God is not ignorant as to where humanity is hidden. However, He wants to call them back into a relationship with Him. It is a continuation of the creative purpose behind the law in the first place. God does not want will less robots, nor resentfully obedient children. He is seeking people who will chose Him and his way. So, like a father seeking a child too ignorant to hide properly—merely covering their eyes and assuming they can’t be seen if they cannot themselves see—He does not swoop in and expose them. He calls out to them, “Where are you?”
And even though God knows all, and knows exactly what has happened, He does not expose their deeds either. He asks them to confess what they have done.
Adam initially avoids the sin altogether. “I was hiding.” But God wants the sin out in the open. “Who told you you were naked? Have you broken my rule?” Even when directly confronted with his sin, Adam passes the blame. Eve does so as well. Adam quickly turns on the love of his life, the woman who was designed to meet his greatest need. The relationship between man and woman is broken in sin. And humanity turns on the creation they were entrusted with, the world that was designed for them, their paradise. “It is the animal’s fault, God.” Sin more than anything else destroys the relationships we were created to be in. We are separated from God, from each other, from the world, and ultimately from ourselves.
This is the most tragic scene in the history of creation, and yet it is full of hope. God seeks us out. God doesn’t just wipe creation out and start over. He is not caught off guard by sin. He has a plan to fix things, as we will see. But first there are real, devastating byproducts of mankind’s sin…
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