Fig Leaves or Rose Petals?

Thursday morning, August 7, 2008 [Another HOT one but a cool spell is on the way!],
Another quote from Mason's book (p. 37): "When Adam discovered he was naked, he hid from the Lord. But when Job was faced with his nakedness, he worshipped, and this is what sets the fallen man apart from the redeemed man." Hmmm. . .
Truthfully, there is a side of Adam's attempting to hide from God that is almost comical—he used of all things, fig leaves. Yes, I know that fig leaves are larger than rose petals but they weren't large enough to hide the "private" side of Adam's life from God, or anyone else, for that matter, but when one is "running scared" any old hiding place will do, I suppose (or so we think).
There is, however, a side of Adam's attempting to hide from God that is very serious—we still attempt to do it, even though we KNOW it is futile. There is, however, a reason for our inane futility: we haven't learned that Jesus ended our need to hide from God. Peter said it quite clearly: ". . .and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by His wounds you were healed" (1 Peter 2:24; NASB).
Paul said it this way: "And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us, and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross" (Colossians 2:13-14).
You see, unlike Adam, when we find ourselves doing the most despicable act we could ever imagine, we can run TO Jesus and be received with open arms—accepted and loved without condition—having NO reason to hide and EVERY reason to embrace Him.
After all, He did take ownership of our sins, was punished to the full extent of the Law's requirement, took them away, and promised never to remember them again—A DONE DEAL!
Hallelujah for the cross and for the Christ of the cross! Maybe it is time for us to scatter some rose petals!