God Pursues His People (3:8-13)

Aaron Sturgill

Exploring Genesis • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

Adam and Eve hide from God

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Introduction

How often have you felt that God’s approval or pleasure with you is dependent on your ability to sustain a modicum of a consistent spiritual life? While we may quickly acknowledge God’s love for mankind, we quickly spiral into an overemphasis on his wrath. As believers we know God must love us, but we most certainly don’t think he likes us.

How many of you – Christians – consistently live in fear of Gods’ wrath? How many of you feel the regular burden of God’s impending disapproval and anger over your failures and sins? Amid your sin or immediately following, do you desire God’s presence or his distance? Do you assume his presence would bring with it his anger?

If you feel this way (which let’s be honest, probably all of us feel this way regularly) you are surrounded by a host of others – including Adam Eve – who have and continue to feel the same way.

However, I would like to propose to you, based on this text in Genesis, that our natural inclination to run and hide out of fear of God is the wrong response. And, in fact, God approaches and pursues us with purposeful and intense love and a desire to restore, and yet our inclination is to run, hide, and blame.

Purpose statement. God pursues his people even though they typically run from him.

William Cushing, a minister and hymnists of the nineteenth century, wrote “Hiding In Thee” which well reflects what our tendency ought to be.

O safe to the Rock that is higher than I

My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly

So sinful so weary Thine, Thine, would I be

Thou blest Rock of Ages I’m hiding in Thee.

Motivated by love[1], God graciously pursues.

God pursues his people by means of his presence and inquiry. God comes to the garden and he calls out to Adam and Eve.

Note in this case that God does not come in wrath. Of course, at times, God comes in wrath. We see this a couple chapters later as he floods the world. However, this wrath comes because of continual rejection of his gracious outreached hand.

In Proverbs, Solomon offers a contrast between two women – woman folly and woman wisdom. Woman folly sneaks around and entices in dark corners and hides her real intentions – ever luring in the naïve fool into her destructive path. Woman wisdom, however, stands “on the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand” (Prov 8:1). She is present, and she calls out to “children of men,” pleading with them to come to her for life and blessing. Wisdom, the personification of God, comes to the “children of men” and pleads with them to follow him.

In Ezekiel, God rebukes the “shepherds” of Israel who have fed and clothed themselves while rejecting and neglecting the weak, sick, and injured. As a result, the sheep were scattered, wandering the hills, with “none to search or seek for them” (Eze 34:1-6). In contrast, God declares, “Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out” (Eze 34:11, cf. Eze 11:17). The people of Israel display no inclination to seek God, but God pursues them. Ezekiel writes:

As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness…. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice. (Eze 34:11–16).

Hosea offers a lived out parable of God’s dramatic and sacrificial pursuit of his people. God directs Hosea to “take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom” (Hosea 1:2).[2] On numerous occasions, Gomer defiles their marriage as she sleeps with other men. Hosea names their third child “Loammi” which means “not my people.” Hosea, throughout chapter two, unfolds Gomer’s ongoing pursuit of various lovers (2:7) and his own ongoing provision for her (2:8). While Gomer suffers the consequences of her decisions – and Hosea allows her to suffer the consequences of her decision – Hosea ultimately “brings her into the wilderness and speaks tenderly to her” (2:14). Hosea gives her vineyards and a “door of hope” (2:15).

And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” So I bought her… (Hosea 3:1–2).

The people of Israel continually rejected God and sought-after other gods and desired to find satisfaction by other means. Yet, God displays his natural affinity for his people and pursued them.

Isaiah laments Judah’s destruction. He writes of how Judah has “become a wilderness” and “Jerusalem a desolation” and the beautiful temple has been burned (64:10-11). Isaiah pleads with God to not be “so terribly angry…remember not iniquity forever” (64:9). Immediately preceding, Isaiah describes the people.

we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities. (Isaiah 64:5–7).

However, in chapter sixty-five, God informs Isaiah of his consistent demeanor towards his people.

I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name. I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks; (Isa 65:1–3).

In each instance, the biblical authors describe mankind as sinful, rejecting God, and fleeing from his presence. Yet, God, while allowing the natural consequences of sin, appears physically (whether through supernatural means or by means of a spokesperson) and calls out to man – and in so doing extending hope amid brokenness.

