Mission Devotional Day 1
I was naked; and I hid myself
Mission Devotional Day 1
READ: Genesis 3:1-10
If you read the morning newspaper or watch the evening news, it becomes quickly apparent that the world is not the way it should be. In Genesis 1-2 we find two different creation stories that assert God’s role as creator, the goodness of creation, and the responsibility of humankind. But something turns. Something falls.
Did you know that the numbering of the chapters and verses came long after the Scriptures were first put down in writing? So this lesson flows directly from “and the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” to “now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal the Lord God had made.” You know how the story runs. The serpent tempts Eve, questioning God’s instructions. Eve tempts Adam, and he eats. God calls out to the man, “Where are you?” Adam answers not with his location but with a description of the state of his heart, “I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
The man and the woman have rejected God’s authority and provision. The relationships that God intended are broken. We see this in the hiding and in the blaming, and that is just the beginning. In Genesis 4, Cain murders Abel. Things continue to unspool.
Adam’s willful disobedience resulted in paradise lost with the introduction of pain, suffering, and death. One might observe that the entire biblical story that follows is a story of God taking the initiative to set things right, to redeem what has been lost, and to restore what has been broken. We see this mirrored in the Apostle Paul who writes, “For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ” (I Corinthians 15:21-22).
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
How do you see the broken relationships in this story reflected in your own life and in the world?
Do you find yourself trying to hide from others? From God?
PRAYER
Dear God, help me to believe your words and to reflect in my life what you intend for humankind. Thank you for the gift of your Son who enables me to see the truth about myself and about your initiating love. Amen.