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The morning was cold, the grass outside adorning billions of unique ice crystals. What was once a bed of life was slowly beginning to deteriorate on its own accord.
When the cold north wind breaks through and wraps her arms around us, what do we think? Do we run away? Do we look for others that might be cold? Do we grab a coat and hope that we can forge our own path in our cold world?
I am often reminded, on cold mornings like today, if when Adam and Eve were walking in the garden and our God clothed them. We are all familiar with the part of the story where they are running around naked and not thinking much about it—mostly because we can’t possibly fathom such a hilarious scenario. Yet we overlook what happens just after the fall.
I challenge you to read this passage a few times to really get a grasp of what is happening here:
“Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; With hard labor you shall eat from it All the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; Yet you shall eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You shall eat bread, Until you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.” Now the man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.”
Genesis 3:17-21 NASB2020
It is easy in our own selfish ways to read that passage and only see the punishment being thrown down upon Adam, Eve, and all of us. What’s more difficult to grasp is the very last line. Why on earth would our God clothe someone that he so greatly despised and just got done cursing? Well, I think one needs to look no further than God’s true character: He is love.
You see it wasn’t God that brought down humanity, we brought ourselves down. And while our God could have chosen total wrath, He instead chose to give us what we wanted: self-sufficiency. On top of that, He gave us clothes to keep us warm on the many dark nights that would be ahead of us.
Perhaps the story of the fall plays out every single day. Both you and I do many things every single day that are contrary to what God has commanded. We know this, and we still continue to trudge hard headedly deeper and deeper into the unknown. We work tirelessly to scrape up enough pennies to buy ourselves a coat, or an entire outfit, that can protect us from ourselves and our own egos, and we leave the hand-crafted one that our Savior has made for us by the door.
If the cold winter wind does nothing else, perhaps it can show us that one day our own futile resources that give us life will fade away. Our electricity that we rely on will be gone. Our coats that we buy and make for ourselves will rip and slowly fall apart. Our homes will be burdened year after year, holding back the wind from our faces.
We do many things to avoid acknowledging the proverbial elephant in the room: we don’t want God’s help.
Instead of clothing ourselves in His garments from the start, we seem to always be inclined to turn ourselves into our own God. And that, my friends, is like building a house on an iceberg. You might be able to weather the frigid cold for a while, but what happens if it all melts? Who will rescue you from the raging seas or the frigid wind?
Our God is far greater than we ever give Him credit for. He is merciful beyond belief. All He asks is that you don’t forget the clothes He gave you that you threw in your closet long ago.
This is great perspective on this story! Thanks sir!