“The overwhelming and fundamental tragedy of human autonomy was the creature’s alienation from God the Creator. The compulsion to hide from God’s face meant the loss of protection, provision, and self for our first parents, and shame came to dominate the human condition. From then on people would live with a simultaneous longing and loathing for the face of God, because it was and is both the greatest delight and the greatest horror.
michael j. glodo
The curses of the fall meant life would be futile. God would preserve the life-giving power of the womb and the soil, and yet both would provide perpetual reminders of alienation from the face of God as humanity was driven out of Eden. While God graciously covered their shame in giving them garments (Gen. 3:21), he did not cover their faces. Paradise was lost, but only for a time, for they took with them the promise that “everything sad” would become “untrue” (to paraphrase J. R. R. Tolkien’s character, Sam Gamgee). One day a seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15).”
Reflection:
The human experience can feel very confusing. All of us live with a certain amount of internal conflict and inconsistency. We have mixed desires that seem to compete with one another. One reason is that we simultaneously long for God because we were made for Him, and at the same time, we despise God because He presents a threat to our autonomy and personal control over our own lives. This reality explains why we have deep longings to be known, loved, and content, yet also why those things seem so elusive.
God’s smiling face pulls at our hearts with deep longing. Yet, somehow we know that because we have fallen so short, we must also hide from His face. This, along with the regular internal conflicts we experience, explains the madness of being human.
So what is our hope? God has shown us His glory in the face of Jesus Christ. And in the shining face of Jesus, we see the judgment of God and the grace of God meet. We don’t have to hide from God anymore—not because we aren’t that bad after all—but because Jesus has paid it all. So now, we turn back to God’s face over and over with the assurance that He accepts us, and with the hope that our future is bound for life in His presence forever. One day, the inconsistency will fall away, and our greatest delight will be our endless joy.
Get your copy of The Lord Bless You & Keep You by Michael J. Glodo HERE.
