Dale Partridge - Genesis 3_8-13 – Hiding from God： Shame, Blame, and the Call to Confess

00:00:00.000 Well, it's good to be back in Genesis. If you're new here, I'm currently teaching through the

00:00:10.280 first 20 chapters of Genesis. My last sermon on Genesis 1, 3 through 7 was titled, The Serpent,

00:00:17.120 The Woman, and the Collapse of Order. Now, in that passage, we saw what theologians call the fall

00:00:24.040 of man. The fall of man. And that really, if you broke it down, it would break down

00:00:30.960 into about five phases. Number one was the introduction of the serpent. Number two was

00:00:39.080 his dialogue with Eve. Number three was her rationalization to disobey God's commands.

00:00:47.340 Number four was Adam following his wife into disobedience.

00:00:53.400 And number five is the opening of their eyes to sin and to shame.

00:01:00.720 Now today we pick back up in the moments right after this happened.

00:01:06.160 Following Adam and Eve's sin and what was once now a peaceful moment has now turned into somewhat of a panic.

00:01:16.660 And we're going to see the Lord's calling of Adam, the awareness of their nakedness and shame, 0.57

00:01:25.680 their confession and their excuses and blame that followed their sin. 0.58

00:01:32.720 Now, I believe an important question needs to be answered before we go further.

00:01:36.720 So I'm going to do a little bit of a sidebar here.

00:01:41.020 Because I think between last week and this week, some of you may be asking the question,

00:01:46.660 If God is sovereign, if God is a control of all things, why did he allow the serpent to tempt Eve?

00:01:59.680 Why did he allow the world to fall?

00:02:05.240 In other words, why did God make humanity susceptible to temptation?

00:02:11.860 Did God ordain the fall of man?

00:02:15.940 Was that his purpose and intention and will?

00:02:22.020 These are important questions.

00:02:24.300 Many scholars have struggled and wrestled with these questions.

00:02:30.760 Without diving too far into this theological tangent,

00:02:34.320 I believe the scriptures certainly require us to say,

00:02:38.080 yes, yes.

00:02:41.080 the fall was God's will.

00:02:46.220 Now, there needs to be some clarity.

00:02:48.820 There is what is called God's permissive will.

00:02:53.120 God has permitted the fall of man for the good of his glory.

00:02:57.400 And I want to explain that for a second here.

00:03:00.220 Scripture teaches in Romans 8, 28, that God causes all things.

00:03:10.200 Pay attention.

00:03:11.380 God causes all things to work together for good.

00:03:17.820 We also know that Ephesians 1.11 says he works all things according to the counsel of his will.

00:03:27.820 All things according to the counsel of his will.

00:03:30.500 Again, why would such a good God create a world that would certainly become evil?

00:03:42.300 Why?

00:03:46.360 This question is challenged again many scholars, and I want to explain why.

00:03:50.540 Number one is glory.

00:03:52.520 Glory.

00:03:54.620 God receives more glory.

00:03:56.780 Pay attention to this.

00:03:57.400 God receives more glory in a world that requires redemption than in one that does not.

00:04:03.860 God receives more glory in a world that requires redemption than in a world that does not.

00:04:09.300 And let me explain why.

00:04:10.260 Just as a doctor's glory is not found in tending to the well, but he's tending to those who are sick.

00:04:17.180 Or a sculptor.

00:04:18.920 His glory is not seen in the untouched stone, but when he goes in and extracts the beauty from it.

00:04:27.400 and so God's glory shines most brightly when he is redeeming a fallen world.

00:04:35.020 Number two is that God cannot have attributes that do not have functions.

00:04:40.280 God cannot have attributes that do not have functions,

00:04:43.100 and what I mean by that is that God is just, and God is merciful, and God hates evil.

00:04:50.360 God is gracious, and God is loving.

00:04:54.020 God is full of forgiveness and mercy.

00:04:58.160 There must be, as a result, circumstances in which those perfect attributes can be displayed.

00:05:09.340 Without the fall, we cannot see the fullness of God revealed.

00:05:16.340 Without the fall, you cannot see the fullness of God revealed.

00:05:19.320 It was R.C. Sproul who said a very provocative statement.

00:05:24.160 He says, evil is not good, but it's good that there is evil.

00:05:31.420 Evil is not good, but it's good that there is evil.

00:05:36.580 A few years earlier, John MacArthur actually made a similar statement.

00:05:40.680 He said, quote, is God made more glorious because the evil exists?

