“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” (Genesis 3:8).
It may seem strange that Adam and Eve hid themselves from God after sinning; after all, only God could heal them from the disease into which Satan, the mortal enemy of God and man, had lured them. Yet, the tendency for sinful man to hide from God has become part of human nature, for sin never feels comfortable in the Divine Presence.
Jonah too, fled from God’s presence rather than obey His command and go to Nineveh; Peter on the other hand, instead of fleeing from the Lord, asked Him to “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man”, which amounts to the same thing, separation from the presence of God.
At a time when we need to seek the healing balm of the presence of God, coming to Him in guilt and repentance is often the last thing that Christians think of doing; indeed, religious Christianity has evolved into a system whereby the very notion of sin has been eviscerated altogether for those having once entered into the faith.
The notion that there is a God but that He is comfortably far away may not be found in the doctrinal foundation of any Church, but if we are to judge by the practical outcomes of what organize Christian faith has become, it seems inescapable that the average Christian thinks of God as being at a safe distance and looking the other way!
“And the Lord God called to Adam and said, ‘Adam, where are you?’” (Genesis 3:9).
Adam, made to be like God, has become instead, man, and the all-seeing God cannot see him and Eve, hidden amongst the trees in the Garden; for He cannot look upon sin.
Leave a Reply