Meanwhile, the all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful creator and sustainer of the universe has been watching the whole episode. His head sunk into his hands as he watched each of them bite into the fruit. His heart broke as he watched them pick the fig leaves and find their hiding spot. . . .
At this point in time God has options. He can justifiably wipe them out (He promised them death in Genesis 2:17, " . . . when you eat from it you will certainly die."). He can swoop down into the garden on a white horse with thousands of angels and put the fear of God in these two rebels' hearts. In his disgust he could send an angel down to deal with them and not even waste his time. God always has options. So what does he decide to do . . .
He chooses mercy. He comes down in the cool of the day searching out those who broke his heart. He walks through the garden calling out for Adam and Eve. He calls out to them not with the voice of a policeman, but with the voice of yearning love. In one of our first images of God interacting with his creation we see a merciful God seeking out lost sinners. The beginning of redemptive history is played out here as God reveals himself in mercy coming to seek and save that which is lost. He is heartbroken, but not vengeful. He is offended, but not repulsed. And as we will soon see, he is loving, but not indulgent.
This is one of my favorite moments in all the stories of the Bible. What a beautiful picture of God's initial response to humanities sin. So often we become aware of our sin, and we cower in the shadows trying to hide from an angry God who we assume is coming to slap us on the hand. When in fact he is seeking us out--calling out our name. He wants more than anything for our relationship to be restored.
But how will he restore the damaged relationship? That is next week's blog . . .
