The very thing, the very Person, that had defined Adam’s existence and had given his life meaning and satisfaction, was gone. For the first time in his life, Adam was truly alone. And from that day forward, the constant comforting, and encouraging, presence and voice of GOD’s Spirit in Adam’s life, was replaced by a condemning and vengeful conscience—accusing, condemning, and pressuring him day and night. Day and night. Day and night.

We today, couldn’t possibly appreciate the fullness of what Adam had lost—since all humanity was born in a fallen state and have since been raised in a ‘Post-Eden’ world. It’s always been this way for us. And even those of us who are now saved and Spirit-filled have only really tasted a tiny fraction of what was lost in Adam but, redeemed in Christ.

But, for Adam, it would have been as a violent SHOCK to every fiber of his being...of his existence. Can you imagine? Once you’ve connected all the dots, it’s not hard to see. Can you see poor Adam moaning, and weeping indignantly, like a child that had—that which was most precious to him—savagely ripped away? Can you see him there, writhing on the ground holding himself, holding his stomach...rocking himself...overcome with the deadness of his own spirit—as if he were suffering from a physical wound; overwhelmed by the emptiness of being without GOD for the first time in his existence...without Life Himself...drowning in his own emptiness...gasping for GOD. Indeed, GASPING for GOD. Can you see him there? Poor Adam. And by extension...poor us.

And if it could get any worse..! Can you see him as he’s there crying out in anguish, but also groaning…agonizing, under the soul-shattering condemnation of Satan’s voice—directing and chiming in perfect orchestration with his own incessantly tormenting conscience...making Adam’s overpowering feeling of abject rejection, complete?! Can you see him there…defenseless...utterly vulnerable—to the deep and penetrating, gnawing bites of condemnation...of rejection?! Can you see him there?! Broken. Abandoned. Poor Adam. Poor us. 

It is here that the advent of rejection began its crippling rule over humanity. And it arrived with a boom—infectiously contaminating and determining the course of life for every person that would ever be born. We could spend the next 20 pages talking about that alone. (Selah) 

From Heaven, the only sound echoing louder than Adam shrieks was Satan’s laughter. He had us now. And not just Adam but, all of what would come through Adam’s seed. He had us. He now…had us all.

What Adam was yet to learn was that Satan had cunningly schemed out the entire fall of man. 

For, aside from the word enemy, the other part of Satan’s name actually means accuser (or condemner). Satan set up his entire offensive against man based on the vulnerability that he himself paved into man’s now, fallen conscience. Because of the screaming shame of Adam’s guilt, his faith-based life’s partnership with the LORD was nullified and replaced, with a coercing condemnation to do things himself...earning or making his own way through conscience-clearing, hard work—whether practically, or spiritually. Adam found himself reeling under the pressure to do something. Anything. To take control over his own life...to make something happen for himself—instead of ‘Co-living it’ in all things with the LORD, anymore. 

These horrible, maddening, new feelings from Hell; this PRESSURE to perform…to produce, with its unrelenting ANXIETY, had successfully displaced Adam. It had evicted him from the security of his precious ‘REST’, which was the place he was fashioned to ever abide in. It was the place that was in fact, his birthright...more than that—it was his very home. There, he was created to joyously live, breathe, and thrive in an utopian state of perpetual and carefree peace. This place of harmony and stillness that was always so quiet and tranquil but conversely, was also always so pregnant, so pulsating—with the Presence, the Power, and with the endless Possibilities, of GOD. Adam felt Himself deeply mourning for loss of it. He desperately missed the sanctuary and the peace of resting in GOD’s all-encompassing GOODNESS. He missed being able to rest in the faithfulness of his Provider and the unending flow of his provision. He missed being able to rest in the authority of his GOD-given DOMINION over this planet, and everything in it. He missed resting in the ongoing miraculous moves of the Spirit—manifesting whenever needed, in every facet of his life.

Adam felt bereaved, now. He felt ‘restless’...out of sync. Exiled, shut out from GOD’s rest, he felt very much like an out cast. For now, he was homeless; truly homeless, in every sense of the word...even before being evicted from his physical home of the Garden Of Eden. 

Adam felt himself shuddering...trembling, at the alienly inhospitable harshness of the absence of his REST...and the brutal assassination of his PEACE. He felt so vulnerable, now. So exposed. So naked. Yes, SO NAKED, and so afraid. He found himself succumbing to an impulse to run screaming, for cover—to cover or ‘re-cover’ himself...even if by the sweat of his brow. He instinctively needed, to take cover or to take care of himself...lest his heart—his physical heart, fail him for the greatness of his anxiety...of his fear.

