Respectful Love

I want to talk about the fall. No, not fall, as in my favorite season of the year. The fall. The event chronicled in Genesis 3, that changed the course of human history forever. We can't get away from it, even in the academic sphere in which Milton established the gold standard of literature by re-imagining this biblical scene in poetry.

I know this is not always the most popular biblical account, especially since it marks the entrance of sin and death into human history. We are often all too aware of the presence of these destructive forces at work in the world today, and even in our own lives. However, there is beauty in this mess, even in the very moment our world changed for the worse.

After eating of the apple of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, from which they had been forbidden, Adam and Eve tried to cover their tracks:

"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." (Genesis 3:8)

Ok, pause here. Firstly, can you imagine being in a garden and hearing God walk near? WOW! Secondly, Adam and Eve were hiding from God. This is foolish. After all, God is omniscient and omnipresent. He knows all and sees all, because He is everywhere at once! We might smile knowingly when we think of Adam and Eve, cowering in shame from an all-powerful God. "How silly," we think. But let me challenge you: if you were to ask yourself honestly, how often have you found yourself in a similar situation? If I am truthful with myself, I know I have been there. Maybe you have, too.

Enter God: "Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "'Where are you?'" (3:9) This is odd. God already knows their sin. He has seen it. Why does He ask this seemingly unnecessary question? I think that these three small words speak volumes about the character of God. Although He knows, He loves us enough to ask. He is polite, and does not bang down doors.

I recently read a book by Richard Wurmbrand, the original founder of Voice of the Martyrs and a Romanian pastor who suffered and witnessed unspeakable horrors during fourteen years in Communist prison. He writes of the amazing politeness of our Lord, a character quality so dramatically opposite that of communist aggression and one that drew many to Christ. Pastor Wurmbrand muses that "Jesus respects our freedom. He gently knocks at the door of our heart," and in his book relates the reaction of a young Russian friend, who accepted Christ gladly into his heart, explaining simply that: "Jesus has won me by His politeness."

Indeed, we serve a God who knows the full extent of our sin and moral filth, but loves us enough to give us the freedom to refuse Him. He longs to share communion with us, but will never force Himself into our hearts. Hear His voice as He gently questions, "Where are you?" How will we respond?