In the New Testament we see the clearest and most profound extension of God to mankind. He sends Jesus to “seek and save the lost” (Lk 19:10). Throughout his life, Jesus both models and teaches about God’s natural inclination to pursue mankind.

In Luke 15, Jesus teaches about God’s passionate pursuit of lost man. The religious leaders grumble about Jesus because he “receives sinners and eats with them” (Lk 15:1). Jesus responds by offering three parables, starting with the parable of the lost sheep. Jesus implies any good shepherd would leave his flock and go search out one lost sheep and abundantly rejoice over the return of the lost sheep.

Similarly, a woman who lost a precious coin would diligently search throughout her house to find it. She would rejoice in finding the lost coin.

Jesus ends his three-fold parable with the parable of the prodigal son. The son takes his father’s inheritance and blows it all on wasteful living. However, when the son comes back, the Father runs to greet him and rejoices in that his son “was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found” (Lk 15:32).

Jesus not only taught about God’s dramatic pursuit of man but embodied God’s pursuit of man. The apostle John writes, “for God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Similarly, Paul writes, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21).

Throughout the scriptures, biblical authors consistently display God as a God who pursues his people. God’s natural response to sinful man is not wrath but instead an extension of himself in grace and hope. Only following man’s rejection of God’s grace does man experience God’s appropriate and divine wrath.

We are called to pursue others. Let me draw a brief theological implication. God pursues us. We ought to pursue others. The goal of mankind ought to be glorifying God by declaring and/or reflecting his character. Therefore, if God is a gracious God who pursues broken and shame-ridden people, we should desire to pursue broken and shame-ridden people as well in order to extend to them the grace and hope of God.

Prompted by shame, man foolishly retreats.

God naturally pursues sinful man. However, sinful man naturally flees from God (and others). Notice Adam and Eve’s actions amid God coming to them in the garden.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LordGod said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:8–13).

In this brief exchange, we see mankind’s natural disposition to flee in shame and blame when caught.

Shameful retreat. In the moment of Adam and Eve’s sin, man’s long battle with shame began. Let me briefly define shame and make a distinction between shame and guilt. Shame is an awareness of a failure before the eyes of someone.[3] We can feel shame from others as they communicate disappointment or criticism[4], directly or indirectly. We sense shame when we think we may have disappointed someone or did not meet up to their expectations.

Welch. Shame and guilt are close companions but not identical. Shame is the more common and broader of the two. In Scripture you will find shame (nakedness, dishonor, disgrace, defilement) about ten times more often than you find guilt. Guilt lives in the courtroom where you stand alone before the judge. It says, “You are responsible for wrongdoing and legally answerable.” “You are wrong.” “You have sinned.” The guilty person expects punishment and needs forgiveness. Shame lives in the community, though the community can feel like a courtroom. It says, “You don’t belong—you are unacceptable, unclean, and disgraced” because “You are wrong, you have sinned” (guilt), or “Wrong has been done to you” or “You are associated with those who are disgraced or outcast.” The shamed person feels worthless, expects rejection, and needs cleansing, fellowship, love, and acceptance.[5]

Initially, shame manifest itself in Adam and Eve’s awareness of their nakedness. They felt exposed. They desired to cover themselves. They did not want one another to see their defilement. This sense of shame becomes most acute as they are cast out of the garden – rejected, separated, and cast away. They were unclean and they felt unclean.

Welch. Shame is the deep sense that you are unacceptable because of something you did, something done to you, or something associated with you. You feel exposed and humiliated. Or, to strengthen the language, you are disgraced because you acted less than human, you were treated as if you were less than human, or you were associated with something less than human, and there are witnesses.[6]

Foolish blaming. And for Adam and Eve, just like us, we want to shed ourselves of the shame, so we do all we can to shift the blame. Shame places on our shoulders an unbearable weight, and we do all we can to remove it. “When you feel dirty because you have caked the mud on yourself, you try to say that other people have been slinging mud at you.”[7]

Blame shifting does not ultimately work because we are typically self-aware enough to know where blame actually lies. We do all within our power to shift the blame, make everyone look at someone else, and for at least a moment feel a little better about the whole situation.

