The Fall of Man Part 2 of 2

by John Lowe
(Laurens SC, USA)

The first consequence of that sin came immediately, for we read in verse 7—"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." Their eyes were opened, and now Adam and Eve see good and evil from the standpoint of sinners and from the low level of sin. Their eyes were opened to the fact that they were corrupt and polluted, for they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. This is the dawn of guilt. The fruit came from a tree that God calls “The tree of knowledge of good and evil.” Up until the moment they took the fruit, they only knew good from God and all of creation. But that all changed, for now they knew evil, because they had done an evil thing. They felt guilt for the first time, and they deeply felt it. Guilt produces fear, and fear makes us want to run and hide. Ordinarily, Adam and Eve would have run to meet God, but they had become sinners (Rom. 3:10–12). Sinners cannot cover their sins by their own works, nor can they hide from God.

There’s another first here, for up until now they didn’t wear clothing—they didn’t feel the need to. When Adam had tasted of the forbidden fruit, he became aware of his own nakedness, and how he had been disobedient and disrespectful to God, and so he hid himself among the trees of the garden. It’s the same way today, there are too many of Adam’s sons who go about trying to cover up their sins with the fig leaves of good deeds and a religious lifestyle, but it’s all external, because they don’t have a relationship with Jesus. God knew what they had done and He came to confront these two poor sinners that now think they can hide from Him.

We are told in verse 8, 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.

A burglar, not long ago, ransack an unoccupied home by the seaside. He turned the rooms upside down, and piled his loot in the living room. There were signs that he sat down to rest. On a bracket in the corner stood a marble bust of Christ crowned with thorns. We know that the guilty man had taken it in his hands and examined it, because it bore his fingerprints; but when he replaced it, he turned Christ’s face to the wall, as if he couldn’t stand to have even the sightless eyes of the marble Savior look upon what he was doing.

Are there ever times when you don’t want Jesus to see what you’re doing or hear what you’re saying? Do you ever have thoughts that you’re ashamed of? It happens to all of us. We are having a friendly conversation, when someone says that so-and-so is the best—and you feel that twinge of jealousy. That’s sin!

So, how can we make things right with God when we sin? You all know the answer; “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God made Adam and Eve leave the garden, but our standing with God is different than theirs was. It’s because of the fact that you have the righteousness of Christ, and you belong to Him by virtue of His shed blood that was accepted by the Father as payment for our sins. We can’t be removed from God’s kingdom like Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden. That’s something worth celebrating. You could fall down, you could fall asleep, you could fall behind, and you could even fall into sin, but Jesus will never lose one of His.

TODAY, THE ONLY SAFE PLACE FOR ONE TO BE IS IN HIS KINGDOM.