Where Are You? Series

After the creation of man and woman, God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:29-31). God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green green vegetable for food.” Killing of animals and eating of meat became part of human consumption later on in history after the fall. Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. There was, therefore, nothing bad in that created world, no hunger, no struggle for existence, no suffering, and certainly no death. God created the earth and everything in it with one focus, that is, for the human kind to enjoy.

In the creation story of man, God is not working with dumb and inert material, He is working on something that can respond. Human creation is intelligent with the ability to communicate. That's why we feel loneliness when isolated. We yearn for relationship, love with each other and with the Creator. That shows that the creation has a purpose. Our life and our living has a purpose. If there is no purpose and meaning for our lives, nothing matters. Of all visible creatures only man is "able to know and love his creator". Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons. And he is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator, to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature can give in his stead. If you don't believe that God has created you with beauty and goodness in mind, then everything in this world will become indifferent to you. If you understand that God has created you with a purpose to be good and beautiful, that is when your life becomes meaningful to you. "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart. no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." (Ecclesiastes 3:11). "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)

The devil comes into the garden in the form of a talking serpent. It was not just an animal, but a reasoning creature who can communicate with humans. I wonder why Eve was not surprised at a serpent speaking. Maybe it was a temptation that spoke through other subtle means. The story is that they they did communicate. It is the same devil who tempted Jesus in the desert with reasoning, denial and suggestions to become like God (Matthewt 4, Luke 4). The devil speaks to us every moment of our lives through subtle means by denying the existence of sin. He denies the dangers of sin and suggests that there are advantages in that their eyes would be opened and they could have much more of the power and pleasure of contemplation than before.

Adam and Eve were stricken with the shame of guilt and lost their place in the garden and found themselves hiding from an omnicient and omnipotent creator. God comes calling out "Where are you?" Someone said, “All great questions are usually short” The One who spoke and the world came into being, the One who set the stars in their places and the sun in its course, the One who said to the ocean, this shall be your boundary, the almighty and all knowing God knew exactly where Adam and Eve were. But the question really was: “Adam, do you know where you are?”. It was a question that beckons an aswer with the need for their acknowledgement. Sin is more than an act of disobedience. It is the state of mind where one loses sight of the identity of who you are and where you are in life. The lust of the flesh and the pride of life make us lose sight of our relationship between each other and also with the creator. The Greek word translated "sin" in the Bible is 'hamartano', literally meaning to miss the mark. Suppose a swimmer to cross English channel. You don’t win unless you get to the other shore. It doesn’t matter you gave up only feet from the shore, you still missed the mark.