Written by: Alexis Cooper 

“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ So he said, ‘I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.’ And He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Then the man said, ‘The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.’ And the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’ So the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all the cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.‘ 

(Gen 3: 8-15 NKJV) 

 And they heard the sound of the LORD God… 

Oh, Adam and Eve heard it, all right.  They knew God was coming, they heard His footsteps approaching.  God was out for an evening walk heading to see His family.  But instead of joining God for a chat, they were hiding from Him.  Hiding out of fear because of what they’d done.  God had said they would die if they did what they did, and now here they were; afraid, ashamed, naked and hiding.  

 Sin.  They had sinned.  God warned them in advance, but they chose to disobey Him and now the easy intimacy with Him, walking together in perfect communion, was forever changed.  They had taken next steps into their own hands and tried to cover themselves – first with fig leaves so they wouldn’t see each other’s nakedness, and then by trying to cover their location from the all-seeing God, hiding out.  

 But God, in His mercy and kindness, knowing exactly where they were, what they had done, went to them, and called out to them…”Where are you?”   God’s questions and pursuits continue.  He was still right there with them but confronting them about their sin.   His questions offer opportunity for them to realize and confess directly to Him.  

“Who told you?”  Their new guilty conscious was what told them – just as God had warned, their eyes were opened to evil and their guilt was now a part of them, condemning them.  “Have you done what I’ve commanded that you not do?”  “What have you done?”  Uh… errr, well, it’s HER fault, no it’s YOUR fault, wait, it’s the serpent’s fault…the blame game.  Maybe they didn’t fess up right away, but still there were consequences. 

Hostility and enmity in a war over our souls began at mankind’s fall.   But in God’s graciousness He quickly reveals His plan for His family’s restoration.  The first mention of the Gospel, a prophecy, was given immediately after Adam and Eve sinned.  God declared His remedy, a promise of His coming Son, the Seed, the Savior, and a curse to the serpent.  “He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel”.  Jesus is the Seed whose heel was bruised for our sins.  God laid on Him the suffering we deserved which started in the garden.  

When Jesus willingly went to the cross, He went with joy of restoration in mind, of you and me, and Adam and Eve, in mind.  Plans for a family reunion were laid at the beginning of time.   When He resurrected from the dead, He defeated death first mentioned by God to Adam and Eve, and what we are all now deserving of.  But Jesus crushed the head of our enemy offering us the opportunity for salvation, to be part of His eternal family.  

Jesus was spoken of in Genesis 3, at the very beginning.  God knew we weren’t perfect, even when given perfect circumstances in which to thrive.  We sinned, hid from God, and blamed others for our guilt.  We needed a covering for our sins, a Savior, and a way back to walking with God in communion.  God would give his own Seed by the miracle of His Son’s virgin birth to restore His family and be that very Way each of us needs.