I have been reading through the Bible—not in order—but when I finish one book I ask God which book I should read next; and earlier this week when I asked Him that question, He told me to ‘start at the beginning.’ So I did. And lo and behold, right in the first couple of chapters, I learned something new about a bible story that I have heard and read countless numbers of times.
You see, in Genesis chapter 3, where it talks about the fall of man, I was reading through like I normally do and I had an epiphany of sorts—specifically how verses 7 and 21 correlate and thus relate to us today.
Genesis 3:7 – “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 3:21 – “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.”
You see, when we are trying to hide our sin from God, we are creating for ourselves outfits of fig leaves which have to be replaced over and over as the leaves dry out—i.e. when we are trying to hide our sin from God (or even other people around us) we have to keep reapplying the mask/lies that we are telling in order to keep up the front. After a while, this can become tedious and exhausting. However, once we let God in and he sees our sins and our faults he will come and meet us where we are and give us clothing that He provides—clothes of skin (animal hide). I.e. something that will be durable and last, so that we don’t have to keep reapplying our coverings. God will provide us with a permanent solution to our sins when we go to Him and allow Him to cover and clothe us.
And I think that is absolutely beautiful, because despite the sins that Adam and Eve committed in the garden, God showed them grace and clothed them with something permanent so that they would not be ashamed of their new-found nakedness—note though, He did not take away their knowledge that they were naked, but rather gave a permanent, protective cover which took away the shame that Satan had placed upon them.
Similarly, God gave us Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins in order to permanently cover us with his blood, grace, and forgiveness so that we do not have to live in the shame of our sins, nor do we have to keep trying to cover them—once God sees our sins and we confess them to Him, the Bible says He will even go as far as forgetting our sins.
Hebrews 10:17—“[The Holy Spirit says] ‘Their sins and lawless acts I will remember nor more.’”
So when then should we try to hide our sins from God? After all He is omniscient and can tell right away if you are wearing an outfit of fig leaves or skin.
