Bible Studies

---

ADAM, WHERE ARE YOU

"When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, 'Where are you'" (Genesis 3:6-9 NASB)? Some have wondered why God, if He were truly omniscient, that is, all knowing, would ask Adam where he was. Did He not know? Of course He did. God did not ask the question to gain information for Himself, but to raise Adam's level of consciousness. God was asking if Adam knew where he was? The world must have looked much different to him after he had eaten of the forbidden fruit. What was once full of beauty and innocence and light now contained ugliness and sin and darkness. Having his eyes opened to know good and evil did not bring freedom. Instead Adam found himself to be lost, trapped in a world he did not recognize. No wonder the Lord asked him, "Where are you?"

It is a terrifying thing to be lost, surrounded by strangers, not knowing your way home. You do not know whom to trust, whom to turn to for help. It is even worse if you are lost because you ran away from home after having disobeyed your parents. As much as you may want to return home, the thought of facing them can be frightening. Will they still love you? Will they want you back? Will they discipline you and if so, how? It was this fear that Adam and Eve experienced when God came walking in the Garden after they had sinned; it was this fear that caused them to hide from the Lord.

When a child has done something wrong the last place he wants to be is in the presence of his parents, even though he knows his parents love him. Why? Because he is guilty and has no way to become "unguilty". Yet, his guilt (and fear) is lessened when he does not have his parents right next to him as a tangible reminder of his guilt and the possibility of imminent punishment. It is easier to rationalize his behavior when he is not confronted with the one(s) offended. However, even if he has succeeded in anesthetizing his conscience to the truth of his guilt, the presence of his parents either awakens it to the fact he is guilty or intensifies the guilt already felt. He drops his head in shame, his heart begins to race, his blood rushes to his head turning his face and ears red, he begins to breathe rapidly - all because the one(s) offended is standing before him - and he is guilty. Any argument he may have conceived while alone with himself to justify his behavior evaporates before gaze of a hurt parent.

Adam and Eve made coverings of fig leaves to hide their nakedness and this allowed them to be in each other's presence without shame. Their bodies were covered, which became of primary importance to them in their fallen, sinful state. Their bodies had become their focal point. However, the moment the Lord entered the Garden, the fig leaves no longer proved adequate to hide their shame, for the Lord was looking more at their hearts than their bodies.

The fig leaves represent good works - man's attempt to save himself. Good works allow us to stand in the presence of our fellow man without shame. Similarly, just as the fig leaves allowed Adam and Eve to stand next to each other without shame, if we cover our sinful nature with good morals, kindness, and generosity, we, (and others) tend to forget that we are sinners. In essence we have forgotten where we are. We have forgotten that while our outward actions (fig leaves) may be acceptable to ourselves and to one another because of the very limited sight natural man possesses, we are still not acceptable to God. Why? Because that which is inward, our souls and spirits, remain naked before a holy God. Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery'; but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matthew 5:27-28 NASB). The mere fact that one has not committed the physical act of adultery (fig leaves) may make him acceptable to his fellow man. Yet, just because one has not physically committed adultery in no way makes him acceptable to God or blameless in His eyes. The sin of adultery need not have been physically committed for one to be guilty of it. The sinful nature that resides within our souls and causes us to lust after another is still within us and no amount of good works can clothe it. We are still naked to the eye of the Lord. It is highly significant that God found it necessary to shed the blood of an animal to clothe Adam and Eve with its skin before they could abide His presence. "And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21 NASB). Only the shedding of blood can cover the nakedness of our souls and spirits.

The church at Laodicea had forgotten where they were. They had forgotten that they were lost. They had made "fig leaves" for themselves and felt comfortable, but that was because Jesus was outside looking in. He was outside knocking on the door waiting to be asked inside. But just as Adam and Eve hid themselves from God in the Garden, the Laodiceans would not open the door and expose themselves to His presence. Jesus said to them, "Because you say, 'I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,' and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see" (Revelation 3:17-18 NASB). They needed eye salve so they could see where they were, so they could see they were in sin, so they could see they were naked. Like Adam and Eve they needed to be clothed with what only God could provide. "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts" (Romans 13:14 NASB). The clothing that makes us acceptable to the Lord, that allows us to stand before the Father without shame is the Lord Jesus Christ. "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1 NASB) The sacrifice of the animal to clothe Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, thus covering symbolically their spiritual nakedness so they could abide the presence of God, finds its fulfillment in the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross. When we clothe ourselves with Jesus we can come boldly before the Father without guilt or shame as beloved children (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Jesus once told a parable about a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, but the guests who had been invited made a variety of excuses for not attending. Some of the invited guests even abused and mistreated the servants sent to invite them to the feast. This infuriated the king so he told his servants, "'Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.' And those slaves went out into the streets, and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw there a man not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?' And he was speechless" (Matthew 22:9-12 NASB). The parable was an indictment against the Jews. Though the Lord had chosen Israel to receive His oracles and the Law so that they may become a light to the nations they abused their calling. They killed God's servants who prophesied of the coming Messiah and followed false prophets instead. They turned from the true God to idols. Thus God, through the Church, called the Gentiles, both evil and good to share in the knowledge and saving life of His Son, Jesus. Notice being evil did not disqualify someone from partaking of the wedding feast. This is good because as good as we may be "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23 NASB). Rather, it was the lack of proper clothing that brought about the expulsion of the one guest.

