oh how we hide

i was reading genesis three today and the part where adam and eve hide from God "because they were naked" stuck out at me. I got to thinking about how sin separates us from God. We hear a lot about how God cannot remain near sin, thus his people must be made holy. But if you read the story God didn't withdraw from man, man withdrew from God.

I know when I do something I know I shouldn't that affects someone else, when I do something that hurts another, the last thing I want to do is talk to them. My reaction is the same as Adam and Eve's, to hide. I experience a sensation within me, a sinking in my stomach, a feeling that it would be the worst thing in the world to face that person with my dirty hands, to expose my nakedness. I do not want to be seen as I am, sinful, full of mistake and hurt. I want to hide.

It is by the grace of God that we can learn to approach with humility and receive the forgiveness he offers. The wonder and joy is found in realizing that God does not think less of me for my sin. The shame that I feel does not come from him. It is that shame that drives us apart. God comes exposing our sin with truth so that he can wash away the shame with forgiveness and restore the relationship.

Adam and Eve were banished from the garden. Childbearing and the ground were cursed because of them. There were direct consequences of what they did. But God didn't leave them. He made them clothes so they would not continually feel exposed. In chapter four after Cain killed Abel, it is said that he "left the Lord's presence." He didn't just leave his family and fields, he left God's presence. God was still with them. He didn't leave after sin entered the world. He stuck around to work things out.

He is here now. Forgiving my sin, wiping away my shame, covering my nakedness, staying with me to bring me to the day our relationship can be as glorious and pure as it once was with Adam and Eve in the garden.