Hiding from God

Genesis 3:7-13

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?" 10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."  11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"  12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me — she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."  13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"  The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

What happened after Adam and Eve ate of the fruit that God commanded them not to eat?  “The eyes of both of them were opened…”.  First, take note that they did not die.  This was what God had told them.

Gen 2:17  but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

But they did not die – physically.  They died spiritually.  Anyone who is in sin is spiritually dead in the eyes of the Lord.  And, when sin came into the picture physical death did come, but not right away.  Man, who was supposed to live eternally with God, was now meted the death sentence because of his disobedience to God.

Going back to what happened right after they bit of the fruit… their eyes were opened, and they realized they were naked.  In contrast to when they were first created - Gen 2:25  The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame – this time they realized they were naked and were ashamed of it.  In their shame they covered themselves with

This is what sin does – it perverts, destroys, what God had created beautiful.  What is meant to be enjoyed in a husband-wife relationship is now perverted to be used for sexual immorality.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Another effect of sin – hiding from the Lord.  When man was created he had fellowship with the Lord.  They talked, he took care of His garden, and He received blessings.  Now, with sin in his heart, he hides.

The presence of a holy God always moves a person to hide.  This is why many people hide behind religion, religious rites – because it takes the place of God.  But it doesn’t work.  This is also why when a Christian talks about God his non-believing friends will cringe, or walk away, because God and His truth expose their sinfulness.

Even Christians are not exempted.  When we worship, and are in the presence of our holy God, we naturally hide our hearts, knowing how sinful we are.  The only reason we are able to stand before the Father is because of what His Son, our Lord, has done.

Now, notice how God approaches Adam:  9 But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?"

For sure God knew that they had sinned.  But He did not come with fire and lightning.  He called out to them.  The grace of God in action.  As Psalm 103 says “He does not treat us as our sins deserve”.

Up to today God approaches the world by grace, and not in judgment.  Not yet anyway.

10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." 11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

After the man says he is naked, God asks “who told you that you were naked?”.  His next question – “did you disobey My command”?  Again, if God knew they had sinned, why did He have to ask.

Although God knows that we have sinned, it is important that we confess our sin.  In other words we acknowledge, admit, that we have sinned.  And God doesn’t want us giving a “generic” confession – He wants us to be specific about it.  God asked “did you eat from the tree I COMMANDED YOU NOT TO EAT FROM?”.

Confession is specific.  We know specifically what we did.

Confession is clear.  We disobeyed God’s command.  We have sinned against Him.

Psalm 51:3-4  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.  4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.

Look at another effect of sin upon Adam and Eve:

12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me — she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."  13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

When God confronted Adam with his sin, he quickly points to “the woman”.  Eve, who formerly was “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” was now “the woman you gave me”.  He was passing the blame.

When we sin we have no one else to blame but ourselves.  Other people may have been the instrument of temptation, but when we sinned it was all our fault.

Look who else was blamed:  13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

The serpent.  “The devil made me do it”.  Yes, Satan may be behind every temptation, but he also cannot be blamed.

James 1:13-14 When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

The devil can be resisted. It’s the desire inside that we have to deal with.  With the same power of the Lord’s resurrection, we, too, can have new life by putting to death our sinful desires.  We must stop passing blame and fight the battles in our hearts.