An interesting point to be brought out here is that it was the king who noticed the guest was not properly dressed; it was he that confronted the guest and had him thrown out. Why did the other guests, particularly those closest to the offending guest, not tell him he needed to change his clothes? I believe it goes back to "fig leaves". Remember, we may look good on the outside, doing good deeds and such so that even those closest to us may not be aware of the filthy rags that cloth our spirit. (Judas Iscariot clothed himself so well with good works that not even the Apostles recognized the true spirit that lived within. Only Jesus did. This is shown by the fact that Jesus had to point out to the Apostles at the Last Supper who it was that would betray Him [Matthew 26:21-23; Mark 14:18-20; Luke 22:22-23; John 13:21-30].) We may be thought of as an outstanding human being or even an outstanding Christian. We may be convinced that we are acceptable to God since other people accept us so willingly, even to the point of wanting to be seen with us. Yet, as God entered the Garden of Eden, and Adam and Eve hid themselves least their naked souls and spirits be exposed, this guest, without the option of hiding, was exposed for who he was by the King. So penetrating were the King's words that the guest made no excuse for his condition. "For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away" (Isaiah 64:6 NASB). So corrupt is the human heart that even righteous deeds (good works) are unacceptable to the Lord. The result of depending upon our own righteousness is expulsion from the presence of God.

We live in an age that embraces tolerance of any and all lifestyles, even if those lifestyles are condemned as sinful in the Bible. Yet, not even tolerance of such lifestyles is now sufficient for those who practice them. They want acceptance. They do not want to be told they are lost - that they do not know where they are or where they are heading. They deny they are lost and rant and rave against anyone who tells them they have been, like Adam and Eve, expelled from the presence of God. The fact that they can live in their sin and accept it as a normal, legitimate lifestyle proves that they do not know where they are. They may go to church, serve as deacons, teach Sunday School, even become ordained as ministers and pastors thinking that they are thus close to God, that they live within His presence, that He accepts them where they are. They have deceived themselves. Just as the Pharisees were offended by Jesus' words when He told them they were hypocrites and that their worship of God was useless, these false Christians and other religious people are offended when they are told God does not abide in their presence, nor they in His, that He does not accept their lifestyles, that they must repent of their sins, turn from their evil, and return to Him. It comes to a point when we must say to them as Jesus did to the Pharisees, "Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit" (Matthew 15:14 NASB). They are blind; blind to the truth and blind to where they are. Thinking they are in the presence of God, they are surrounded by demons, sharing the same pit of destruction. They refuse to recognize their spiritual nakedness, relying upon "fig leaves" instead of the shed blood of Jesus to cover them. Thus the Lord has removed them from His presence while they pretend they still walk in the "Garden of Eden" partaking of the Tree of Life. Yet the way to the Tree of Life has been cut off from them. "So He drove the man out; and at the east of the Garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24 NASB). Only those who can get past the flaming sword can partake of the Tree of Life and only those who are properly clothed are able to do so.

In Genesis man is expelled from the Garden of Eden and thus access to the Tree of Life is denied, but in the book of Revelation we are told how we once again may eat of this Tree. "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city" (Revelation 22:14 NASB). These are not literal robes. Just as God sacrificed an animal in Genesis, shedding blood, in order to provide a covering for Adam and Eve that would allow them to worship Him in an acceptable manner, Jesus sacrificed Himself upon the cross, shedding His blood, that we might have our sins forgiven and partake of eternal life. "And one of the elders answered, saying to me, 'These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from where have they come?' And I said to him, 'My lord, you know.' And he said to me, 'These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb'" (Revelation 7:13-14 NASB). Where were they? They had been in the great tribulation. They had gone through the trials and persecutions that the Lord placed in their path so that they might die to self and be resurrected into newness of life. What we clothe ourselves with, what we place our faith in will one day be scrutinized in the presence of the Lord and "each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire" (1 Corinthians 3:13-15 NASB). Only that which can withstand the fire can withstand the presence of the Lord, "for our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29 NASB).

