Genesis 3:8-9

New King James Version

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

For Meditation

Adam and Eve knew they had blown it. A gnawing feeling they had never felt before now tormented their conscience. What will happen when the Lord comes for their daily stroll in the garden? What would He say to their disobedience?

Besides, they saw themselves in a new way, too, and they didn’t like their nakedness. At least there should be some decency—a covering of some sort. Yet, before they ate of the forbidden tree, they were naked and felt no shame (Gen. 2:25). So, why now? What could they do with themselves? If they never felt this way before each other, how would it be before the Lord?

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 (Genesis 3:7).

Job said something interesting during his trials.

What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me (Job 3:25).

Indeed, the time of their daily stroll came, and the Lord, as always on time and without disappointment, came for His favorite friends and companions, but He did not find them there (Gen. 3:8).

The worst thing that could ever happen to anybody is to suffer separation from God for any reason. It is because everything we need for life is in Him. He is our life and sufficiency. As Paul told the Athenians, “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Glory to His holy name, amen!

The first couple lived and breathed, but they were dead because of their broken fellowship with the Lord, and that is what everyone without Christ is (Eph. 2:1-2).

So, they hid in the trees. But what can hide anyone from the piercing eyes of the All-knowing and Almighty God? We deceive ourselves by thinking we can conceal our motives and deeds from Him who created our inmost being (Psa. 139:1-14; Hebrews 4:12-13).

Then the Lord God called after Adam

“Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9).

We can casually walk away from this verse and miss a profound theological truth. 

God loves and cares too much for humanity for Him to leave us in our wicked ways, groping in the darkness till hell swallows us. 

He did not have to seek after Adam and Eve; he could have ignored or even killed them for disobeying Him. But God didn’t. Instead, He sought after them.

It is safe for me to propose that John 3:16 and Romans 5:8 find their roots in what God did in Genesis 3:9 with Adam and Eve. He loved them so much that He called after them as He seeks after the sinner everyday.

Adam! “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9). 

God did not call out of ignorance as if to learn anything from them. His inquiry commanded an acknowledgment of their sin and to return to Him with contrite hearts so He would release His mercy and grace for forgiveness toward reconciliation.

That is Christ for you, my friend! You can’t hide from Him by any means. It is better to come clean and take hold of His mercy and grace for forgiveness and everlasting life in Him. The experience of divine freedom in Him awaits you (Rom. 10:9-10, 13).

For you, His child, who has played truancy for so long and seems to enjoy the delicacies the world has offered you, let this warn you before the bottom drops out for you like the Prodigal Son (Lk. 15:16). Though He will receive and restore you, you do not have to suffer His retribution before waking up to reality. So come back home because He cares for you!