Time to get back on the horse--it has been a few months, but here we go again. . . .
Last weekend I preached a message on Genesis chapter 3, and discussed the glimmers of the gospel that we can see in Adam and Eve's fall from Eden. I plan to highlight certain aspects of the fall in the coming blog posts. This week--the fig leaves.
Genesis 3:6-7
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Adam and Eve eat the fruit that God told them not to eat. And in that act they commit the first sin--the fall--the first rebellion--the first selfishness--the first act of putting one's will above the will of God. Then, for the first time, Adam and Eve experience guilt and shame as they realize they are naked. Their innocence is lost, and they feel the need to hide the shame of their nakedness. They feel the need to try and cover up their guilt. So, what do they do? They try and fix the problem of their sin themselves, and they use fig leaves to do it. I imagine they are reeling from the experience. I imagine they are confused by what they are feeling, and they are trying to do anything they can to try and ease their conscience--anything that will hide their shame--anything that will cover over their guilt. And it just so happened that they turned to fig leaves.
Our lives today are no different. Every day we put our will above God's will, and every day that guilt and shame just builds with each instance of our self-centerdness. We call the shame and guilt by different names, and many of us don't even have a name for it. It is a hollow feeling deep down that we don't ever talk about. We know there is something missing, there is something off, something intangible yet very real disconnected in our soul. So the question is what do we do about it? Often times many of us do just what Adam and Eve did--we try and fix the problem ourselves. We don't use fig leaves to hide our shame. Instead we turn to our careers--and we become determined to drowned out the shame with success in the marketplace. Or we turn to our families--and we become focused on burying the guilt by raising a picture perfect family full of good, over-achieving children. Or we turn to entertainment--and we hide from the shame in our t.v. shows, trips to the lake, and fast cars. Whatever the case: fig leaves or speed boats, we all try and solve the problem of our sin ourselves. And as foolish as I imagine Adam looked cowering behind a tree with fig leaves crudely secured around his waist as God walks by--I imagine I look just as foolish cowering behind my self-righteousness with morality and success ineptly fastened around my waist as God walks by.
Nest post, God's response . . .
