Grace Is GreaterSample

In the very beginning, God created Adam and Eve to live in a good and complete world. They lived at peace with God, one another, and their surroundings in the Garden of Eden.

But when they sinned by disobeying God’s law, they were ashamed and hid from him. Of course, an all-knowing God would have known they were hiding in their nakedness, yet he still called out to them.

Just like Adam and Eve, we suffer humiliation and shame from our sin. But also because of Adam’s sin, we live in a broken world — a world cursed to fall apart (Genesis 3:14-19). That means that we suffer the effects of brokenness even when we are not directly responsible.

Since we are born into sin, we cannot save ourselves. Since we live in a broken world, we won’t find a savior on this earth. It is up to God to intervene then. He alone can save us. He alone can remove our guilt and shame. He alone can overcome a world of brokenness with a life-saving grace.

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5)

Adam and Eve hid from God because they assumed he would not love them anymore.

But God still called out to them, “Where are you?” And today, even in our sin and brokenness, he calls out to us, “Where are you?”

So, where are you? What might be hidden?

When God found Adam and Eve, he held them accountable to their sin — they had to be removed from his perfect garden. But he didn’t leave them naked, ashamed, and alone. He didn’t send them into the wilderness to be exposed to heat and cold and hunted by wild animals.

God gave them two things: He gave them a promise, and he gave them a covering.

He promised that one of their offspring would eventually defeat the devil (Genesis 3:15). They knew they would not only survive outside Eden but one day be restored to God through the victory of one of their descendants.

Second, God provided them with covering. Since they were naked and ashamed, God covered them in the skins of animals to protect and comfort them (Genesis 3:21). An animal had to be slain for Adam and Eve to be covered — for their shame to be removed.

One day, Jesus Christ, a direct descendant of Adam’s according to Matthew 1, would defeat the devil. But it wasn’t the victory anyone expected. Instead, Jesus went to the cross, paying the penalty we owed. His death was in our place; “without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22).

Just as God covered the sins of Adam and Eve with a sacrifice, he provides for our sins and brokenness with the sacrifice of his own son.