Recently read this in Everybody's Normal Till You Get to Know Them, by John Ortberg.

...Adam hides. And God says, "Adam, where are you?"

This is one of the most astounding questions in Scripture. Why does God ask it? The psalmist wrote that no matter where he went, he could never travel beyond the range of God's knowledge: "If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there." The thought of Adam trying to hide from God would be funny if it weren't so sad.... Why doesn't God just use his X-ray vision to locate Adam?

The reason is that, of course, this question is not really about Adam's geographical location. It is not really a request for information at all, as if God needed a global tracking system for his creatures. It is an invitation.

God allows Adam to hide.

God offers him the opportunity to reveal himself.

God has the audacious grace to treat Adam as a person, even when Adam has defied him. God does this because no one - not even he himself - can get another person to be in a relationship by brute force.

...Dallas Willard writes, "God has placed the only key to the innermost parts of the human soul in its own hands and will never take it back himself or give it to another. You may even be able to destroy the soul of another, but you will never unlock it against his or her will."