June 9th, 2011 by Kristi Stephens

Adam and Eve were perfectly hand-crafted, made in the image of God Himself. They were made for relationship – relationship with one another in perfect harmony, and relationship with God.

I often wonder how often they walked with God in the garden in the cool of the day. [Genesis 3:8] Think of it! How many times have we sung, “I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses… and He walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own…” Adam and Eve could physically walk in the garden with Him, talk with Him, hear His voice in their physical ears.

Enter the enemy.

“Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” [Genesis 3:1]

The planted seed of doubt. The leading question ending in a lie. It isn’t what God had said.

“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” [Genesis 2:16-17]

God states it as a positive – you are free to eat from ANY tree in the garden, except this one. Satan rephrases the statement to be overly restrictive – “you must not eat from any tree…”

The deceiver continues.

“You will not surely die…” [Genesis 3:4]

He has moved from a twisted version of God’s words to outright denial of God’s clear word.

And then…

“For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” [Genesis 3:5]

A twisted version of God’s words, to outright denial of God’s word, to an attack on His very character. He is keeping something good from you…

And just like that, in one moment, sweet fruit turned to eternally-altering poison. Relationship was shattered.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Shame. Instantly, they knew. They were broken, defiled, unworthy. In a sad and desperate attempt to cover up their actions, they resort to sewing leaves together.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”

He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

Fear. Being in the presence of holiness reveals every speck of our sin. They are driven from His presence, hiding and fearful.

And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Genesis 3:7-13

Blame. Broken relationship with God breaks our relationships with one another. Like children caught in disobedience, they quickly seek to shift blame, trying to get themselves out of the consuming fire of God’s holy gaze.

We are all broken. We have inherited this brokenness from Eden, we have added more brokenness of our own.

Satan hisses in our ears – he constantly suggests and subverts. It begins with a suggestion – a twist of God’s original word that sounds similar, familiar, yet different. It makes us dissatisfied with God’s clear and obvious message. Then, outright denial of the word. Then, attacking God’s very character and purposes, suggesting that He is not truly good, not powerful enough, not loving, not who the word clearly reveals Him to be.

And when we take the bait… our communion with God is shattered. Our perspective is skewed, our relationships marred.

Knowing and walking with Him is to be truly human, who God purposed you to be. We were created for communion with the Almighty God. You were created to know Him. You were not made to be an island unto yourself, scratching out your own existence. But Eden has broken us. Our own sin has splintered us. And we are utterly dependent on His grace to provide the antidote to the poison coursing through our souls.

And so we wait, hiding in the bushes, trembling beneath our pitiful leaves… we wait for how our God will respond.

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