However, God in his grace, simply asks us to acknowledge we have mud on our faces so that he can graciously cleanse it. He doesn’t want to point fingers. He wants to forgive and our relationship be restored.

Conclusion

1. There is an appropriate place for shame. While God does not desire us to live in or wallow within ongoing shame. We ought to since shame when we don’t meet up to God’s expectations. However, there God extends a quick resolution to that shame.

2. God’s pursuit and quick forgiveness do not remove natural consequences for sin.

3. We are to move toward others in the same way that God moved towards us in Christ.

Move Toward Others. God takes the initiative and moves toward us; we take the initiative toward others. This is simple teaching with endless applications. (1) Jesus pursues us, we pursue each other. He says “I love you” first, even when we respond with an indifferent shrug or the equivalent of a passing, “Oh, thanks.” And in this we discover why it might be hard for us to move toward others: the one taking the initiative in the relationship—the one who loves most—is the one who risks humiliation. . . . Too often we are silent when we know of someone’s trouble. Silence is the same as turning away. (2) Jesus listens, we listen. The extroverts among us seem to make it look easy. The more shy might be intimidated by the potential awkwardness or silence. But loving pursuit is neither easy nor natural to anyone. (3) We listen. This means we are undistracted, engaged, and affected by what they say. We share, in some small way, the delights of the good things and the burdens of the hard things.[8]

Resources for Bible Study

Foh, Susan T. “What Is the Woman’s Desire.” The Westminster Theological Journal 37, no. 3 (1975): 376–83.

Welch, Edward T. Caring for One Another: 8 Ways to Cultivate Meaningful Relationships. Wheaton: Crossway, 2018. (“Move Toward Others,” Chapter 2)

Welch, Edward T. Shame Interrupted: How God Lifts the Pain of Worthlessness and Rejection. Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2012. (“When God Touches the Untouchables,” Chapter 14)

Footnotes

[1]I use “love” as an umbrella term with the intention of implying God’s grace, mercy, kindness, goodness, etc. The emphasis in this point is God’s pursuit not the attribute that prompts the pursuit. [2]Paul apple offers the three following options for “take a wife of whoredom” in his “Overview of Hosea.” (1) actually marry a prostitute – but nothing seems wrong in the early stages of birth of first son; this would be very strange – would not picture the condition of a redeemed people who subsequently would commit spiritual adultery; question whether the next two children are really his … you can see the decline in the relationship (2) symbolic only; an allegory – does not give the power to the illustration; details of the narrative read like a literal story 3) Gomer chaste initially – but God foretelling what her character and actions would be; this is the preferable view. [3] David Powlison, Julie E. Lowe, and Andrew Ray, What Is the Difference between Guilt and Shame?, 2012, http://www.ccef.org/resources/podcast/what-difference-between-guilt-and-shame. [4] Powlison, Lowe, and Ray. [5] Edward T. Welch, Shame Interrupted: How God Lifts the Pain of Worthlessness and Rejection (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2012). [6] Welch seems to emphasize the feelings of shame and the lasting and negative consequences of shame within the context of shame generated by ourselves and others. On the other hand, Thomas Watson, in his book The Doctrine of Repentance,establishes that shame is the main ingredient of repentance. He concludes that sin “breeds shame…[that] in every sin there is much unthankfulness, and that is a matter of shame…[that] our sins have put Christ to shame [and that should put us to shame]…[that] sin…turns men into beast…[and that] in every sin there is folly.”[6] For each and all these reasons we should feel shame. While Watson and Welch’s views may seem contradictory at first glance, I don’t believe they are. Welch focuses on the shame we feel from ourselves and others. This sense of shame can be debilitating and does not lead to godly repentance. On the other hand, Watson focuses on the shame we feel in not meeting up to God’s expectations. This shame does and should lead us to biblical repentance. Edward T. Welch, Shame Interrupted: How God Lifts the Pain of Worthlessness and Rejection, 2; Thomas Watson, Doctrine of Repentance, sec. 353-387. Kindle Edition. [7] Welch, Shame Interrupted. [8] Edward T. Welch, Caring for One Another: 8 Ways to Cultivate Meaningful Relationships(Wheaton: Crossway, 2018), Synthesis of Chapter 2.

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