God Leaves Paradise

In Sunday school a few weeks ago, we were discussing Genesis 3.  Look as these verses (21-23):

And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them. Then the Lord God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.

A few interesting items that draw my attention this morning:

• God clothed Adam and Eve.  What does that say to you about his care of his creation, the man and the woman?
• God sent them out of Paradise because they had eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - they now knew sin.  Would he allow them to live forever in this state of sin? No.  He sends them out of Paradise, perhaps not to prevent them from achieving eternal life, but to prevent them from living in sin forever.  What does that say about God?
• He sends them forth, away from Paradise. Is that the end of the story? Are they outside of God's presence forever? If you read "the rest of the story," you'll see that God doesn't send them out of Paradise alone.  God goes with them.  God is present in all the pages of the Bible, with his creation.  In other words, God left Paradise with them.

I was thinking of that grace this morning.  God didn't banish them to be alone; God went with them, leaving the garden.  What does that echo (or pre-echo) to you? Can you relate that to Jesus leaving the presence of God to come to earth as a human?  Grace.