00:05:46.200 Or is he made less glorious because evil exists?

00:05:50.060 The answer is unequivocally more glorious.

00:05:52.280 that is, our highest praises of him

00:05:54.920 are because of what he has done

00:05:58.980 to overcome evil, end quote.

00:06:03.600 Romans 9, 22-23 says,

00:06:06.900 What if God,

00:06:10.580 desiring to show his wrath

00:06:12.180 and make his power known,

00:06:15.140 has endured with much patience

00:06:18.220 vessels of wrath prepared for destruction

00:06:20.160 in order to make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy,

00:06:30.180 which he has prepared beforehand for glory.

00:06:34.500 The fall didn't derail God's plan. It revealed it.

00:06:39.140 The fall did not derail God's plan. It revealed it.

00:06:43.700 It set the stage for it.

00:06:45.280 in this storyline according to God's will

00:06:51.260 it's where we became aware

00:06:54.880 of our understanding of our nature

00:06:57.280 it's where we see the beginning of God's mercy

00:07:02.140 it's where we have an opportunity to understand

00:07:06.080 the justice and the goodness of God

00:07:07.920 in a way in which receives the greatest glory

00:07:11.400 to the Father

00:07:12.600 now this this shouldn't shock you

00:07:17.220 this shouldn't shock you at all now why

00:07:22.240 because throughout the scripture god uses tragedies to make triumphs

00:07:27.560 all the time over and over and over again

00:07:33.240 in fact the greatest tragedy was not the fall of man but was the murder of the perfect man

00:07:41.640 Again, that murder

00:07:45.840 That crucifixion of Christ

00:07:50.380 Was God's will 0.92

00:07:52.560 Isaiah 53

00:07:55.500 Says

00:07:57.440 It was the will of the Lord to crush him

00:08:00.800 For he was bruised for our iniquities

00:08:05.600 The chastisement for our peace

00:08:08.780 Was brought upon him

00:08:10.900 And by his stripes, we are healed.

00:08:16.080 Just as a diamond shines against the black backdrop,

00:08:21.100 we see that God's mercy and glory shine brightest against the blackness of evil.

00:08:31.920 So this perspective, why is this important?

00:08:34.340 because you have to see the contextual, the theological reality behind the text that we are in.

00:08:42.560 It should shape how we approach today's text.

00:08:45.980 It should give us that understanding of why.

00:08:49.580 Why has the fall occurred?

00:08:55.500 At the same time, we don't want to neglect the reality of our own sin,

00:09:01.840 of our own fallen nature.

00:09:04.340 This is the great mystery of the scriptures, right?

00:09:06.380 It's God's sovereignty and man's responsibility.

00:09:11.040 That I'm still responsible to be obedient and I'm still responsible to be faithful.

00:09:16.700 Though God's will may be that things fall.

00:09:22.600 And so we're going to read in verse 8, it says,

00:09:25.300 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.

00:09:30.880 And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the trees of the garden.

00:09:41.700 Now there's actually quite a debate over this phrase, the cool of the day.

00:09:50.620 The Hebrew word is ruach.

00:09:53.540 It's got the word, the pretext L in front of it.

00:09:57.100 But we know that word means spirit or wind or breath.

00:10:03.540 And so this could mean that the Lord God is walking in the windy portion of the day.

00:10:08.740 It could mean that.

00:10:10.260 It could mean that he's walking in the spirit of the day, the moment.

00:10:15.920 It could mean that he's walking in some degree of anger and frustration

00:10:21.420 because of the moment that the fall of man has occurred.

00:10:27.100 But regardless, I've always focused on the fact that in Eden, man is in the presence of God.

00:10:37.220 God is walking in the same place that man is located.

00:10:42.180 It's a beautiful thought.

00:10:46.040 And I think that truth is really central to the gospel.

00:10:49.560 And here's why.

00:10:51.280 God cannot dwell in the presence of sin.

00:10:54.640 God cannot dwell in the presence of sin.

00:10:58.340 We know that light cannot coexist with darkness. 0.99

00:11:02.900 That's why these bumper stickers that say coexist are ridiculous. 0.64

00:11:07.900 Isaiah 59, 2 says, 0.93

00:11:10.100 But your iniquities have made a separation,

00:11:13.060 a separation between you and your God.

00:11:16.680 And your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear you.

