Preparing the way week 3- Where Are You? The God Who Seeks Us” Genesis 3:1–9

 Primary: Genesis 3:1–9 Supporting: Luke 15:1–7

Imagine a huge, beautiful garden. Not a small garden like the one at home — a garden as big as the world. Bright sunlight. Rivers that sparkle. Trees full of fruit. Animals that aren’t scary. No storms. No sadness. No pain. Nothing broken at all.

And right in the middle of that garden are two people. They have never felt afraid. Never felt embarrassed. Never felt the need to hide. They are fully known and fully loved.

Then one day, something happens.  Not a monster.  Not a storm.  Just a conversation.  A simple question.  A quiet question.  A question so small you could miss how dangerous it is.  And that question changes everything.

I love this passage in Genesis, but there’s something we often miss. Something subtle. Something important. And it’s all to do with the way the Hebrew has been translated into English.

To see it clearly, we have to go right back to the start, the very beginning. Right back to the God who is beyond time, beyond imagination, who literally creates time itself. The God who speaks and galaxies appear. Every star, every planet, every grain of sand — He made it all.

And as Genesis unfolds, we learn something astonishing: this God has a name. He can be known. And when He makes us, He makes us in His image — Father, Son and Holy Spirit in relationship — and we are made for relationship too. That’s why He makes us male and female. Marriage itself becomes a picture of who God is. We’re not just clever animals; we’re relational, creative, spiritual — like the God who made us.

Then we learn His personal name: Yahweh. In English Bibles it’s “the LORD.” Not a title — a name. His name isn’t “God.” If I walked up to you and ignored your name and just said, “Hello, person,” I’d strip away your identity. That’s what happens when we only call Him “God.” True, but distant.

There’s another name: Elohim. A wonderful name, but a distant one. It speaks of His power, His majesty, His eternity — but not His closeness.
And that matters when we get to the serpent.

Genesis says the serpent was more crafty than any animal Yahweh Elohim — the LORD God — had made. Later Scripture calls him Satan, the devil. He is real. He is created. He is not a god, though he would like to be. And the Bible doesn’t tell us much more, so we shouldn’t pretend we know more than Scripture gives.

But we do know he is shrewd. And you hear it in his first question: “Did Elohim — did God — really say you must not eat from any tree?”

Straight away, he uses the distant name. Straight away, he twists the truth. Yahweh Elohim had already said they could eat from every tree except one. But Satan wants distance. He wants doubt. He wants separation.

Eve answers honestly: “We can eat from the trees — just not that one.” And Satan pushes: “Why not that one? What’s so special about it?” He keeps her talking about a distant God instead of the God who knows her by name.

Eve says, “If we eat it, we’ll know good and evil, and we’ll die.” But the fruit looks good. It looks wise. It looks powerful. And Satan says, “You won’t die. You’ll become like Elohim.”

And Eve reaches out. Adam is right there with her. And they take it.

In that moment, everything changes. They choose against God. And that choice rewrites their nature, rewrites creation itself. Everything broken in our world — war, famine, storms, pain, death — all of it flows from that moment. Death is now written into human DNA.

And then comes shame. Shame is the first symptom of the fall. Shame makes them hide. Cover up. Withdraw. Shame is death beginning its work in human hearts.
And then Yahweh Elohim — the mighty Creator, yet the God with a name — walks into the garden and says, “Where are you?”

Thin about it for a moment.... why is 'He' asking? He knows exactly where they are. He knows everything. So why does he ask the question? But He asks the question to invite them out of hiding. Out of the shadows. Into His light.

It’s the same question He still asks: Where are you? Will you come out of hiding? Will you step into My light? Not just because of what happened to all of the world and every person ever since that day when sin came into the world, but because that sneaky serpent still whispers, to try and create doubt and distance between us and The Lord.

And now, because of Jesus, we know God by an even closer name: Father. We know Him as Jesus the Son. We experience Him through the Holy Spirit.

And Jesus is the antidote to that moment in the garden. On the cross He takes all sin, all shame, all death. Romans 8:1 says, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Or in the CEV: “If you belong to Christ Jesus, you won’t be punished.”

Yet shame still makes us hide. We cover up the parts of our lives we don’t want seen. Even the parts of ourselves we don’t like.

But we have a God who still says: Where are you? A God who knows us. A God who loves us. A God with a name — Jesus — who invites us into the light. To heal. To forgive. To restore.

Discussion Questions

Exploring the Passage (Genesis 3:1–9)

1. What part of the story stood out to you most, and why?
2. Why do you think the serpent chose the distant name “Elohim” instead of “Yahweh”?
3. What do you notice about Adam and Eve’s reaction after they eat the fruit?

Going Deeper

1. Where do you see the serpent’s lies at work in people’s lives today?
2. What kinds of things make us hide from God or from others?
3. How does knowing God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit help us step into the light?
4. What might God be asking you personally when He says, “Where are you?

Living It Out

1. If we had to summarise the passage and explain it to someone who wasn’t here, what would we say?
2. Is there anything that challenges us to live or think differently? What is it, and why?
3. Is there something we can pray about or meditate on this week to help us grow deeper in our walk with the Lord?