God wants to meet with you. He has done much to bring us to the place that we may know and fellowship with Him. Of all of God’s creation, man was chosen to have fellowship with God. God established the method and place of meeting where He would come down in all of His glory, mercy, grace and power from His lofty throne to meet with man. God has never abandoned His plans to draw us aside into His holy presence. During our studies on the tabernacle, we will discover how God has made it possible to show you His glory, mercy, grace and power. He wants to have fellowship with you.
Genesis 2:7-8 HCSB Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He placed the man He had formed.
God gave special, careful, and personal attention and love to the creation of man. He stooped down and formed man out of the dust and then God breathed the breath of life into him. Then God prepared a special place for Adam and provided an open contact for Adam with God.
In Eden, God created a place and time of fellowship with Adam and Eve.
These are the rudimentary and initial contacts that man had with the almighty God. There was a place and time to meet with God. Man could not go up to heaven to be with God, but God would come down to man. In the cool of the day, Adam and his wife would hear the voice of God walking in the garden. God came down to fellowship with them. This was the usual and customary occurrence. God came down to the Garden of Eden to meet with the man whom He loved.
In Genesis Chapter 3, everything changed.
Genesis 3:7-8 HCSB Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God.
Often our focus is on the sin of Adam and Eve. The story is interesting. Within the message of the fall is the message of broken fellowship and the closing of the meeting place.
The Garden of Eden had been the place of meeting.
This was where God would meet with them. God set the time and place to meet with them. God established this place where His glory could be known. Within the Garden of Eden, they enjoyed peace and safety. Every need they had was supplied. It was a dwelling place where God’s covering was fully known.
This is the concept behind every meeting place where God’s glory is made known.
It is a place and time to meet with God. It is a place to come aside with God. God comes down and meets with us. It was a sanctuary, shelter, or covering where the presence and glory of God was revealed. This was what God initiated at the burning bush, in the tabernacle, and in the cleft of the rock.
When man sinned, he was separated from God.
Under the condemnation of sin, he hid from the presence of God.
Sin brought a breach between God and man.
In the cool of the day, when God came down, they heard the voice of God walking in the garden. God said: “Adam where are you?”
Adam was separated from God. Humanity was estranged from God. The separation was not God’s plan. By sin, humanity lost fellowship with the living God.
Ezekiel spoke the word from God and said: “I looked for one who would stand in the hedge and make up the gap.” God was saying: “I looked for some way that we can meet together again.” God looked for a way to bridge the breach for those He loved.
Job cried out: “Oh, that there was a mediator that could stand between us, someone who could bring us together.” (Job 9:33) The NIV says it this way: “If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both.”
Sin brought the breakdown in fellowship with God. Man was separated and removed from the place of meeting with God. The wages of sin is death and death is separation from God.
Ephesians 2:1 AMP “you were dead by [your] trespasses and sins…”
Adam had been warned that disobedience would bring death, (Genesis 2:17; 3:3-4).
When Adam sinned, he died. He was separated from God and was dead in his sin. He lost that intimate contact and fellowship with God.
Death is not a cessation of life.
Life continues on. The sinner lives on in eternal separation from God. Life continues, whether you are saved are not. Eternal life is more than longevity. You don’t have to be saved to have longevity of existence. You will continue to exist whether you are saved or not.
Jesus said the rich man died and lifted up his eyes in hell.
- He continued to talk in hell.
- He remembered in hell.
- He continued to feel.
- He continued to have need in hell.
- He was tormented in hell.
- He prayed in hell.
You are going to live on somewhere.
This was not an issue of longevity. Physical death is when the spirit separates from the body. The moment the spirit leaves, we die. We still exist.
Spiritual death is separation from God.
We can be spiritually dead, although we are physically alive.
When Adam disobeyed God, he was hidden from the presence of God.
God reached out to Adam and he was not where he had always been. Adam was moved out of his place. Sin dislocated him. His status with God was changed.
God looked for Adam to be in the place he had been, but sin had brought a breach.
God wanted to love him, but sin had drawn him away. God wanted close fellowship, but sin had brought a breach. God wanted to walk and talk with him, but Adam was hidden.
“Adam where are you?”
Can you hear the love of God in this? God was reaching out for Adam and Eve. He wanted to meet with them. God wanted to continue showing His love and giving His covering.
“Adam where are you?”
After Adam, man did not have to commit sin to be separated from God. We inherited the sinful nature. Sin is a generational curse that passes from one generation to another. Sin has fallen down on every one of us. Our human condition is separate from God.
You have noticed that we do not have to teach children to sin. Your sweet little baby will lie without one lesson on how to do it. They will do something wrong and tell you they didn’t do it.
Psalm 51:5 NRSV Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.
Psalm 51:5 NIV Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Everyone who came after Adam was born in sin. Every man and woman was born in sin.
Acts 17:26 He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth.
When Adam sinned, it affected all of us.
Romans 5:19By one man’s disobedience all were made sinners.
By Adam, we all fell into a state called human depravity.
We fell into evil. We are born doomed. Evil is already in us and on us. We all have the potential to do all manner of things. In the right situation, all manner of evil will manifest.
Romans 7:18 GNT I know that good does not live in me—that is, in my human nature. For even though the desire to do good is in me, I am not able to do it.
Romans 7:18 NLB I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can’t make myself do right. I want to, but I can’t.
God never addresses something that does not need to be discussed.
Have you paid attention to the Law of God?
When God gave the law, He addressed murder, gossip, lying, jealousy, adultery, fornication, and bestiality.
Why would God address these things?
The potential for every horrible thing is in our flesh. God knows the potential for evil that is in us. God knows what will happen to people who are out of fellowship with Him. God had to talk about homosexuality. He had to address fornication, lying, and jealousy because He knows that evil is in us.
God knows what is inside.
God saw the many things dwelling down inside that are waiting for an opportunity to manifest. There are some things in you that will surprise you. It is easier to address what is happening in somebody else. You have heard the statement: “But for the grace of God, there go I.”
Sin separated humanity from God. Sin dislocated us. Sin took us away from innocence. Sin took us away from a holy God. Sin took us away from God’s covering and supply.
Listen to God: “Adam, where are you?”
Adam, I am looking for you where we have always met.
You have been hidden from me. Your sin has taken you! I want to be with you, but sin is between us.
What is eternal life?
When I was saved, God gave me eternal life. I do not have to wait until I stand before God. I have eternal life right now. Eternal life does not mean eternal existence. I already had that.
Eternal life means that I am back with God.
We have been redeemed, restored, and reconciled. Salvation is the love story of being brought back into fellowship with God.
Through the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, we have been brought back to God.
He redeemed me. He restored my soul. He reconciled me to God. He gave me life.