00:11:19.960 Sin separates us from the Lord

00:11:24.500 We know that

00:11:28.600 Eternal separation is hell

00:11:31.660 Eternal separation is the second death

00:11:34.380 For fellowship

00:11:39.380 For us to be reunited with the Lord

00:11:43.100 For fellowship and unity with God to be restored

00:11:46.820 Our sin must be covered

00:11:50.480 It must be removed.

00:11:52.760 It must be atoned for.

00:11:58.420 Which is only possible through Christ.

00:12:01.360 You're going to see that the great narrative of the scripture is that we were one with Christ.

00:12:05.220 We were one with God.

00:12:06.620 There's a great separation.

00:12:08.280 And the redemption brings us back.

00:12:11.960 That's the great narrative of the scriptures.

00:12:13.780 my favorite Christmas carol is

00:12:19.920 Hark the Herald Angel Sings

00:12:21.480 it speaks of this and it says

00:12:25.720 peace on earth and mercy mild

00:12:28.080 God and sinners

00:12:29.860 reconciled

00:12:31.360 it's the gospel

00:12:34.660 the second half of verse 8 is designed to show

00:12:40.160 some contrast I want you to pay attention look at your Bibles

00:12:42.160 The second half of verse 8 is designed to show some contrast.

00:12:45.760 If you flip over to chapter 2, verses 25, you're going to see what it's contrasted with.

00:12:53.740 Chapter 2, verse 25, it says,

00:12:55.780 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

00:13:05.040 The man and his wife were both naked and not ashamed.

00:13:09.980 Here it says, because of their nakedness, it says, quote,

00:13:15.220 And the man and his wife hid themselves, not only from the Lord, but from each other.

00:13:23.860 Guilt, guilt causes fear.

00:13:31.860 Fear causes us to run and hide.

00:13:36.080 now before sin we know before sin had entered what happened adam and eve would eagerly have

00:13:45.440 run to the presence of the lord but now they flee from his presence they hide from his presence

00:13:53.120 we see this same pattern in our own lives especially in children it's just easier to see in

00:13:59.700 kids. I once saw a home video, a parent telling their son, don't eat the cookies on the table.

00:14:09.160 And then they walk out of the room. The camera's still rolling. A few minutes later,

00:14:14.080 the cookies are gone. And so is the boy. The camera pans around the room a little bit.

00:14:22.060 And there he is, just like Adam and Eve, not kidding, hiding behind a house plant.

00:14:29.700 You have to laugh to keep yourself from crying because it's really our story.

00:14:36.160 It's our story.

00:14:38.260 Guilt causes fear and fear causes us to run and hide.

00:14:45.600 Verse 9 says,

00:14:48.140 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him,

00:14:54.660 Where are you?

00:14:55.180 and he said i heard the sound of you in the garden and i was afraid because i was naked and i hid

00:15:04.920 myself now as you know over the past few weeks i've been emphasizing the port the importance of

00:15:13.460 of god's order god's order and how satan intended to invert or bring disorder

00:15:24.640 to that order. I want you to

00:15:28.940 notice how even the structure of this passage

00:15:32.240 reflects the very theme of order and disorder.

00:15:37.940 In the creation narrative, we know that the order is

00:15:40.480 God creates Adam and then Eve.

00:15:45.840 In the temptation narrative, we know that that order is

00:15:48.680 reversed, that the serpent comes and tempts Eve

00:15:52.980 who tempts Adam.

00:15:57.020 It's a clear picture of Satan's desire to reverse or invert God's design.

00:16:04.580 But here, in this passage in verse 9,

00:16:09.780 God restores that order

00:16:11.500 in the fact that he calls Adam first,

00:16:16.880 and then Eve, and then the serpent.

00:16:20.800 Who is the responsible party?

00:16:22.980 He calls Adam.

00:16:27.340 So even the structure of the text reinforces that God's order flows from Adam to Eve to creation. 0.86

00:16:38.220 Now there's a group of heretics out there known as open theists.

00:16:44.800 Open theists.

00:16:47.720 And they claim that God is omniscient.

00:16:51.380 But the future is open.

00:16:54.860 The future is open.

00:16:57.080 And because human choices haven't been made yet,

00:17:00.380 and therefore the future cannot be fully known even by God.

00:17:07.320 William Lane Craig is one of these individuals.

00:17:13.680 In short, what it really is, is an attempt to theologically defend the idea of man's free will.

00:17:20.400 And they do this at the expense of God's sovereignty and God's omniscience.

00:17:32.820 Now, why bring this up?

00:17:34.740 Why are we talking about open theism in Genesis chapter 3?

