Ok, let’s finish the chapter. Genesis 3:22-24- 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Despite being exiled from the Garden, in his grace, God protects us from taking from the tree of life and then pursues us with His grace through his Son Jesus.

Think about it, being in the Garden was all about presence with God. But now that was gone. Remember John Walton shared, “The overwhelming loss was not paradise; it was God.”

But he didn’t leave us there. He gave us other ways to experience his presence. At first, it was called an altar, a place of sacrifice, where the worshipper acknowledges their sin and what their sin deserves. We see the first altar with Noah (Genesis 8), then Abraham (Genesis 12:7-8 and 22- The Lord will Provide). Then we see the altar move to a tent or tabernacle with Moses and then a more permanent place with the temple, a place to centralize worship and sacrifice. A meeting place with God. But ultimately we see Jesus come, notice what John 1:14 says, The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us (tabernacled)… Then he sends the Holy Spirit to dwell with us, all moving us back to experience the presence and relationship of God, Creator. We didn’t deserve it, our sin deserved punishment, but out of grace, Jesus took on our sin, was punished for what we deserved so that we could be forgiven and free.

Folks, naming our sin isn’t about shame, it’s about declaring our desperate need for God’s presence and grace. Ignoring our sin minimizes the sacrifice. Naming it, places our sin in its rightful place, on the cross to be forgiven.

I want you to pause today and wrestle with that last statement. Ignoring sin minimizes the sacrifice, naming our sin places sin in its rightful place, on the cross to be forgiven. Take a moment, receive God’s grace by going to the cross and laying down your sin, hiding, and shame.

Lead Me to the Cross