𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐎𝐃

When we think about of Adam and Eve, many immediately think of the fall, the mistake, the disobedience, the consequences.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬.

𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞. 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐦 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞: “𝐈𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐄.”

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝘀 “𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱.” 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱’𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻.

𝐒𝐨 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐯𝐞, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜, 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠: “𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡.”

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐣𝐨𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦. 𝐍𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐧𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐧𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝗱.

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗚𝗼𝗱. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲. When God is at the center, love thrives in peace, trust, and purpose.

But then, something changed. The serpent entered the picture and planted doubt. 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗺𝘆 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗼𝗱. “𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗮𝘆…?”

That question still echoes today. 𝗗𝗼𝘂𝗯𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. Eve took the fruit, Adam followed, and in that moment, everything shifted. Sin entered the world, and with it came shame, fear, and separation.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗻𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗚𝗼𝗱.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀. 𝗦𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁. 𝗜𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲. 𝗜𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁.

𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁, 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱.

But here’s where the story becomes truly powerful. 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. 𝗛𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁, “𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂?” 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗛𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄—𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗛𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭, 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐬. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

They tried to cover themselves with fig leaves, human effort, temporary solutions. But God made garments for them. This is the first picture of grace, the first glimpse of redemption. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗱.

𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭. 𝐖𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭.

This teaches us that 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐝, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝.

Because the story didn’t end in the garden.
𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗴𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲, 𝗮 𝗵𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗮 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲. 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗿𝘂𝘀𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁. 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀.
Where Adam failed, Jesus succeeded. Where sin entered through one act of disobedience, salvation came through one act of obedience—the cross.

This means that every broken love story can find hope in Him. So these are things we can learn from Adam and Eve.

𝟭. 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗴𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗚𝗼𝗱.

It’s not something we define on our own, it’s something we receive and steward.

𝟮. 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗼𝗱.

When we remove Him from the center, everything else begins to fall apart.

3. 𝗦𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱.

𝟰. 𝗚𝗼𝗱’𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲.

Maybe today we feel like something in our life is broken, our relationship, our trust, even our walk with God. Maybe we feel like hiding, like Adam and Eve did.

God is still calling, “Where are you?” Not in anger but in love. He is still pursuing. Still restoring. Still covering.

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐍, 𝐆𝐎𝐃’𝐒 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐅𝐔𝐋.