During even the biggest games, a coach’s voice can cut through the noise and chaos of a packed gym and the players will recognize it. It is remarkable to watch athletes in sports like gymnastics, softball or wheelchair basketball instantly comprehend and respond to the words coach’s commands from the sidelines.

The more you get to know the coach (the more time you spend listening to the coach), the easier it is to recognize their voice.

God has been calling out to us since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. They chose to disobey God and eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, immediately having their eyes open to things God never intended them to see or experience. Instead of calling out for God, they did their best to cover up their sin and hid among the trees (Genesis 3:7-8).

“So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” -Genesis 3:9

Adam spoke up, explaining why he ate the fruit. He said things he had never said before and felt things he had never felt toward God, whom he knew face to face. After Eve explained her reasoning for eating the fruit, God told them the consequences of their sin. But He didn’t give up on them.

“The Lord God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them.” -Genesis 3:21

They had earlier tried to cover themselves with fig leaves to hide their sin, but this time, God made coverings for them. The first sacrifice for sin was in the garden, just as the last sacrifice would be in another garden 2,000 years later. Between these two gardens, God continued calling out to His creation through prophets, teachers, creation itself, His Spirit and, eventually, His Son.

-FCA-