Human Response 6: Hide from God

Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

A common response of the sinner when he senses God nearby is to hide himself from God. This is what Adam and Eve did when they ”heard the voice of the Lord walking.” They knew they had sinned against a holy God; they felt the guilt and shame of it; they knew they had died immediately, that is, separated themselves from God and His Life. They knew the Lord was close by, but they could not face Him. Instinctively, they knew that sin cannot be in the Presence of Holiness.

The Man and the Woman did not know three things: 1) You can’t ”hide from God;” 2) God is relentless in His pursuit and He will find you; 3) The Presence of God appears to us with both Judgment and Mercy, Law and Gospel, order to elicit repentance and faith that saves. Ultimately, the love of God for the hiding sinner overwhelms, overpowers, and overcomes.

The Holiness and Justice of God demanded judgment, and so The Curse. But embedded within that curse was also the first Gospel Promise (Genesis 3:15). The OT believers clung to this Hope, until it was fulfilled at the Cross. The saying, ”Love conquers all” applies to our own human response of hiding from the presence of God.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is a NT parallel to this ”hiding” story. The son tried to hide his sin and guilt in a ”far country,” but the Lord found him and brought him to his senses (repentance) and he returned (faith). And the son was surprised by the unexpected, unconditional, and lavish love of the father.

Hiding is easy for us sinners: to avoid, neglect, and ignore God and His Word. Finding was hard for the Son of God: to suffer and die for us. Once again: God shows up, we hide, God loves and finds.