Where are you?

But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”  –Genesis 3:9 (NIV)
 
After the fall, YHWH did not ask "Where are you?" because He had lost Adam. He asked "Where are you?" because Adam had lost Adam. Adam’s job was to work the garden, nurture the garden, extend the boundaries of the garden, establishing a habitat where future generations of mankind (“be fruitful and multiply”) could thrive in the glory of God.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.  –Genesis 3:6 (NIV)
 
Instead, Adam abdicated his responsibility to the things under his care, including the souls of himself and his family. Eve sinned first, but notice who YHWH called out to. It was the man, who should have been protecting his wife and holding up truth in opposition to the lies of the enemy.
 
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”  –Genesis 3:10 (NIV)
 
By choosing to step outside of God’s created order, Adam made his life (and the countless lives of all who would follow) difficult, dangerous and desolate. “Where are you?” wasn’t about physical location; it was about Adam understanding the consequence of rejecting his role as a man. When we forsake our God-given identity, we lose ourselves.
 
So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”  –Genesis 3:14:15 (NIV)
 
This turn of events grieved the Father, but it did not take Him by surprise. He immediately activated His plan to redeem the creation. The plan reached its apex in His incarnation, God becoming man in the person of Jesus Christ. And it continues still, as He invites men to step back into the assignment He originally gave Adam: Cherish and steward the things God has entrusted to you, grow the garden, live in His glory.
 
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.  –Romans 5:19 (NIV)
 
It isn’t an invitation to be taken lightly, for it requires a willingness to walk in the self-sacrificial footsteps of the second Adam. But there’s nothing we’ll ever do that is more rewarding. Thus comes the call to self-examination that was heard in the garden: “Where are you?”