Hiding

Our dog Lexi loves to get into the trashcan in the bathroom. Because of that, we close the door when we leave the house to keep her out of there. Except sometimes we forget.

Yesterday, we forgot.

Deana found the mess and hollered from the bathroom, "Lexi!"

I was sitting in a chair in the living room. Lexi came quickly and sat beside the chair. She peeked around it toward the bathroom door. She knew what she had done and she knew she was in trouble.

I can't help but think about Adam and Eve. They sinned by not obeying God's instruction to not eat from a particular tree in the Garden of Eden. As soon as they did it they knew they had done something wrong.

Do you remember what they did then? They hid in the bushes. They tried to hide from God.

"Adam, where are you?" God said. Do you really think God did not know where Adam was? Sometimes I know that Riley is somewhere in the house but I have to go room to room calling for him before I find him laying on his bed with earphones in and listening to music. I don't really know why he needs to wear the earphones, I can hear the music just fine and I'm not wearing them.

God didn't have to search the garden to find Adam and Eve. He knew they were hiding. He knew they were hiding in the bushes. He knew which bush they were hiding behind.

God asked, "Where are you?" not so he could learn where Adam was hiding but so Adam could realize that God loved him and wanted to be with him even though he had sinned.

Not only did God come to the garden to be with Adam and Eve, he also prepared clothing for them. And he protected them from ever eating from another tree in the garden. They had eaten from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and they were now aware of what they had been protected from. The other tree was the Tree of Life. If they ate from that tree they would live forever.

Imagine living forever but cast out of God's place of perfection. By keeping Adam and Eve from going back into the garden and eating from the Tree of Life, God was making a way for them to return to relationship with him.

Yes, there is a penalty for sin. It is death. It is separation from God.

But there is redemption through death and separation. Jesus' death on the cross and his separation from the Father when he bore all our sins and took the punishment for us. Jesus did not become a sinner but he did become sin. For us.

You can act innocent but the truth is that you are guilty, just like Adam and Eve. And the punishment for sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus. The promise of God is forgiveness and redemption and love when we turn from our ways and toward his.

Following Jesus is the pathway that leads from death to life. If you are on that journey you can be assured that Jesus will deliver you into eternal life. If you are not following Jesus you can begin today. Contact me if you would like to know more about following Jesus from death to life.