Genesis 3:7

New International Version

 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

For Meditation

They packed the stadium, fans from all over the country, in the cool of a Sunday night. The match between the top two rival teams of the soccer league had lived beyond the hype. For Eighty-six minutes, the soccer match had produced an even scoreboard. Who will lift the coveted champion’s cup this year? Syncopated cheers punctuated the air as the teams displayed their brilliance and zeal to carry the day with the pride and delight of their fans. The floodlights went out and threw the stadium into pitch darkness. A disappointing roar reverberated through the stadium and their expectation of a quick resolution captured every mind.

Flickers of lights from the supporters’ cell phones were all one could see, with shadows around the gigantic stadium. Suddenly, the sound of rapid gunfire and pandemonium broke everywhere. All you could hear was screaming and shouting as everybody rushed towards the exits shrouded in darkness. The sound from the machine guns surrounded the soccer fans, now turned into captives of the stadium. What turned things so ugly suddenly?

Let me take you back to Eden, that beautiful Garden the Lord God planted and put the first couple in as resident overseers. Adam and Eve had the liberty to eat of every tree in the Garden except the one tree God forbade them with severe consequences to reap (Genesis 2:8-9). Obedience filled the Garden with light (3:8) until they disobeyed God and listened to the serpent (6-7).

The light that gives life went out, as God had said. Darkness filled their hearts and everywhere around them. Adam and Eve covered themselves with fig leaves and hid from God. They dreaded His voice and couldn’t bear his presence (8-10). They were alive, but Adam and Eve were dead, a condition their posterity inherited.

That was the condition in the Garden God came into the day He confronted the first couple. It was a condition that demanded His intervention. His judgment of the serpent included the promise of a remedy to our sin and death that will  work reconciliation between God and man through the seed of the woman (15). In the meantime, God, in His mercy, replaced their leaf-covering with a skin-covering. He sent them out of Eden lest they eat of the Tree of Life and remain in their dead condition forever (21-24). What grace!

As you look forward to Christmas, consider what demanded the coming of Christ into the world. Think about the outpouring of mercy and grace from the throne of God because of His love for you. Consider your response to this amazing love and thank Him with all your heart. But do not forget to share this story of God’s love through Christ Jesus with others around you who need divine rescue from the dominion of darkness into His marvelous light (Colossians 1:13, 1 Peter 2:9).