Key Scripture: Gen 3:21

Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord make coats of skins, and clothed them.

Relevance

How great is our God? 

Here, we have two people, Adam and Eve, who, between them, committed the greatest ever sin to affect humankind, and yet the Lord, after punishing them, helped them. 

This is a life lesson in intelligent grace and mercy. Let’s learn it. 

Adam and Eve sinned by disbelieving Almighty God so that they could believe a talking serpent. 

The Crime? Adam and Eve were given the warning by God not to eat. But they ate.

God commenced the investigation by asking the question, “Adam, where are you?” To which Adam replied, “I was naked so I hid.”

God then said, “Adam, who said you were naked?”

That was their swift court appearance among the trees. Then came the sentence: expulsion from the only place they knew as home, to be immigrants in a coarse and rough land where most things were different. 

But what happened after the punishment was delivered? The Lord clothed them and then set His goal to help them through the rest of their lives—all 930 years for Adam. 

When scripture states that God’s mercy is from everlasting to everlasting, it is so wonderfully true.

On that note, how many times do you think Adam and Eve apologised to God after the event?

What would our punishment have been had we found ourselves judging the same crime? First, we'd banish them, just like God, but then we’d make them feel ashamed for months, long enough to affect them negatively for life. Oh, we'd accept their apology, but still remind them often of their sin.

If this sounds like your kind of judgment, your mercy may still be stained with pride.   God wants swift judgment, but it must be righteous so we can all get on with our lives. Righteousness is filled with mercy, and mercy, not harshness, must radiate from our actions and words. 

I recall the collision that changed my life. God didn't leave me out on the end of some pirate ship’s plank, with me not knowing if he would push me in or bring me back on board. He dispensed his judgment, then started to help me, and he hasn't stopped yet! 

He does that with many people. I believe God would have worked closely with Adam and Eve after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The working relationship may have been quite different to what it was in the Garden, because Adam and Eve now had naked and shameable minds. Before, they were pure and unadulterated. 

But they were all now working from Plan B, as if nothing had happened.

Was God disappointed that Plan A fell apart and Adam and Eve sinned? Absolutely!  But God moved mercifully forward in a way that enabled Adam and Eve to progress in faith and hope. 

This applies to us when we are in similar positions. When we encounter negative behaviours from others, we have the opportunity to demonstrate forgiveness, humility, and mercy, just as He does.

Helping others rise above the disappointment and sorrow they have caused, and the self-condemnation they now feel, is integral for them so that they can move forward with their lives. 

Today's prayer

Dear Lord, thank you for God's mercy with Adam and Eve. Thank you for helping them on this side of the Garden. Please help me to be so wise and merciful. 

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