Yet, Mercy Abounds
Yet, Mercy Abounds is the third piece in a series of three prose poems recounting the story of the Creation and the Fall. The first piece is In the Beginning. I wrote this series two years ago, as we closed 2017 and entered into 2018.
I am struck by the irony of the serpent’s attempt to persuade the woman to disobey God’s command. The serpent crept through the garden until he reached the woman. He was prepared to trap her in a tangle of truths and lies. With the inward and outward slide of his slimy tongue, the serpent tasted the bitterness of his lies when he accused God of being a liar.
“You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it [the fruit] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (See Genesis 3:5.) There was some truth to the serpent’s words. By breaking the bond of trust between God and humanity, the woman would know good and evil, reflecting God in this way. However, did she not know that she was already created in God’s image?
The woman saw that the fruit was appealing, so she took and ate of it. Trust was broken the moment her tongue touched the flesh of the fruit. The man, who stood passively beside her, did not protest, but also ate of the fruit. Then, the sound of God walking through the garden penetrated the solemnity around them. For fear, they covered themselves with leaves, a makeshift covering for their shameful nakedness. I see myself in the man’s response to God. Like the man, I try to hide my sin from the Lord’s presence with makeshift coverings.
“I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” (See Genesis 3:10.)
Our efforts to cover our sinfulness with makeshift righteousness never avail. We deserve separation from God, but in place of punishment, God gifts us with grace. It is in the midst of man’s sin that God promises redemption, a first glimpse of the gospel, protoevangalium. (See Genesis 3:15.)
Like the skins with which God covered the man and the woman, the light of God exposes my sin, and by His grace, He removes my makeshift covering and clothes me with the righteousness of Jesus. I sin, and yet, mercy abounds.
