“Where art thou?” (Gen. 3:99And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? (Genesis 3:9)). Man must come out from his hiding-place; as the leaves of the tree could not satisfy the conscience, so now the tree cannot hide man from God. And how many trees there are that men are hiding behind today, busily engaged in plucking and sewing the leaves together; but they cannot stand “the light.” Prayers, almsgiving, attention to every religious and secular duty, a spotless reputation, holding the highest place in the estimation of others, a member of this or that church. These and many others, men are hiding behind, and in restless activity seeking to stifle the conscience which condemns, and says, “not fit for God.” It is God that asks, “Where art thou?” And He furnishes the answer, both for the sinner and the believer. The former is in his sins, that awful, lifeless condition, “in the flesh,” and thus unable in anything to please God. In the far country — where the famine is — without Christ, without hope, without God in the world, unclean; unjust, an outlaw, an enemy; the sword of judgment hanging over his head.
But believer, “Where art thou?” And God’s Word again furnishes the reply. What mind, however great, could have given birth to such a thought? It would have been blasphemy to have expressed it, but God has spoken, and shall we not hear? Not in the first man where all is ruin, but in the second Man where there is nothing but blessing. In Christ Jesus, where there is no condemnation. He, blessed be His name, bore it all on that tree, and now it can never touch the one in Christ. “Accepted in the beloved,” not merely in Christ, though that is true — but “in the beloved” the One so dear to the heart of God. In the Father’s house, seated at His table, having on the best robe, which is surely none other than Christ.
Things New and Old, Vol. 28