The Fall: It's Immediate and Continued Effects
The Fall: It’s Immediate and Continued Effects“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in 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.“ Genesis 3:8
What a wonderful sound! And yet they were terrified because sin separates. Here we see the pursuing love of God - He would not leave them in their misery and nakedness, he would speak to them. But when man is running away from God the voice of tenderness takes on tones of awe. “He uttered his voice, the earth melted” (Psalm 46:6). That is the way the voice of the Lord must have come to their fleeing hearts, in spite of the fact that all the tones of tenderness and mercy were there. And, worst of all, they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord. This is the worst of all sins. A sin against one’s own heart and life is bad, very bad. A sin that involves the soul of another is worse, much worse. But a sin that is an affront against the majesty and holiness of God is worst of all. That is why David, after he had committed such a series of sins—adultery, murder—and had betrayed his kingship by failing to lead the people and by sending his subjects to their death in battle—cried out, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned” (Psalm 51:4). It was, of course, futile to attempt to hide from God, but sin will try any folly. “If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there!” (Psalm 139:8).
How far sin had carried man in the fall may be seen by this. The sinner who once loved to meet the Father in the cool of the day is afraid and hides himself when sin comes in to separate them. Nothing in this world separates like sin, and the separation is all on man’s part. If man sins and runs away he wraps clouds around himself, but they will not keep God from seeing him, but will keep him from seeing God.
Dr. Barnhouse reminds us that the immediate effects of that first sin still continue today. It is sin that leads to foolish solutions to either hide it or seek consolation from a guilty conscience, but it is the gospel of grace alone that provides the covering of righteousness and restoration to full fellowship with the Lord God. Seek this restoration through repentance and confession (I John1:9). Share this message of the gospel those who deal with their sins with “fig leaves” and “hiding among the trees” from the voice of the Lord.
Further reading: Genesis 3:8-13
