We cannot hide from God.
At that moment, their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they strung fig leaves together around their hips to cover themselves. Toward evening they heard the Lord God walking about in the garden, so they hid themselves among the trees.
The Lord God called to Adam, “Where are you?”
He replied, “I heard you, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
Genesis 3:7-10
In the story of Adam and Eve’s fall, we see the roots of why all of us hide. They tried to hide because of their sin, because sin makes us want to hide. Because we are afraid. Afraid of what others will think if they see us uncovered, naked, unmasked. Afraid of judgment. Afraid of punishment.
God created Adam and Eve, and then He “looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was excellent in every way” (Genesis 1:31). God loved Adam and Eve. And He still loved them even after they fell. We see this in His compassion: “The Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife” (Genesis 3:21).
We might overlook this little sentence, but if we dig deeper, we see the roots of our salvation. Adam and Eve were loved by God. They sinned, choosing something that looked good to them over obedience to God’s instructions. Their sin led them to feel shame and fear, and to hide. God declared that their sin had consequences – they could no longer live in the Garden with Him. God also provided a covering for their shame because of His compassion.
There’s more. Where did He get the animal skins used to cover their nakedness? From animals of course. And what animals don’t need their skins anymore? Ones that are dead. The animals died – they were sacrificed – in order to cover Adam and Eve. Two thousand years later, God provided a Lamb as the final sacrifice to cover all our sins.
If you wonder if God loves you, let me assure you that He has provided the way for you to be reconciled with Him because He loves you and wants to be with you. Jesus is the proof, the evidence, that God will go to any lengths to be with you. If your sin seems so great you wonder if God can forgive you, let me assure you that the Lamb of God is big enough to cover all your sin. When He spreads His righteousness over you like a cloak to hide your nakedness and shame, He covers you completely.
Sometimes we come to Christ and we still feel afraid. We live as though we’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop. The world has accustomed us to bait-and-switch, the fine print, the catch. We’ve missed out on peace because of our incomplete knowledge of God.
God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him…We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love… Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.
1 John 4:9, 16, 18
If we’re afraid when bad things happen that God is punishing us, or that He is luring us in only to get us another day, then we don’t understand His perfect love. If we did, we would know that the punishment has already been carried out and the penalty has already been satisfied (Hebrews 9:28). We have nothing to fear because the Judge has declared us not guilty (Romans 3:23-24).
When we’re afraid, instead of hiding in the darkness, we must bring our fear into the light of His presence. We hold it up before the truth of God’s promises, before the fact that all His actions flow out of His heart of love for us. We cling to this truth:
You died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
Colossians 3:3
Our real life is concealed and safe from the enemy. We have nothing to fear because nothing and no one can snatch us from God’s hand (John 10:28-29). Because of God’s great love for us, our shame has been covered by Christ. The relationship has been restored. Now we have no need to try to hide from God. Instead, we find He is our hiding place.