In order to understand the story of Scripture, the Greatest Story Ever Told, we need to start at the very beginning. That means we need to turn to the book of Genesis, which means "beginning," and look at the story of the very first people ever created. This story, the story of Adam and Eve, is full of promise, heartbreak, and, ultimately, hope because of Christ.
Genesis begins with the creation of the heavens and the earth. In five days, by simply speaking, God created everything from the grass to the ocean, to the birds in the air, and everything in between. His creation was beautiful, but He was not done creating. You see, on the last day of creation, God created Adam and Eve, Genesis 1 reveals. The writer of Genesis 1 said it this way, "So God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them" (verse 27). Humans were set apart from everything else in God's creation because God made them in His image. God was very pleased with His creation, and everything was perfect for Adam and Eve, who lived in a beautiful garden. Genesis 3 reveals that it did not take long, however, for Satan to tempt Adam and Eve to disobey God. When they disobeyed God's instruction, sin entered the world, and Adam and Eve hid from God. They felt shame for the first time. Although they tried to hide, Adam and Eve quickly learned that there is no hiding from God. God came looking for them. He said to Adam, "Where are you?" Of course, He knew where Adam was. He was giving Adam an opportunity to call out to Him. Although Adam and Eve had to face the consequences of their sin, God had a plan to rescue them and all of humanity from sin and death through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Just like God pursued Adam and Eve when they were hiding and lost in sin, God pursues us. There is no need to hide from God. He already knows where we are. He loves us and wants to rescue us. The question is, will we turn to Him and bring all of our sin and shame so He can forgive and rescue us? We have a God who delights in us. We can always turn to Him.
Adam and Eve hid because of their shame, but we do not have to follow their example. We do not need to hide our sins or shame from God. When we bring our sin and shame to God, He offers forgiveness and hope. Take some time to pray. Thank God that we do not have to hide our sins or shame and that we can come to Him freely and receive His forgiveness.
1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”
4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”
12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”
“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, you are cursed
more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
groveling in the dust as long as you live.
15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
16 Then he said to the woman,
“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
but he will rule over you.”
17 And to the man he said,
“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
18 It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.
19 By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
and to dust you will return.”
Paradise Lost: God’s Judgment
20 Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live.21 And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.
22 Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” 23 So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. 24 After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
