The Fall and the Cover-up
Scripture Reading — Genesis 3:6-24
God called ... "Where are you?" [Adam] answered, "... I was afraid ... so I hid." Genesis 3:9-10
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For Adam and Eve, being made in the image of God wasn't enough. Satan enticed them to want equal status with God. And in a moment, they substituted the truth of who they were for the lies of Satan. As a result, their eyes were opened, but they were afraid to see God or to have him see them.
A conversation with Satan led to a conflict between our first parents and God as the husband blamed "the woman you put here with me" in an attempted cover-up. Human conversation from this day forward took on a new shape. Instead of daily conversation with God, there came shouts of pain from childbirth, distress over crops that failed, confusion, fear, and much more. Soon one child would kill another, and the anguished cries of shed blood and bereft parents would fill the earth.
But in the midst of God's curse on the serpent, the Lord filled the future with a promise. This conversation between God and humanity would not end in this garden. There would be another day when Satan's lies would be exposed and his power to strike would be crushed. Even in the cold darkness of the fall into sin, God promised there would be light and life.
God does not give up on humanity. On the day of brokenness, God was willing to bend down to be with us and begin putting the pieces back into order.
Dear God, we are amazed at your patience and amazing grace. In our broken moments make us confident of your nearness. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
About the author — Jul Medenblik
Rev. Jul Medenblik is a former attorney who was called to pastoral ministry and became the church-planting pastor of a congregation in New Lenox, Illinois. Since 2011 he has served as the seventh president of Calvin Theological Seminary, which, together with Calvin University, is celebrating 150 years of God’s faithfulness in their history as the educational institutions of the Christian Reformed Church in North America (see calvinseminary.edu/150th). Jul and his wife, Jackie, have been married for over 40 years and are blessed with two adult children and a son-in-law.
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