Driven Away
So He [God] drove out the man.
Genesis 3:24
Read Genesis 3:22-24
“Speak the truth, son.” Have your father and mother ever spoken to you like
this? The thought itself is painful. Maybe you have caused such anger and
frustration that your parents cried, “Get out of my sight!”
Adam and Eve experienced something similar on the day they fell. God, who
first called them to Himself, now drove them out of His garden. There was
no room for man at the Tree of Life. Nor was there a place for them in the
vicinity of the Fountain of Life, God Himself. He could not tolerate their sin,
and neither could they remain in His holy presence.
When they looked back at the Garden of Eden a final time, they saw armed
angels standing at its entrance. It is as if a no trespassing sign was placed
there. How painful this was for them; they had formerly enjoyed the Garden
of Eden. That which is written in our Baptismal Form was also true of our
first parents, “We…are children of wrath, insomuch that we cannot enter
into the kingdom of God except we are born again.”
Our form, however, also speaks of an exception, “Except we are born again.”
The Psalm written at the end of the form’s meditation speaks of an open
gate. What does the Psalmist mean when he speaks of a gate into which the
children of Adam may enter? It is the gate of heaven, which has been opened
by the Lord Jesus (Heb. 13:12). When Christ died God the Father tore the
veil down the middle, separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies.
Entrance is freely permitted because of Golgotha.
Question: Are you still ‘outside the gate’ or have you been brought in by the
power of the Holy Spirit?
Psalter 427:4 (based on Psalm 118)
In truth, the Lord has sorely chastened, But not to death delivered me;
In His paternal love He hastened, To mitigate my misery.
Now open at my salutation The gates of truth and righteousness,
And I will enter with elation, There to proclaim my thankfulness.