Those who are unsaved may say they want to go to Heaven when they die, but they do not understand what that would be like. A person who feels comfortable in a bar getting drunk would not feel comfortable among a group of people who think getting drunk is a sin. A person who feels comfortable swearing and blaspheming the Lord would not feel comfortable around a group of people who think such behavior is a sin. A person who feels comfortable watching TV shows or movies that contain violence, nudity, or sexual innuendo (which is the norm today) would not feel comfortable around a group of people who believe watching such things is a sin. A person who believes abortion is acceptable would not feel comfortable around a group of people who know that abortion is the murder of an unborn human being. The point is people who find nothing wrong with getting drunk, swearing, blaspheming the Lord, indulging in polluting their minds with violence and sexual impurity, abortion, or any other sin you can name, would feel very uncomfortable in Heaven. In fact, they would not be able to live there. The consuming fire that the Lord is would turn their heaven into hell.

Once, after a long night of fishing and catching nothing, Peter put into shore to start to clean his equipment. Jesus, however, had other plans. He asked Peter to get back into his boat and try again. Peter was less than enthusiastic about this. He was tired and knew that Jesus was a carpenter by trade, not a fisherman as he was. Nevertheless, because it was Jesus who asked, he reluctantly agreed to put out again. "And when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish; and their nets began to break; and they signaled to their partners in the other boat, for them to come and help them. And they came, and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw that he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord'" (Luke 5:6-8 NASB)! Peter realized at that point where he was! He was in the presence of the Lord, God in the form of a man. This knowledge caused Peter, though his body was clothed, to see the nakedness of his soul and spirit. He felt shame at that moment and could not abide the presence of Jesus. And just as Adam and Eve attempted to hide from God because they too recognized that they were actually naked even though they wore fig leaves, Peter wanted to hide from Jesus.

When Jesus asked Peter to let down his nets one more time, He was in essence asking Peter, "Where are you? Do you know you are in the presence of God?" The Lord opened Peter's eyes so that he could see where he was. And that knowledge elicited a correct response from him. He knew he was a sinner and stood naked before a holy God with no way to clothe himself. He was ashamed and rightfully so. "And Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men'" (Luke 5:10 NASB). Jesus clothed him with His words at that moment. Later He would clothe him, and us, with His blood.

Of all the parables told by Jesus, perhaps the best known is "The Prodigal Son". It is the story of a young man who grew tired of living with his father and the values he required. In other words he did not like where it was. He longed for adventure and to live a life of wanton pleasure. He went to his father one day and demanded his share of the inheritance immediately. He did not want to wait until his father died. The son valued only the material wealth the father provided, not the relationship the father desired. Though it hurt the father he was wise enough to know that if he refused the son's request the relationship that was of true worth would never come about. This is a picture of Adam and thus, man, (the name "Adam" means man) falling into sin, demanding of God the right to live as he pleases and demanding of the God the resources to do so. It was arrogance of the highest degree. We forget that all of creation, including us belongs to the Lord. Yet, the Father is wise enough to know that forcing us to live by His rules will never establish the relationship He desires (and the relationship we must have in order to have eternal life). There is no glory in forced submission; that is slavery. The father had been good to the son, but goodness alone could not accomplish what the father knew the son needed to learn. The son had to learn the hard way, just as man does. "'Your own wickedness will correct you, and your apostasies will reprove you; know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the LORD your God, and the dread of Me is not in you,' declares the LORD God of hosts" (Jeremiah 2:19 NASB). As strange as it may seem the fall of man was orchestrated by the Lord for our good. Evil, too, serves the purposes of God (Proverbs 16:4).

After the Prodigal Son left home the father never forgot him. In fact, he longed for the day his son would return. Though he did not know where his son was, the heavenly Father knew. The Lord brought a famine upon the land where the son was so he would begin to question where he was. "But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger'" (Luke 15:17 NASB)! The heavenly Father arranged the circumstances in such a way that the son had no choice but to recognize that if he stayed where he was, he would die.

The son knew his place was with his father. That is where he needed to be in order to live. Yet he was fearful least his father would reject him, so he humbled himself, asking to be a servant only, realizing he no longer deserved to be a son. But what did the father do when he saw his son walking down the road (having been obviously looking for him), heading toward home? "But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet'" (Luke 15:22 NASB). Notice, he clothed him! The relationship he knew the son needed had been established.

So it is with each us. The Lord calls out to us, "Adam, where are you?" and in our sinful, naked state we attempt to hide from Him. And as we are trying to run from Him out of fear and shame He leans close to our ear and whispers, "I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud, and your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you" (Isaiah 44:22 NASB). He has provided the proper wedding garments. All we need to say is, "I do."


Copyright Terry L. Brown (2004)
Email [email protected]
www.whispersofthespirit.com



1

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE