We mess...He fixes

Boy, we messed things up. I was reading the first three chapters of Genesis today, and I realized what a colossal mess we made of the world. You know the story. Adam and Eve choose to disobey God, and that one decision turns everything upside down. Up to that point, no one died, even the animals for all we know. People were vegetarians and walked around naked with no shame because we had not learned to objectify people yet. It was pure. Then we sinned.

Everything changed. Humans became aware of their nakedness and even hid from God. We tried to blame others for our mistakes and shunned responsibility. And God made some interesting declarations. The most striking of which comes to the man when He says, "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you willeat of it all th days of your life...By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground." (Gen. 3:17 & 19)

We weren't supposed to have to work. Ain't that a doozy. God was our provider. I mean, ultimately, that's why you work, right? Because you've got to eat. You've got to live. In a world with perfect weather and you walk around naked because you're not ashamed and all your food is provided for you and you don't feel threat from any animals because there is harmony in the world...you don't need to work. You just enjoy being with God. Like I said, we really messed things up.

But God, in His nature, is a fixer. The most beautiful part of the story of the Fall of Humankind to me is found in Gen. 3:21, "The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." They had made fig leaves. He made something better. He sacrificed the first animal to cover their shame. He did it better than they did and set the stage for an eternal fixing. There would be more animals sacrificed to take away the shame of His people. Countless lambs and bulls and pigeons and goats. Then there would be one big sacrifice to cover up all our shame for all time. Because God is a fixer.

Maybe you messed up your life. Maybe you took it in the wrong direction. Maybe you've tried to cover it up. Won't you let Him fix it. He's been trying to fix our problems since the beginning. That doesn't mean that everything is perfect again, but it does mean that there is no more shame. You are free to live shame-free because of the sacrifice of Jesus. Do it. Stop trying to cover it up on your own.