Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 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. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” | Genesis 3:7-10
Do you remember what God said to Adam and Eve about the tree in the garden? Do you remember what He said would happen if they ate of it? He said, “The day you eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall surely die.” Did Adam and Eve die on that day? Their bodies did not die that day. In that way Adam and Eve lived many years more. But they died in another way. They were separated from God.
To be happy, we must live with God. It is terrible to live without God, to be separated from God. And that is what happened to Adam and Eve. God used to come to the garden. He would walk with Adam and Eve, and talk with them.
Right after they ate the fruit that God had told them not to eat, Adam and Eve were afraid of God. And they were ashamed. They ran away. They tried to hide. They tried to hide away from God; but nobody can do that! After a while God came to the garden. He called, “Adam, where are you?”
Adam knew he could not hide from God. God sees everything. Adam came out of his hiding place. He told God he was afraid. God said, “What did you do?” Then Adam had to tell God what they had done. He was so ashamed and so afraid!
God is very holy. There is no sin in God. Sin makes us unholy. And it keeps us away from God. If we are unholy, we cannot live close to God.
Adam and Eve knew they had sinned. They had disobeyed God. That is why they were afraid. They knew God is holy. They knew they had to be punished for their sin.
God told Adam and Eve that now pain and sickness would come. He told them that after a while their bodies would die. He sent them out of the beautiful garden. They were not fit to live there any more. The garden was too wonderful for sinful people. He told them that now they would have to work hard to keep alive. And He did not come again to walk and talk with them, as He used to.
Many unpleasant things began on the day Adam and Eve sinned. The worst was this: they were separated from God, and afraid of Him.
Ever since that day, people have been afraid of God. We cannot help being afraid when we remember that God is very holy, and we are very sinful. But on that same day God promised Adam and Eve that someday everything would be wonderful again. He promised a Savior, who would take sin away and bring us back to God, so that we need not be afraid any more.
Something to talk about:
- Why were Adam and Eve afraid of God?
- What did they try to do?
- Can you tell in what way they died that day?
- Can you name some other unpleasant things that happened?
Memory Verse
But your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear. | Isaiah 59:2