world to make us closer to God but we see the opposite occurs. Because Adam and Eve felt shame and bad they separated and hid themselves from God.  The enemy then convinces us that it wasn’t us who separated us from God but it was God pushing us away. He uses this one-two punch to lock us in sin.

After the fall of man we see two aspects of God’s character and loving nature. First, we see that the enemy often convinces us that because of our sin we are out of God’s love and trapped in our sin. He convinces us that God will be merciless because of our sin, but the first thing God did after Adam confessed his sin was not bring fire and brimstone on his head. The first thing the Lord did was curse the enemy. This shows us that our God hates the enemy who tries to trap us in sin, he doesn’t hate us at all even with our sin.

We see the opposite is true - God loves us beyond our sin. Remember that the reason Adam confessed his sins was because God was walking in the garden searching for Adam and as this verse tells us, God called out to him. This shows us that even in our sin, God loves us so much he is constantly calling out for us. He is constantly walking around searching for us and if we confess our sins to him he will forgive us. Even though he allows the consequence to affect mankind, we see it is because he wants to protect us from making the same mistake again. Even when we do commit the same sins again and again remember that with great failure comes even greater love and grace. Sometimes he may have to use the rod to make us to get the clear message.

God did shun mankind from the garden, but never from his love. Even in their punishment God fashioned clothing for them and covered them. If sin could make God hate you why then would he still protect you and guide you even in your toil? Sin can cause you to separate yourself from God’s love, but it can never make God push you away from him. Too often we forget that it is our weakness and vulnerability to the enemy’s lies that cause us to separate ourselves. God’s love still endures and he is out looking for us so run to him and let him be your cover. Know that even with a fall, God offers redemption and you are never down and out in his love.

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Dear Lord,
Increase your grace and increase our wisdom concerning our enemy’s lies and your grace. We pray you will forgive us . Help us to see even in your anger it is out of your love for us that you correct us. We pray you will fashion our path to be one pleasing to you and pray you will protect us from the enemy. We praise you for your grace and your unending love. We don’t deserve it but we recognize and give you glory for the love that endures even when we fall. Amen.