And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool [afternoon breeze] of the day, so the man and his wife hid and kept themselves hidden from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Genesis 3:8
Just this verse tells us many things about Adam and Eve and God and their relationship:
- God had walked in the garden frequently with Adam and Eve. They knew the sound of Him coming to be with them.
- On this day something was different. They hid themselves from God. Why? In the following verses we find that Adam and Eve were afraid because they were naked, and they hid themselves.
What had been was no more! Adam and Eve had been tempted to distrust God’s word and they chose to believe Satan rather than God. The result was a horrible separation between God and His creation. Sin had entered His beautiful world, and all that He had made was no longer ‘very good’.
Following this devastating decision by the first man and woman, Holy God was no longer able to look on sinful man. The relationship was different. I don’t understand how God was able to do this, but He still interacted with some people.
- He gave Abel and Cain some instruction on how to approach Him.
- He exhibited great compassion and mercy toward Cain even after the murder of his brother.
- Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God three hundred years after the birth of Methuselah…and…[in reverent fear and obedience Enoch walked with God’ and he was not [found among men], because God took him [away to be home with Him]. Gen. 5: 22,24
- Even when the world became desperately wicked and God regretted that He had made mankind on the earth and was [deeply] grieved in His heart, Noah found favor and grace in the eyes of the Lord. Gen. 6:6,8
- God called Abram to leave where he lived and to go where God told him to go. His nephew Lot came with Abram for awhile, but then they parted and Lot went to live among a wicked people. God was going to bring judgment on those people, but He questioned Himself and said, “Shall I keep secret from Abraham [My friend and servant] what I am going to do…. Gen 18:17
There were many others throughout the Old Testament with whom God had a relationship. And through all of this time God was working a plan. He was not satisfied even now with this creation He had made. And in the fullness of time He introduced His Plan into the world. He sent His Son, His only Son, to be a sacrifice and to receive judgment for all of mankind. He sent Him to seek and to save the lost. He sent Him that we might have life everlasting. He sent Him to redeem all of creation back to Himself. He sent Him that those who trusted in Him as a way of salvation could be transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. He sent Him so that people could once again be in relationship with Him again. He sent Him so that He could dwell among us.
Now, God’s plan is finished and yet, it is not fully accomplished because there is still sin in this world. We live in a now, but not yet. My question today is, “Is God still longing for the kind of relationship He had with Adam, Eve, Enoch, and all the others who experienced a personal relationship with Him?” Is that personal, intimate relationship for you, and me, and each one of us who have come to Him through Jesus?
