If you are not a follower of Jesus Christ, you might think that this is a strange question. If you are a follower of Jesus, you might think it is strange as well. Let me restate the question. When you sin, are you quick to run to God or do you avoid Him and His people hoping the feelings of guilt will subside? Do you repent or run away? Do you confess or confuse? Maybe an example will help.
In Genesis 3, we get the story of how sin entered the human race. Adam was created innocent and placed in a lush and wonderful garden where food grew easily with minimal work and effort. He was given an instruction that he could eat from any tree of the Garden of Eden with one exception. He was not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He was warned that if he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would die. Later, God created woman out of the rib of man. The rules were the same for her.
One day, Eve was in the Garden and Adam was with her. The serpent came along and tempted her by questioning God’s truthfulness, care and concern for the first family. Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and then gave the fruit to her husband who was with her. They both were instantly ashamed of their nakedness and their sin.
Later in the day, God came walking in the Garden of Eden to walk with Adam and Eve like He had done so many other times. Where were Adam and Eve? They were hiding in the bushes. When God called out to them, they would not come out because they were naked, and they were ashamed. From the bushes, Adam told God it was not his fault. He blamed it on God for creating the woman and giving her to him. The woman blamed God for making the serpent and the serpent deceiving her. The serpent was the only one who did not try to defend himself. Now, here is my point.
When Adam and the woman realized their sin (the woman was not named Eve until later), they hid from God. They were ashamed and hid from God. What did God do? He walked in the Garden like He had always done. He called out to Adam like He had always done. He engaged Adam like He had always done. What did Adam and the woman do? They attempted to remain hidden from God in the bushes while excusing away their sin.
God did not take away the consequences of their sin, but He did engage them to lead them to repentance, but He did not remove the consequences.
Now, how could this have gone differently? They could have sought out God to apologize and beg for mercy. They did not. They could have approached God and admitted their sin and asked God to help them not to repeat the process in the future. They did not. They could have come to God and cast themselves at His feet weeping for their sin. They did not. Instead, they hid. They attempted to avoid God. They thought they could dodge God’s presence.
Now, back to the question that I asked earlier. Does sin make you run to God or away from God? In 1 John 2, we are told that followers of Jesus Christ have an advocate with the Father in Jesus Christ. When we sin, even though we do not want to sin, Jesus Himself stands before the Father and defends us. He then invites us to come to Him to confess our sins and restore our fellowship with Him so that we do not have to hide in the bushes. The enemy attempts to convince us God will never forgive us and that we are beyond His reach. God tells us that the sin is already paid for in full by the blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross. We have not lost our relationship, but have damaged our fellowship. God’s desire is that we come to Him and trust Him to continue to love us and forgive us. He wants us to run to Him. We think we have to run away.
Does sin make you run to God or away from Him? Good question. Important answer. For today.