It's been a long time since I've written a post on here (over a year...) but I felt called to tonight, after RUF, a youth ministry I go to here at UVA, every Tuesday night. We read the passage below and I was incredibly overwhelmed by God's love.
Genesis 3:8-21
8 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 of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?" 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Then 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, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your bell and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head,and you will strike his heel.” 16 To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” 17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” 20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. 21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
This passage is one I'm sure you've either read before, heard before, or know the story of. This is the fall of man, when sin entered mankind's life and corrupted our world. Tonight I was overwhelmed by the amount of anger and sorrow we see from God, but also the love He extends. For the first time, I realized just how upset the Lord was at this point in time. After finishing his creation of a perfect and spotless world with two perfect human beings whom he loved, sin enters the picture. It becomes far from perfect. God became sad and angry when this happened. He cursed both man and women, and the serpent. God makes childbearing "severe, with painful labor" and curses the ground that man walks on. Tonight I could see the pain in God's voice as He spoke these words to Adam and Eve. The Lord had a reason to be angry and in pain. The people he designed intricately through love disobeyed him and became covered in sin. But there is hope. There is grace. And there is love. Verse 21 proves this. Although the Lord was full of sorrow for his people, he clothed them. The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and Eve, and He clothed them. This is the hope of the Gospel. While we were filthy, sinful, and against the Lord, He clothed us. This doesn't mean he simply forgot about the sin by covering it up with garments. It means that in our sin, while we sin, He clothes us, He helps us, He cares for us. God sees us as righteous, clothed in beautiful garments. This shows the magnitude and power of God's love for us. He loves us so much that even while we disobey Him, sin against Him, and bring Him pain, He is faithful and gracious all the while, loving us unconditionally. This is something that should bring us so much joy, thankfulness, and peace, on a daily basis. We ought to be overwhelmed by the Lord's love when we read this. Yes, the majority of the passage involves sin and the brokenness of our world, but through this, God's love is highlighted incredibly. God loves every single one of us, even when we sin against Him. This should not give us an excuse to sin, but rather a reason to sing, rejoice, and be glad. Rejoice in the fact that He has chosen us out of pure love and grace, and He is constantly clothing us in His royal garments of righteousness.
