Genesis 3:7-13 “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.”
As we noted earlier, Adam and Eve were created in perfection, and existed in perfect innocence. There was no sin in their lives, and thus they had to no knowledge of good or of evil. There was evil. It was present in Satan, who had rebelled against the Creator, but the first man and woman were oblivious of wickedness. Through the deception and temptation of the wicked one, Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Through this act of disobedience, they became sinful, corrupted by sin. They died spiritually at that instant, and the process of phyical death began its dread march. As we will read later, both Adam and Eve did indeed die physically. Their spiritual death is seen in the fact of their innocence being taken and their reluctance to walk with and commune with their Creator as they had done regularly since the day of their creation. When their eyes were opened to right and wrong, they realized that they were naked and, being filled with shame, endeavored to cover their nakedness. From this act we can see that their days of innocence had ended, and now their was a consciousness of sin.
Their efforts to cover their nakedness by sowing together fig leaf aprons is significant. Later, we will find God’s answer to this work of their own hands, but their human efforts to cover their sinfulness, which did not work, has been repeated countless times throughout the history of mankind on earth. Humanity has ever tried to make himself presentable to God through its own “fig leaf” efforts. And, it has ever had the same results as did the original couple’s. It did not work in the Garden, and is has never worked since that time.
Another sad and revealing incident is found when God, seeking communion with Adam in the Garden as He had in times past, was seen calling out, “Where art thou?” Adam and Eve had hidden themselves from God. How telling! Fellowship with their Creator had been broken because of their sin. Of course, God knew well the condition and the whereabouts of the couple. His call was issued that they might see this for themselves. He knew where they were, but they did not fully understand just how far they had fallen through their sin. Spiritually dead, with innocence forever gone, Adam and Eve were hiding from the very God that had lovingly brought them into existence. Adam and Eve’s descendants continue to hide themselves from their loving Creator to this very day, cloaking themselves behind their own self-righteousness and refusing to heed His heavenly call.
The interchange between Adam and God is most telling. When confronted with his sin, Adam sought to pass the blame rather than acknowledging his sin. “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” He first blamed Eve, then blamed God. Again, Adam’s descendants learned well from their ancestor, for most all seek to blame others, or circumstances beyond their control, for their sinful ways. Note John’s words concerning this: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8-10) The writer of the Proverbs put it this way, "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." (Proverbs 28:13) Praise be unto God, there is forgiveness of sins past, present and future through the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pastor Steve Smith
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