God's Dedication to Love Us

"And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins and clothed them." -  Gen 3.21 This verse comes from the end of the story of the fall of man.  Right before this, God had levied his punishments against Adam and Eve and was about to kick them out of his presence.  There are few things here that I find particularly interesting:

God Immediately Chose to Provide For us.

In the midst of Adam and Eve screwing up in an epic way God still chose to provide for them.  If this isn't a perfect example of love, I don't know what is (ok, sending Jesus to die for us is the example of true love, but man this has got to be second on that list).  What is also important to catch here is that God still followed through on the punishment.

Too many times in today's society punishment is viewed as unloving simply because I believe our culture has a perverted view of what love is. We can justly punish and at the same time provide; both are a part of healthy, true love.

God Provided For us by Sacrificing Something For us.

I never thought of this before last night at small group.  Where did the 'garments of skin' that God provided come from? I think it's pretty safe to assume that God sacrificed an animal or two to provide clothes for Adam and Eve.  He literally covered up their sin.

Can you say foreshadowing!?

From the very beginning God has been willing to sacrifice for us, the very ones who sin against him.  He is just in punishing us and he is gracious and merciful in his pursuit of us.  He longs to be with us...this is crazy.

This Should be Just Another Example of How Much God is Dedicated to Loving us.

I feel like this is obvious to those who are saved but I also know that many of us tend to forget this.  Which makes no sense. Maybe it's because we feel guilty of our sin, maybe we don't feel worthy of his love, maybe we don't trust that God could love us.  Whatever it is, we need to stop believing the lie.

The God of the universe, the same one that breathes stars and galaxies, who is all-powerful and eternal, is dedicated to loving you.  Not in spite of your sin but because of it.  He wants to restore the relationship that has been broken.

Let us not forget this truth.