"Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound 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 among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him,“Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked?..." (Genesis 3:7-11a)
Adam and Eve cohabited with the Lord God in the Garden of Eden. They walked in peace and were shielded from all harm under the wings of the Almighty. Their relationship with the Lord God was pure, righteous and holy. They were ONE with each other and ONE with the Lord. They didn't need FAITH because there was no FEAR.
One act of disobedience created a "chain reaction" of lies, deception and, ultimately, FEAR that changed the course of human history forever. It opened the door for Christ to have to enter the earth realm as Savior to reconcile the lost back to Elohim. They encountered Satan in the Garden who manipulated Eve and caused FEAR to come upon Adam through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. These are the same "cheap magic tricks" he tried to use on Jesus in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13).
This is the awful truth about a "skilled liar" - the "deception" comes mixed with just enough "truth" to make it believable. The tragedy of this lapse in integrity on behalf of Adam and Eve is that their FEAR has contaminated every generation since their fall in the Garden.
WHERE ARE YOU?
When the Lord God asks us this question, He is NOT concerned about our "physical" location but rather our "spiritual" address. In other words, He is asking us, "Why have you left my side?" While confronting Adam, God had determined that His son had left His Presence and He felt the void, but He wanted Adam (although God already knew where he was), TO CONFIRM HIS WHEREABOUTS! This question still echoes in the heart of God for all who abandon Him.
Too many Christians are still easy prey for the devil and his imps. He tempts you, he isolates you and then he exposes your nakedness. In this sense, "NAKEDNESS" is equal to "SIN." You see, when you are "IN" God , your SIN is covered by the BLOOD of Christ. That is why the Lord God exhorts the Believer to "Abide in Me and I (abide) in you..."(John 15:4).
This is not "rocket science." With no one around, the only two people in the Garden scrambled to cover their "nakedness" (SIN) with fig leaves. This is an illustration of man's futility to cover his sin with man-made remedies. One of the favorite remedies to cover our sin is "remorse." REMORSE is NOT REPENTANCE! What angered the Lord God was Eve's act of "physical adultery" and Adam's act of "spiritual adultery." These acts of defiance were inexcusable! They had to be kicked out; and so they went...
Ultimately, the Lord God had to sacrifice the animals to COVER the shame of their sin, but Christ had to die to ATONE for the sin of fallen mankind. Imagine sin so great that it would negatively affect ALL of mankind forever! Even though God has provided this world a way of escape through the person of Christ Jesus, the harsh reality is that everyone is not going to have a place in eternity.
Wearing FIG LEAVES has dire consequences. When you live in FEAR, you reside with the devil. You are subjected to strife, turmoil, danger, wickedness and death. Most importantly, you will have NO PEACE. Conversely, as a son of the Kingdom, under the banner of FAITH, the Believer walks in love, grace, mercy, safety and eternal life. He is saturated with PEACE and devil has no answer for his RADICAL FAITH.
This RADICAL Believer is CLOTHED in righteousness and he is NAKED no more...
"Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life." (2 Corinthians 5:1-2)
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