The fulcrum point of this pressure, of this newly born yet, gripping FEAR, was rooted in Adam’s fallen conscience, as mentioned in Gen 3:8-10, which reads: 

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. 9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was AFRAID, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

Notice that Adam said in verse 10, that he was “afraid” to answer the call of GOD because of his nakedness. “Afraid”. But, what Adam didn’t realize was that despite his guilt, the LORD was still there—to ‘call’ Adam IN his nakedness…offering to ‘re-cover’ Adam, despite condemnation’s twofold lie that his weakness was greater than GOD’s grace, and that Adam now had a responsibility to cover or care for himself. (Selah) 

The ‘Call’ of GOD always comes IN our nakedness or weaknesses, as GOD’s grace perfectly fits or covers our nakedness or weaknesses. Humanity’s broken conscience, drives him to take cover or ‘take care’ of himself. This hinders and can even block GOD’s cover or care for us. From the LORD’s perspective, we were never meant to cover ourselves. He considered our care to be solely His responsibly…and His alone. His joy has always been in sharing a co-existing ‘oneness’ with us in every aspect of our life’s experience. 

But, because of the shame of Adam’s guilt, he was afraid that the LORD would no more cover him in his endeavors, or cover him financially, or in his health, relationships or otherwise, cover or care for him in his over-all well-being. Condemnation (rejection) and the spirit of fear, would become the upper and lower rows of teeth in the jaws of Adam’s fallen conscience. Indeed, these would become Satan’s most leveraged puppeteering influences used in controlling the whole of humanity...completely dominating it’s thinking.

And yet, when you take the time to really look at what happened Gen 3:7-9, the whole scene is telling about the LORD’s heart in this. The LORD knew that they had eaten from the tree, as GOD is omniscient, or all-knowing. The Bible says that not a sparrow falls from a tree without the Father knowing and caring about it. So, the LORD knew exactly what happened. He watched the whole thing unfolding, from Heaven—as He has always done, in all things!

Still, He came down to meet them in the appointed place at the appointed time, in the cool of the day, anyway. Yes. Anyway. GOD’s steadfast faithfulness to be there...anyway, shows that He couldn’t let them go. We were too precious to Him. Later on, at Calvary, He would demonstrate just how precious we were, to Him. But His showing up in Eden, right after the big incident, underscored His willingness to salvage their relationship and continue with them regardless...if they allowed Him to. 

From the LORD’s perspective, if Adam and Eve could manage to remember who He was and re-focus on His faithfulness instead of their own unfaithfulness; if they would but remember the kind of person—the kind of GOD He was and continue to believe that unconditional LOVE Himself was transcendently greater than their weaknesses and failings, then He might be able to restore them to the sanctuary of their rest, with Him. (Maybe they could have been able to continue with the LORD in the ‘pleasure’ that was Eden. Who knows what might’ve happened—or what GOD might’ve been able to do, if Adam and Eve chose to humble themselves to rest in GOD’s Goodness again, admitting and accepting responsibility for their actions?! Who knows?!)

The test was on. GOD was not willing to lose us so easily...not without a fight. When GOD called out to Adam asking, “Where art thou” in Gen 3:9, He wasn’t referring to where Adam was geographically, as GOD is omnipresent. He is everywhere at once. He knew Adam’s exact physical location. GOD was really asking Adam, “Where are you?!” or where are you, spiritually- or as far as their relationship with GOD went…as far as their ‘US’ was concerned. 

One of GOD’s joys was in anticipating their excitement to see Him as they usually ran out to meet Him, whenever He arrived. This time, for the first time...they didn’t show. 

So, it was bad. But, the LORD knew it would be. Yet still, He found Himself unprepared for what was about to happen, next. Adam and Eve hid themselves from Him. They covered their nakedness with leaves...the same nakedness, the same vulnerability that He once enjoyed...that once belonged to Him alone, had now been torn away from Him. This was the birthing of mankind’s inclination to cover up himself; to cover his failings, his shame, and weaknesses, with his strengths, with his gifts, abilities, talents, endowments, intelligence, education, beauty, position, ranking, etc...and ultimately if he could...with MAMMON.

But note that Adam said in verse 10 that they had hidden from GOD because they were naked. Yet, two verses before in verse 7, the Bible says that they had sewn fig leaves together and made aprons that covered their nakedness. So, in fact, they weren’t naked, anymore. But despite covering their nakedness using their own means, they still felt naked. (Selah)

Now, continuing in Gen 3: 9 when Adam answered GOD saying that he was hiding from the LORD because of his nakedness—notice that the LORD continued asking leading questions to give Adam a chance to trust Him enough to come out of his hiding and covering of himself to become naked or vulnerable, to Him again. Our vulnerability was what the LORD cherished most in all the universe. For there must be vulnerability, that there might be intimacy. Vulnerability leads to dependency, that ushers us into the rest, that brings about intimacy.

Therefore, the LORD was in essence, inviting Adam to trust Him enough to share his nakedness with Him again; to make himself vulnerable with Him again; to trust only in the covering or care that He Himself would provide...for intimacies sake. “Who told you that you were naked”, GOD asked. “Did you eat from the tree”? Giving Adam the answers to the test—the right answer of humbling himself and coming home to Him. This was it. GOD awaited Adam’s response. 

”It was that woman that YOU gave me”, Adam accused.

And that was Adam’s response—to blame his wife and even GOD Himself rather than to return to his vulnerability with GOD. Eve’s response was similar. She blamed the serpent. 

The LORD’s heart broke. Humanity’s course was now set. He had lost us. And we…we were lost.

-to be continued-