August 13, 2019 -- Genesis 3:8-10 - - Fully Known

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.”

Genesis 3:8-10 English Standard Version

Adam and Eve sinned. They ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil and realized they were sinners, realized they were naked, realized for the first time ever: shame. God their Creator knew all of this Nothing was hidden from His sight. In so many ways this is laughably-sad. Think of the times you’ve played “Hide and Seek” with a young child. You can see her feet sticking out from under the bulging curtains where she thinks she is well-hidden. Or you can hear the barely suppressed giggles of your grandson from behind the couch. They are not fooling anyone—their location is obvious to all.

So it was, and infinitely more: the LORD God had witnessed Adam and Eve rebel against Him. He knew they listened to lies rather than reject the words of the Father of Lies—all the while Adam and Eve were sated by the good produce of the Garden, they’d had the luxury of walking with God and being naked before each other and not ashamed. God saw all their sin and knew their folly in trying to hide from Him. Yet He still pursued them.

He went after them in the Garden of Eden in order to confront them with their sin and show them their need for the Saviour and to show them His tender mercy. Such mercies which would sustain them until the Day of Salvation.

 Our secular world accuses God of being an ogre. Those who think they know the LORD God have so many slanderous thoughts against the Merciful One. Recently I heard a quotation from J. I. Packer, and it was such a sweet antidote to poisonous, fatally flawed words about God:

There’s a difference between knowing God and knowing about God. When you truly know God

you have energy to serve him, boldness to share him, and contentment in Him…there is

tremendous relief in knowing that His love to me is based at every point on prior knowledge

of the worst about me.

J. I. Packer In God’s Presence (2000)

This is to the glory of God, this is the wonder of Genesis 3: sin doesn’t triumph. The loving-kindness of God triumphs. He Who knows the absolute worst about us, our darkest secrets and our vilest thoughts and our great fears—He Who is terrible in beauty and awesome in splendor and lives in fiery, unapproachable light—He fully knows us and rescues us from the death sentence of our sins and brings us to new life. Widely yet His mercy flows.

Don’t let your knowledge of God be the half-truths of our rebellious world. Do not settle for the lies the devil tells about the LORD God. Dive into the Bible. Read. Drink deeply of the refreshing well-waters of salvation and know this Glorious, Merciful God for yourself. Receive the gift of being fully known by God and fully loved by God Your Father. Unconditionally accept Jesus and be made new and completely clean.

Ah, Who is a God like You, forgiving our iniquity and passing over the transgressions of Your children? Who is a God like You—delighting to show steadfast love and having compassion on us, again, and again, and again. Thank You Faithful Father, that You have rescued us from the clutches of hell and have saved us from ourselves—through the inestimable cost of the blood of Your Own Son. Spirit of God move us from our hiding places and prompt us to look up to the Presence of our Merciful Father. Amen.