"The lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." (Genesis 3:21, NIV)
God made garments of skin for Adam and Eve, after their sin in the garden of Eden. After they realized they were naked, and tried to hide from God.
I've read that verse many times, and it's always just been "part of the story". But this time reading it, something was different. I wonder...how did God feel when his creation was hiding from him in shame because they were naked? And how does this apply to me?
Imagine you have a baby. A beautiful little spittin' image of yourself. And that baby begins to grow. They're walkin', talkin', and so excited every time you come into the room. And yes, sometimes they even run around naked. They're carefree. They live and they love and they don't think about consequences at all. And then one day...that baby grows up. Doesn't want to talk to you when you come home from work. Locks themselves away in their room, or runs off with their friends for hours. Doesn't laugh with you anymore anymore. Doesn't want a relationship with you anymore.
How sad that must feel. How sad for parents to have their children grow up and grow apart, and for our Heavenly Father. He desires closeness with us, and desires that we are free to live and love and laugh with Him! And then we sin, and we feel shame. We hide ourselves from God, because let's face it, we're embarrassed by our mistakes. And there's God...over there. Waiting patiently for us to come out because he doesn't look at us and see our sin. He sees US. His children, his creation. And all He wants is to restore that relationship. To remove the shame that's keeping us from running into His arms.
Instead of turning to Him, we try to help ourselves out as best we can. Maybe again because we're too embarrassed to run to our Father. We try to "fix it". We make our garments out of leaves and sticks...they aren't very comfortable. We'd rather be uncomfortable than have to look in the face of our Creator and ask for help, sometimes. It's hard to tell someone who has never wronged you, has blessed you and loved you unconditionally that you disobeyed them anyway. But He doesn't give up on us. He seeks us out, and he makes us garments of skin.
After wearing clothes made of leaves, I bet Adam and Eve were pretty happy to be wearing garments of skin. They didn't get caught on things and rip so easily, weren't so uncomfortable and scratchy. Plus, we know who made those garments, so I'd be willing to bet they were built to last. And probably beautiful, too.
When we sin there are consequences. We may not get kicked out of the Garden of Eden for our disobedience, but we have to walk down the paths we choose. God doesn't keep us from making the wrong decision. Sure, he warns us and tries to help us make the best decisions for our lives...but we don't always listen.
And then God comes looking for us. He finds us in our sin, walking in a direction we never wanted to go...and he gives us garments. He loves us, he protects us, he provides for us. Even after our disobedience. Even in our shame, in our fear.
After reading Genesis 3 today, one of the many things I feel I've learned, is that I need to be better about running to God. No, I don't want to sin. But I also don't want to let my shame keep me from restoring my relationship with my Father. Too many times in the past I've let shame rule my life. I've let shame keep me from living the life of the Redeemed. I see now that not only have we been sinning from Genesis 3, but God's been loving us, providing for us, healing us and restoring that relationship with us ever since. How He loves us!
God made garments of skin for Adam and Eve, after their sin in the garden of Eden. After they realized they were naked, and tried to hide from God.
I've read that verse many times, and it's always just been "part of the story". But this time reading it, something was different. I wonder...how did God feel when his creation was hiding from him in shame because they were naked? And how does this apply to me?
Imagine you have a baby. A beautiful little spittin' image of yourself. And that baby begins to grow. They're walkin', talkin', and so excited every time you come into the room. And yes, sometimes they even run around naked. They're carefree. They live and they love and they don't think about consequences at all. And then one day...that baby grows up. Doesn't want to talk to you when you come home from work. Locks themselves away in their room, or runs off with their friends for hours. Doesn't laugh with you anymore anymore. Doesn't want a relationship with you anymore.
How sad that must feel. How sad for parents to have their children grow up and grow apart, and for our Heavenly Father. He desires closeness with us, and desires that we are free to live and love and laugh with Him! And then we sin, and we feel shame. We hide ourselves from God, because let's face it, we're embarrassed by our mistakes. And there's God...over there. Waiting patiently for us to come out because he doesn't look at us and see our sin. He sees US. His children, his creation. And all He wants is to restore that relationship. To remove the shame that's keeping us from running into His arms.
Instead of turning to Him, we try to help ourselves out as best we can. Maybe again because we're too embarrassed to run to our Father. We try to "fix it". We make our garments out of leaves and sticks...they aren't very comfortable. We'd rather be uncomfortable than have to look in the face of our Creator and ask for help, sometimes. It's hard to tell someone who has never wronged you, has blessed you and loved you unconditionally that you disobeyed them anyway. But He doesn't give up on us. He seeks us out, and he makes us garments of skin.
After wearing clothes made of leaves, I bet Adam and Eve were pretty happy to be wearing garments of skin. They didn't get caught on things and rip so easily, weren't so uncomfortable and scratchy. Plus, we know who made those garments, so I'd be willing to bet they were built to last. And probably beautiful, too.
When we sin there are consequences. We may not get kicked out of the Garden of Eden for our disobedience, but we have to walk down the paths we choose. God doesn't keep us from making the wrong decision. Sure, he warns us and tries to help us make the best decisions for our lives...but we don't always listen.
And then God comes looking for us. He finds us in our sin, walking in a direction we never wanted to go...and he gives us garments. He loves us, he protects us, he provides for us. Even after our disobedience. Even in our shame, in our fear.
After reading Genesis 3 today, one of the many things I feel I've learned, is that I need to be better about running to God. No, I don't want to sin. But I also don't want to let my shame keep me from restoring my relationship with my Father. Too many times in the past I've let shame rule my life. I've let shame keep me from living the life of the Redeemed. I see now that not only have we been sinning from Genesis 3, but God's been loving us, providing for us, healing us and restoring that relationship with us ever since. How He loves us!
Thank you for sharing this, reading it has helped me let go of the shameful feelings I had. Shame is ugly but we are women after God's own heart and we are beautiful inside and out! Oh how he loves us!!
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