00:17:38.020 Well, if you pay attention to the text, God asks a question.

00:17:46.120 Where are you?

00:17:48.600 Where are you?

00:17:51.280 Does this mean that God didn't know where Adam was or what happened?

00:17:56.260 Did God not know what was going on?

00:17:59.620 Of course not.

00:18:00.880 He certainly knew what was going on.

00:18:03.460 Let me give you another example.

00:18:04.580 Genesis chapter 4 verse 9.

00:18:07.300 God asks Cain, where is your brother Abel?

00:18:13.060 Does he not know where Abel is at?

00:18:15.700 No, of course he does.

00:18:16.300 The very next verse says, your brother's blood is crying out from the ground.

00:18:20.400 to me. No, God clearly knew that Abel was dead. So again, what's the reason for the

00:18:30.080 questions? Well, God isn't seeking information. He's seeking confession. God's not seeking

00:18:38.040 information. He's seeking confession. It's like the story I mentioned of the boy and

00:18:48.040 the cookies. Well, the dad walks in and goes, where's the cookies? Does he not know where

00:18:56.060 the cookies are at? No, he knows. He's not seeking for information. He's seeking for

00:19:02.420 confession. Adam responds to God saying, I heard the sound of you in the garden and

00:19:15.540 And I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself.

00:19:20.400 And we know that he hides himself behind plants and fig leaves.

00:19:25.580 What does this reveal?

00:19:29.260 Fig leaves fail to remove guilt.

00:19:35.560 As much as we'd really like them to hide what we don't want to be seen,

00:19:41.080 fig leaves fail to hide guilt.

00:19:47.940 And that matters for us. Why?

00:19:51.480 Because you and I might not grab literal fig leaves.

00:19:55.380 We might not walk into a bush and hide ourselves that way.

00:20:02.100 But we find other ways to hide our sin.

00:20:06.440 We find other ways to conceal our guilt and shame.

00:20:11.080 The man who looks at pornography may hide behind a confident or cool appearance

00:20:18.220 or an excuse like, my wife's coldness sent me here.

00:20:24.520 The child who steals something from another person

00:20:28.060 might hide behind the rationalization that I needed it more than them.

00:20:36.340 the insubordinate wife may hide her rebellion behind the claim he's not leading so i'm going to

00:20:46.640 i must 0.96

00:20:47.920 every sinner hides it is the natural response of the fallen flesh to rationalize to justify to 0.90

00:21:00.200 conceal, to get creative, to hide. And whatever we hide behind is never enough. Like the fig 0.83

00:21:10.640 leaves, it's ridiculous. It cannot cover our guilt. It cannot block the eyes of the Lord. 0.88

00:21:21.040 It won't help when God calls your name. The only sufficient covering for guilt and shame

00:21:28.620 is Christ. It's repenting of our sin. It's trusting in the righteousness of Christ that's

00:21:36.180 imputed to us by faith. I must be covered. But with what? Christ. It's all you have.

00:21:49.080 I often give an explanation to children.

00:21:51.520 And I've wrapped my own kids in a black blanket.

00:21:59.780 And I say, look, you're covered in sin.

00:22:04.640 How are you going to get rid of that sin?

00:22:08.380 And then I show them the robes of Christ's righteousness.

00:22:13.780 Just a white blanket.

00:22:15.520 And I say, through repentance and faith, Christ gives these robes to you and then covers you with these white robes.

00:22:25.280 And your sin is covered and not seen by the Lord anymore.

00:22:31.100 It's that simple.

00:22:35.800 God responds in verse 11 saying, who told you that you were naked?

00:22:40.100 Have you eaten of the tree at which I commended you not to eat?

00:22:43.780 Again, we see God using rhetorical questions, offering opportunity for confession.

00:22:51.080 The man said, the woman, the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree and I ate.

00:23:06.560 And then the Lord God said to the woman, what is it that you have done?

00:23:09.120 the woman said

00:23:11.120 the serpent

00:23:12.780 deceived me

00:23:14.880 and I ate

00:23:16.460 the nature of fallen humanity

00:23:20.220 is to shift blame and deny

00:23:22.020 responsibility for sin

00:23:23.180 I say this to my boys all the time

00:23:25.420 if I say you've done something

00:23:28.200 wrong and they make an excuse

00:23:29.880 I say don't make an excuse

00:23:31.280 take responsibility for your sin

00:23:33.580 repent for it

00:23:35.380 ask the Lord for forgiveness

00:23:37.380 Just a few verses earlier, Adam was overflowing with praise for the woman that God had given him.

