God created us in the garden east of Eden and from the beginning, we were meant to be in His presence right from the start – with only one single commandment:
| “And Jehovah God layeth a charge on the man, saying, `Of every tree of the garden eating thou dost eat; and of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou dost not eat of it, for in the day of thine eating of it — dying thou dost die.'” – Gen 2:16-17 | |
Adam and Eve spent their days with God and they were content:
| “And they are both of them naked, the man and his wife, and they are not ashamed of themselves.” – Gen 2:25 | |
It wasn’t until the decision had been made to rebel against God and sin entered the world that we began to experience how that relationship changed:
| “And the woman seeth that the tree [is] good for food, and that it [is] pleasant to the eyes, and the tree is desirable to make wise, and she taketh of its fruit and eateth, and giveth also to her husband with her, and he doth eat; and the eyes of them both are opened, and they know that they [are] naked, and they sew fig-leaves, and make to themselves girdles.” – Gen 3:6-7 | |
| “And they hear the sound of Jehovah God walking up and down in the garden at the breeze of the day, and the man and his wife hide themselves from the face of Jehovah God in the midst of the trees of the garden.” – Gen 3:8 | |
Obviously we cannot hide from God yet our own ignorance and pride will compel us to try just the same.
Since sin entered the world, man has been trying to either reach God on his own or rely on himself without God. This is worse than foolish. On our own, we have no hope of ever restoring that original relationship with God. In fact, Adam and Eve were banished from the garden completely. The bible states that we are forbidden from the tree of life until Christ returns. But I often wonder if there is more to it than that. Perhaps without sin, we were bathed in our own light in His presence? It’s just a thought, yet perhaps Adam and Eve didn’t realize they were naked. Instead – perhaps, they were bathed in the glow of righteousness? Without sin, we are capable of being in God’s presence without being consumed by His Holy Light. With sin, we are naked and bare in front of a Holy and Righteous God:
| “And the appearance of the honour of Jehovah [is] as a consuming fire on the top of the mount, before the eyes of the sons of Israel;” – Exodus 24:17 | |
And…
| “The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: “Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?” – Isaiah 33:14 | |
Then Isaiah goes on to say who CAN exist in His presence:
| “Those who walk righteously and speak what is right, who reject gain from extortion and keep their hands from accepting bribes, who stop their ears against plots of murder and shut their eyes against contemplating evil—” – Isaiah 33:15 | |
Hijo de Dios 