Scripture:
Genesis 3:9-15 NKJV
[9] Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” [10] So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” [11] And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” [12] Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” [13] And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” [14] So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. [15] And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
Observation:
Over the last several years, I have noticed that GOD has told us everything HE has planned. It’s all in the bible. The key is that you have to be in a relationship with him to see it. In fact, in the first few chapters of the first book, you can see the redemption plan, and if you’re careful, you can see how none of it is a plan B. HE didn’t place us in the garden next to a tree and tell us not to eat of it without knowing that we would. Let’s look back over the creation period for just a moment. GOD already existed when HE placed the sun moon and stars in the sky, and HE did that to mark the times. Dividing the day from the night. So, it would stand to reason that GOD stands outside of time. HE HIMSELF says I am the beginning and the end. HE knew what would happen in the garden. HE knew we would fall. The thing is, HE already had a plan in place to send HIS son. Let’s take a look at how all this unfolds as we get to see it. We know from yesterday’s scripture that the big moment had already happened. Adam and Eve had taken the fruit and eaten it. They had seen that they were naked and had used fig leaves to cover themselves. So the shame of their nakedness had set in. But let’s look at that for just a moment. GOD had made them naked. HE knew HE had done so. But they just didn’t have the knowledge of it. That was given to them when they ate from the tree. It would be easy to say that GOD wants us to be able to expose all of ourselves to HIM. Now I’m not saying we all need to walk around naked. But what I am saying is you can’t hide from GOD. HE created you, and HE sees you sin and all. Let’s move forward. They heard the voice of the LORD walking in the garden, and HE called out to Adam , ” Where are you?” Now, I picture this in my mind regularly. Because I feel like GOD knew exactly where Adam was. I feel like Adam was hunkered down behind a tree that GOD had created, and GOD was standing there looking at the tree and seeing Adam behind it, covered in shame, fear, and the guilt of what had happened. As the LORD called him out by name. He answered. I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked: and I hid myself. In other words, I was full of guilt, shame, and fear because I knew that you would see all things, so I tried to hide it from you. GOD knew exactly what had happened. HE could see it. Never before had Adam been fearful, shameful, or guilt-ridden. All that was behavior that came from only one thing. Doing what HE had said not to. Eating from the tree that gives that kind of knowledge. Our sin can not be hidden from GOD, but in the very same manner, HE knew we would do it. So HE exposed HIS plan to us. HE knew we would need a redeemer before we knew we needed one. Let’s move forward. Who told you you were naked? Did you eat from the tree? It was all out on the carpet GOD knew, and there was no way to deny it. But wait, LORD, it’s not my fault…. It’s yours, “YOU” gave me that woman you put her here, and she misled me, and now we are here. Blaming his sin on GOD’S blessings. The woman was appointed to be a helper. As we got the opportunity to read yesterday, the man is the spiritual leader. HE was the one given the instructions and now standing here before GOD with all of his sins exposed despite the efforts to hide them. His first instinct was to blame his sins on GOD rather than take responsibility for them. But before we get too heavy on Adam, this is something we do all the time as well. So don’t go pointing fingers. Adam was built to lead, but he followed. Then he pushed the problem off when things happened the way they did. But so did Eve. As she was sitting there all exposed, her first response was, “The snake did it it’s that dirty snake’s fault.” Now here comes the interesting part. GOD’S plan is exposed. As he looked at the serpent. HE says, “Because you have done this.” Because you have deceived. You will eat dust on your belly. You will have enmity with the seed of the woman…. the seed of the woman??? Wait, what is that??? Stay tuned, and I will answer that question. Now, I’m not sure if I like how this version of the bible puts this next part. Because other versions use the word crush rather than bruise and a crushing blow is what was given. But let’s continue. The LORD said HE will crush your head, and you will bruise his heel. I capitalized HE to indicate who we are talking about. GOD’S plan…. a coming king…. HIS son….. Jesus…. a redeemer….. our saving grace….. the king of kings and LORD of LORD’S. You see, nothing is hidden. Not even GOD’S plan. Jesus is coming back. Are you ready, or are you still trying to hide your sin?
Application:
Working through the 12 steps that come directly from the principles in the bible. It’s easy for me to see that guilt shame and fear have played a big part in my life as it has come to addiction. The way our mind works, we never really want to own up to our own stuff. We always want to blame it on others and even at times blame it on GOD. You did this to me. It was the blessings that were too much. After many years of study, I have learned that GOD wants a relationship with us, one that tries to hide nothing. It’s not like HE doesn’t know. Can I tell you what the power of sin is? I believe it’s something that is important to know. It’s guilt, shame, and fear. They all lead to us trying to separate ourselves from the source of life. They lead us to try to hide what GOD already knows. We have all sinned and fallen short of GOD’S glory. Trying to hide that is where we find our problems. Just like the slave woman who gave birth to Abraham’s first son Ishmael as she was running from her problems sitting in that place of contemplation. GOD told her to go back to Abraham’s wife. She said YOU are the GOD who sees me. GOD has not hidden anything from us, and we should not try to hide from HIM. HE wants an open line of communication. HE wants us to tell HIM when we fail. So HE can show us how not to. But all too often, we want to hide that failure and blame others for it out of guilt, shame, and fear of being exposed. All that is what leads to anxiety. The bible says, “Confess your sins to one another that you may be healed.” The power of sin is found in what it does to the way we think. We start to think things like, if anyone finds out, or if they know what I did, or I’m just a failure, and so on and so forth. GOD created us to be naked in front of HIM. HE wants us to be honest with HIM. HE knows that we will fail. HE knew it from the start. As HE was sitting there in the heavens before anything was created, standing outside time looking over what creation would look like with HIS one and only son. HE saw everything you would ever do. Then HE said I have an answer for that. Jesus… I have a plan… It’s not going to be an easy plan, but I need you to crush that snake’s head. Take away his power. Take away the condemnation he keeps placing on all of my creation. Free them. Now, one thing I want to make clear is. That doesn’t mean we can run headlong into sin. But when we make a mistake if we will come to GOD with it. HE is faithful and just and will forgive our sins. We can’t hide HE knows how HE made us and has already seen every moment of our lives. HE is the GOD who sees us. Live in a manner that shows HIM that you know that.
Prayer:
Father, you knew. You know before you ever made us. The very first thing we want to say to you is we are sorry. We know that we can not hide from you. When you made us, we were made totally exposed to you. So you know when we start to withdraw from you, it’s because of our sin. Father, help us to stay connected. Help us to live in a manner that we are not afraid to come to you with our sins. Your word tells us to come boldly to the throne of grace. We know that the grace you have given is not a license to live how we want without consequences, but it allows us an opportunity to confess our sins to you. The more we come to you as sinners. That’s how we come to you every morning. But you have made a way. You have opened up a line of communication. You delivered a crushing blow to the enemy. Taking away the power he had. By giving us the one thing that was needed. An ability to see him for who he is. What we are asking is that you forgive us where we fail you. Because it seems at times we live in a constant state of failure. Only you have the power to change our sinful hearts. We don’t want to try to hide from you. Help us to come to you when we mess up. You are a loving Father. You don’t want to strike us down. You want to teach us, but if we try to hide from you, all we will get is shame, guilt, fear, and death. We want eternal life through the grace offered by the crushing blow your son delivered. Here, we are exposed…. sinners…. but you have taken us how we are. Don’t leave us that way. It’s in the mighty name of Jesus. we pray, amen.