00:23:56.940 He actually says this line,

00:23:59.160 Ah, this is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh.

00:24:03.160 but now he turns that gift into an accusation he blames not only god for giving her to him

00:24:15.000 he blames also eve the woman whom you gave me she gave me the fruit what a shift oh

00:24:25.960 It's a wonderful thing.

00:24:28.340 It was her fault.

00:24:30.960 Just in a few moments.

00:24:34.900 I want you to see what sin does to us.

00:24:38.620 It corrupts us.

00:24:40.080 It changes our affections.

00:24:42.540 It turns the people that we once cherished into enemies.

00:24:50.640 You want to know why churches split?

00:24:52.460 because of this.

00:24:59.240 Somebody can't forgive somebody else.

00:25:03.660 And it turns something that was so great

00:25:06.820 into something so terrible.

00:25:13.280 Sin makes us defensive.

00:25:15.600 It makes us self-protective.

00:25:18.040 It makes us ungrateful.

00:25:20.720 The blame shifting continues with Eve.

00:25:22.460 the Lord said to the woman, what is this that you have done?

00:25:27.440 Again, it's another rhetorical question.

00:25:29.280 It's looking for confession, not information.

00:25:34.540 The woman said, the serpent deceived me, and I ate. 0.74

00:25:40.620 Now, I want you to notice something.

00:25:42.560 The emphasis here for the woman isn't on willful rebellion.

00:25:48.120 Adam knew and ate willingly.

00:25:53.240 Eve was deceived.

00:25:58.800 And so it's not, the focus here is really on deception.

00:26:03.860 Eve was deceived.

00:26:04.840 Adam sinned with eyes wide open.

00:26:07.800 Some people have even argued that Adam knew that Eve was going to die and loved her so much that he sinned with her to die with her.

00:26:14.560 I don't know if I buy that.

00:26:15.840 But there's lots of theories out there around this particular discussion.

00:26:24.180 There's also another layer to notice that many people skip over.

00:26:27.640 The harmony that once existed between humanity and animals has now been shattered.

00:26:33.900 The serpent, this created thing, is now an enemy.

00:26:39.380 sin. So, sin doesn't just divide man from God. It divides everything. It divides everything.

00:26:50.120 It fractures peace on every level. So, if you're thinking about sinning,

00:26:57.920 don't forget that it shatters peace everywhere. It'll divide you and your family and your

00:27:09.140 marriage and your church and your kids. And when you sin, it

00:27:14.740 affects me. It affects her and him. When you sin, it doesn't

00:27:21.360 just affect you. It affects this congregation. It affects the

00:27:26.080 church. If I had to sum up this sermon in one simple sentence,

00:27:32.880 it would be this. You can't hide your sin from God. You

00:27:39.120 can't hide your sin from God. You might as well confess it. When

00:27:45.200 you sin, you get to go. When you lie, when you cheat, when you

00:27:48.360 steal, when you lust, just go to the Lord. He already knows. He

00:27:55.340 already watched it happen. Don't justify it. Don't hide. God

00:28:03.720 sees. Respond as the tax collector did in Luke 18, 13. Oh God, be merciful to me, a

00:28:15.100 sinner. Own it, confess it, recognize that you are unrighteous and you need the atonement

00:28:24.360 of Christ. While preparing my sermon, I found this snippet and I'll close here in a second

00:28:31.740 with this. It was a devotional entry, handwritten from the 1800s. It's a poem and it said,

00:28:40.220 Lord, help me not excuse my sin and blame another person. For if I don't admit my wrong,

00:28:47.300 my sin will only worsen. Proverbs 18 or Proverbs 28, 13 says,

00:28:55.140 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper.

00:29:02.360 But he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

00:29:09.080 When you sin, come to Christ for forgiveness.

00:29:12.460 Let's pray.

00:29:15.220 Father, we thank you, Lord, that you have given us a path for mercy.

00:29:19.920 Lord that you have provided

00:29:22.600 A sufficient sacrifice

00:29:25.200 And atonement for our sins

00:29:26.480 Lord we ask that you would teach us

00:29:29.120 To repent quickly

00:29:29.920 We thank you for your mercy

00:29:32.920 And your son Jesus

00:29:33.820 Amen

Dale Partridge - November 04, 2025

Genesis 3_8-13 – Hiding from God： Shame, Blame, and the Call to Confess

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