Genesis 3:6-10
And Adam said, “I heard the sound of Thee in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”
From what we know from scripture about man’s origins and early history, this passage marks the entrance of fear into human affairs. Maybe we can better understand its impact upon us by taking a look at man’s condition before fear took hold.
One thing stands out in this passage is that God and man were intimate and they were communicating. God is revealed for the first time as being with a personality. He possessed all knowledge and was moving about on earth in a body interacting with man, provoking them to think, explore and discover what all He had placed inside of them. God had intended this to be a grand and enjoyable affair. Since He had created them in His image, there was going to be some very big discoveries!
It appears Satan, a bitter and proud angel was already a resident of earth when Adam and Eve were created. We do not know completely what the consequence of his fall was to his personality and powers other than his involvement in human affairs has proven him to be a liar, a murderer and thief. It is safe to assume He hates God, God’s people and has a singular mission to disrupt and destroy God’s plans through masterfully placed deceptions he can plant into the human race.
The first lie he sowed was the one He told to Eve that suggested to her, that God was withholding something that would make her wise, like Him. The poison Eve and her husband ingested contained knowledge about both good and evil – knowledge God had warned them would cause their death. As they ate and the toxins were absorbed into their being, their capacity to live comfortably in God’s presence without fear died. The forbidden substance, now operative within them, obscured their awareness of God and left them instead with an acute awareness of themselves. Their new found knowledge informed their consciousness that they were inadequate and inferior in their appearance, and I presume in their being, and that God was one that they must fear and hide from.
Adam and Eve feared the Lord. So, was this the beginning of their wisdom? We are told in Ps 111:10 that fearing God is a prerequisite to having wisdom. I believe it was the beginning of a worldly type of wisdom that equips the sons of Adam with a genius in dealing with their fears; their fear of isolation, failure, intimacy and on and on. Deep down in our hearts, I believe we live out of the root system of one tree or the other; the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or the tree of life.
Fear, born of the knowledge of good and evil, can birth both good deeds and evil deeds. From this self-oriented and fearful place can come both the devout and the devious. The motive for both the alms giver or the murderer could have a common denominator in fear – causing them to always be shoring up and compensating for their acute insecurities born in Eden, sometimes in socially approved behavior and sometimes in socially condemned behavior.
Yesterday’s passage was 1 John 4:16-20. There we found that “perfect love casts out fear“. Where the root of fear produces religion. The root of love produces relationship. It reestablishes the capacity of the human spirit to commune with God and each other. The fatal wound from Eden was remedied by the wounds absorbed at Calvary in Christ Jesus. From what is rooted in the cross we learn a new definition of fear. The old definition that anticipated punishment from an angry God was cast out by love.
“By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgement; because as He is, so also are we in the world.”
There is a wisdom available to us that will allow us to once again think, explore and discover in the context of a relationship with God where we do not need to hide ourselves in fear of punishment. There is no condemnation for us who are in Christ because Christ absorbed the punishment due us. God desires that we avail ourselves of this costly gift which has made it once again possible to walk with Him and others in intimacy.
Father, may we see with new eyes that you have laid the axe to the root of our old nature that was rooted in fear. May we absorb into our heart’s deepest understanding that, even now, if we are in Christ, we are deeply rooted into the love of God and legally immune to accusations of inferiority. Thank you that we are completely acceptable and welcomed into Your presence. Let us resume our conversation with you.
“Now to Him, who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.” Amen.
Note; There is a beautiful passage in 1 John 3:13-18 regarding the wisdom from above which is born of love. It is contrasted with the worldly wisdom I referenced earlier.