The Devil Made Me Do It

 

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:8-13 ESV).

 

From the time of the fall into sin, people have tried to hide from God in many ways. Typically this looks like blaming someone, or something, other than ourselves. Our reading today is the account given to Moses of the first sin. Adam and Eve realizing their sin, thought to avoid any confrontation with God and hid from Him. When God found them they began to blame others; Adam blamed both God and Eve; Eve blamed the serpent and indirectly God for creating such a thing. Of course the Scripture is very clear in assigning ultimate responsibility for our choices to us as individuals. “The devil made me do it” is not an accurate or truthful declaration; nor does it absolve us from responsibility.

 

It should not be a surprise that this would lead to the desire to hide from God. Today many publishers and media outlets compete to attract people’s attention by making outrageous statements. Some have even said, “God is dead,” and, “God is not good,” adding to the ways of hiding from God by going on the offensive against him. There is nothing new about such claims. Even 3,000 years ago, King David heard similar remarks and wrote, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1).

 

Adam and Eve hid from God because they were afraid. They knew they had disobeyed God and that evil had gained a foothold in their hearts. In their shame, they could not face the Lord as he came to meet with them. Adam tried shifting the blame to Eve. By rupturing their relationship with God, they ­became estranged from one another. Some play the blame game by saying that evil in the world is God’s fault, and they refuse to believe in him. As alienation from God grows deeper, people hide from one another. They fear that if their real selves became known, no one would like them. But God forgives. That is the declaration of the Gospel, the Good News. Jesus paid the price we could never pay, and died the death we deserved. Turn to Him and be set free from your sin!