"And they heard the voice 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 amongst the trees of the garden.
And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat."
(Gen 3:8-13 KJV)
It started way back then; this attempting to justify our sins by blaming others when we can no longer keep our sins in the dark so that no one will find out the truth.
As the story goes Adam was naked in the garden. After eating the fruit that God told him not to eat Adam was fully aware of his guilt. He knew that the fig leaves he wore were not going to cover up the fact that he disobeyed God so he tried to hide from him.
The reality is that we all stand naked before God. We cannot hide from God. He knows exactly who we are and what we have done. There is no covering anything up so that God does not see. In spite of our guilt; God loves us still.... He loves us enough that he would send his Son, Jesus, to be the cover for our sins. Those measly figs leaves that we have fabricated to hide behind are ripped off and we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
When confronted by God about disobeying him Adam did what so many if not all people have done since that day. We attempt to cover up our sins; to disavow them, by pointing the finger at someone else's guilt in the matter. On more than one occasion when hearing attempts to justify ones actions I have had to remind them that they can only confess their own sins and not the sins of others.
Years ago while attending worship with a congregation that had the tradition of sharing testimonies; prayer requests; praise reports; and sometimes confessions at the beginning of the service. The woman I attended with stood up and confessed that she was sorry for the way she treated her sister-in-law who was also at this worship service. She asked forgiveness from this woman as she proceeded to let everyone know that she would not have treated her so badly if her sister-in-law hadn't treated her so badly in the first place. Not so unlike Adam and Eve she confessed: I sinned; but, it's really not my fault. She made me do it.
As we go through life we will sin... even daily, hourly... We get to own our own sins. No one else is to blame. It is on us to choose to do right or wrong. It is on us to confess that we are sinners and not lay the blame on everyone else. We have a loving God who forgives our sins.
Let us us confess our sins and not try to hide them by confessing the sins of another. St. John wrote:
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
He will indeed, out of his great love for us, forgive our sins. St. John wrote:
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:"
(Eph 2:4-8)
Grace and peace to you from God our Father "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood..." (Rev 1:5)
God's Peace - Pr. J.
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