Milk and Cookies

A Love Covering September 9, 2010

Are you ready — as Paul Harvey used to say — for the rest of the story?

Let’s return to the beautiful garden, and continue where we left off last night.

The Lord showed up in the early evening, to spend time with the man and the woman whom He loved.  But when He got there, He didn’t find things the way He expected them to be.

The serpent had tricked the woman, who had then done a terrible deed, and the man had joined in, right along with her, without regard to the Lord’s one simple rule:

Don’t eat from the one tree I told you about.

And the Lord confronted them, though pain filled His heart, because He knew what was coming next.

He could have killed them on the spot, you know?  He could have allowed His pain to turn into anger, and wiped them out, all of them, including the serpent.  He didn’t have to listen to their excuses for disobeying.  He didn’t have to do anything for them!

But He did.

He patiently dealt with each one, individually.

“Cursed are you,” He said to the serpent, “for what you have done to this woman…”

He then spoke to the woman:  “You’ll now have pain in childbirth…”

“The ground is now cursed,” He told the man, “and you must toil for your food from now on…”

Sounds harsh, doesn’t it?  It sounds like God doesn’t love them at all.

But wait.  He did something that spoke volumes, and told just how much He really DID love Adam and Eve.

He gave of Himself, to cover their mistake.  He gave up something He loved, for the people He loved.

And He didn’t parade this action in front of the whole world, to brag about how great His Love was.  He did it… quietly.

Look at the following verse:

“And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.”

Now, just think for a moment:  where did He obtain garments of skin? (and the translation of that word “skin” is “leather” or “hide.”)

The Lord performed the very first animal sacrifice.  He killed one of the animals He had created, maybe even two (one for each person), and took the skins, and covered man’s nakedness.

Out of His Love, He gave.  He gave up something He loved, for the people He loved, so they wouldn’t have to live in shame.

Even in His pain and heartbreak over man disobeying His rules, He still loved them and helped them. So much so, that He wouldn’t allow them to stay in the garden, where they just might eat from the tree of Life.  He knew, if they ate from that tree, they would have to live forever in a state of pain.  And He love them so much, He wasn’t going to allow that to happen.

So He sent them out, away from the garden.

Can you imagine the Lord standing there, watching Adam and Eve leave?  Can you imagine them stopping, turning and looking back at the One who loved them so completely?  Can you imagine the heartache all of them were going through, as the gate to the garden… closed?

It was a very sad day.  Yes, indeed.

However, He sent them out clothed.  Not naked, not ashamed, but clothed.  And I’m sure He took the time to instruct them on how to make the garments themselves, which meant also instructing them on how to perform the sacrifice.

Because God, in His rich and vast Love and Mercy, never leaves us nor forsakes us.

He always, always, ALWAYS… provides for us.

Dream of good things tonight, okay?

Good night.