Where Are You?
Genesis 3
Is Genesis 3 only a story about a man and a woman in a garden—or is it also a mirror held up to every human heart? This chapter helps us understand why the world feels fractured, why relationships strain, and why we experience fear, guilt, and shame. Yet beneath the brokenness described in this passage, something deeply hopeful is revealed: even when we drift from God, He moves toward us in grace.
It is interesting that the serpent does not begin by denying God’s Word—rather, he reshapes it. He questions, softens, and reframes what God has said (Genesis 3:1–5). Temptation rarely asks us to reject truth outright; it invites us to adjust it just enough to fit our desires. Adam and Eve did not stop believing in God—they stopped trusting what He said (Genesis 3:6–7). Their choice did not expand human freedom; it fractured it. Their sin did not lift humanity up—it separated them, and all of us, from a loving God (Isaiah 59:2; Romans 3:23).
The sense that life simply continues in a repetitive, empty, and unresolved pattern reflects the perspective King Solomon describes as life lived “under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). It is the weary vision of a world marked by the Fall, where purpose and meaning are sought apart from God. Many of us feel that same brokenness in our own lives—in moments of doubt, self-dependence, or quiet compromise—when our hearts begin to drift away from trust in God, just as Adam and Eve did.
The same pattern continues today. Our human nature would rather reinterpret what God says to justify what we prefer. We allow our desires to shape how we read God’s Word instead of allowing God’s Word to shape our desires. And so, in Genesis 3, gentle but searching questions emerge: Where am I in relation to God’s Word? Do I receive it with humility—or do I quietly avoid the parts that challenge me? These questions are not meant to condemn us, but to awaken our hearts to the truth and kindness of God.
After their disobedience, Adam and Eve heard “the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden” (Genesis 3:8)—and, like many of us would, they hid. When we fall short, we do not simply feel guilt—we withdraw. Sometimes our hiding looks dramatic, but more often we hide in our busyness, competence, exhaustion, or by quietly adding more to our already self-imposed and complicated lives, silently losing hope that leads to despair. And yet, even there, God meets us with compassion.
Knowing Adam and Eve’s disobedience, God does something astonishing—He comes looking for them (Genesis 3:9). He does not begin with accusation; He begins with questions: “Where are you?” “Who told you…?” “Did you eat…?” (Genesis 3:9, 11). God is not seeking information, because He knows. He is inviting repentance and honesty. The question is not about knowledge—it is about relationship. God wanted Adam and Eve to recognize where their hearts now stood before Him. Even as they shifted blame and avoided responsibility (Genesis3:12–13), God did not walk away. He remained present, moving the story forward with grace and truth.
But with sin, consequences do come. The serpent is judged, the ground is cursed, and pain and death enter the human story (Genesis 3:14–19). Sin brought separation and death, and humanity was justly sent out of Eden into a world marked by brokenness (Genesis 3:23–24). Adam and Eve covered themselves with fragile fig leaves (Genesis 3:7), but God clothed them with garments of animal skin (Genesis 3:21). An innocent life was sacrificed so their shame could be covered. Here we see the first whisper of redemption—the first shadow of the cross (Romans 5:12–19; Hebrews 9:22).
The grace of God has provided an even greater covering for us through the atonement Jesus provided on the cross and the power of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3–4). Our attempts at self-repair—our “fig leaves” of performance, image, and self-justification—cannot heal the human heart or redeem us from death. But Christ can. In Him, shame is covered, sin is forgiven, and relationship with God is restored (2 Corinthians 5:17–21).
The same question still calls out to us today: Where are you in your relationship with Jesus Christ? Are you hiding… striving… managing life on your own terms—or turning to Him in trust and surrender? We must remember that the same God who pursues us today—not to condemn, but to redeem (John 3:17).