Hide and Seek

Hide and Seek

Origin stories are powerful devices. We derive our understanding of something based on how it began. We often confuse the foundational as the definitional, but not without good reason. “Start a child off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6). And while God will always hold the capacity to change us, shape us, and transform us, it should be understood that our beginning has a profound impact on our present. So, what is our beginning? Moses was given, and dutifully recorded, the account of Creation. We are passably familiar with it enough not to delve into detail here, but there are still insights worth gleaning. If one is to tell an origin story, it is not enough to explain the what, who, where, how, or when. It’s best viewed through the lens of why. It’s true of even the most superficial topics. We want to know why Tony Stark dons the armor, and why Bruce Wayne stalks the shadows. When did we get here is an academic question, how we got here is marvelously telling, what we are doing here is observational, but why are we here is the grandest of them all. The first recorded words of Scripture tell us that He created. All of the heavens and the earth were formed and fashioned by and through Him. Nothing existed outside of His will and presence. This is both the when and the how. 

It’s telling that we are given such a detailed order to the Creation that man was not here to experience. Like all other things, this carries weight, meaning, and importance. “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10) When God acts, it is not idly, nor without reason. All He does is purposeful. This extends to all that is described for us in Genesis chapter 1. All that God made was reviewed and declared as good. And man in his (briefly) sinless state was created at the pinnacle of this process. We were made and placed in a world in all of its completeness and declared “very good” by God. Take a moment to imagine then what Heaven would be like. All we know is this broken, listless, and condemned existence. There exists still a place for us that God deems very good, and a place is being made for you there. What is interesting to us though is the dichotomy, that distance that separates that very good promise from the sin infested place we know today. It is common to ask where God is in all of this mindless mess and mayhem. To ask if He truly still cares in light of the terror and tragedy. Even on a personal level, we often wonder how best to follow Him and build a personal relationship with an entity that spoke into being the cosmos. It’s natural to wonder how that is supposed to feel or if it’s even possible. These are both the same question, merely dressed differently.

“God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:28) This is the first notation of God speaking to man. These are not His instructions, this is His bequeathment. But to understand why things are as they are, we need to see what happens next. Given dominion over all of the Garden man was given one commandment. Not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We recognize this temptation was too great for man and he succumbed. We have ratified Adam’s sin with each and every one of our own. And while we may believe ourselves capable of resisting the allure of a fruit, Adam would be revulsed by the depraved nature of his earthly progeny. “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12) If we are to understand our “Why?” then we must come to terms with our continued complicity in the original Fall. At cursory glance this may be enough to satisfy the question as to where God is in all of the calamity that is human existence. After all, we were given the chance to have Paradise and we chose not to. We chose to sin and then, granted the knowledge of good and evil, we have steadfastly chosen evil. The second sin recorded for us in the Bible is the murder of Abel by his brother Cain. How quickly we fell. But this misses a larger point, and a more important one. What of those who seek God? Are we to be ever separated by our failings? Can He ever be present in lives so ill spent?

Notice the order of events, verse 6, they sinned. Verse 7, they were made aware of their nakedness and fashioned coverings for themselves. Verse 8 & 9- “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees in the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’” Who is separating themselves from God? We are. The earliest consequence of sin was a separation, He came looking for us, we covered and hid ourselves. What keeps us away from God? Our own fear, our own doubt. We create obstacles, God is still seeking us, calling us to Him. One of the reasons that confession is spoken of in the Church is because we are still trying to find our way back to that uninhibited connection with God. (**Sidenote Tangent**--This is obviously metaphorical! Wear clothes to church!) Intellectually we understand that God sees directly through us, we know He judges the heart. He is not fooled by ostentation. Confession is honesty, it is recognition of what God already knows. Asking for forgiveness is acknowledging our “nakedness” in front of God and understanding that we are no more than the dust from which we are formed. Any significance our life is to have, is what He gives it. 

And here we are Anno Domini 2023 (almost 2024…) we have been fruitful (in the barest sense of the term) and have multiplied. We have filled the earth and subdued it, we rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the land. We have still benefited from God’s initial blessing. And we have still sinned and hidden ourselves in our shame. But this is not our destiny. As we noted earlier, the order of Creation was spelled out in crystal clear detail, even that which man was not here to witness. There is a reason for this. “And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years’” (Genesis 1:14) That was the fourth day. Man was created on the sixth. Remember what it was that led the wisemen to find Jesus and let them know the Savior had been born. It was a star in the sky. The light from that star began traveling to earth the moment it was placed in the sky, before man even drew breath. God’s plan for redemption is older than even sin. Our salvation was always part of His grand design. He will not consign us to remain hidden, ashamed and afraid, in the trees. 

How does our beginning lend light to our present? How does this examination help us understand, “Why?” Once again, our focus is misplaced. We are not the protagonists of this tale. The story of humanity is that of the prodigal son, but from the father’s perspective. And our Father is not passively waiting, but actively working. Not ignorant of our despair, he sits with us in the pig sty, imploring us to stop eating the slop. Our God still walks the Garden in the cool of the day calling our name, we need only have the courage to step into the light of His calling. Another word for that is faith. “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16) Every action God takes has purpose. If the word of His mouth will not return void, the careful work of His hands will be also suitably dedicated. It was with purpose that He created you. It was with love He created this world and bequeathed it to you. It is with love He calls you still. Our why is to be reconciled, to find our pathway back to walks in the Garden. Even in this we are not left to our own devices. “Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.” (Romans 5:18) Our origins are mired in the short-sighted sinfulness of Adam. Our destiny rests in the eternal embrace of a sacrificial Savior. Stop hiding and realize you are being sought. By the One who created you, knows you completely, and has ordered the world itself to bring you back to Him.