Committing to Getting (The temptation and Fall of Adam) -Part 2

"Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?" Gen 3:9-11

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”" Matthew 4:1-3

"I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed..." Revelation 3:18

What happened to Adam and Eve? One imagines them before The Fall strolling unopposed in the garden of God's favor, radiant, fearless, and full of light. A time when, in the glorious freedom of the children of God, "they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." -Gen 2:25 These were the noble ones. The living images of God Himself, and yet here we see them broken, shameful, cowering beneath the shrubs. Something in this first sin unleashed a torrent of shame and hiding that would follow mankind from these accounts in Genesis all the way to the book of Revelation.

"Where are you Adam?"

These are not the words of an angry dictator but a tender healer. He comes to Adam, not offering solutions, lectures, or pressuring guilt. He comes with soft questions. Questions designed to gently probe and draw Adam, not to focus on excuses or solutions, but to take an inside look. He invites Adam to find and name the red dot on the map of his heart.

"I am terrified of being seen by You because in my unvealed nakedness I am shameful and loathsome to behold. So I have decided to hide." (Note that Adam's own attempt at covering his nakedness didn't cover his sense of shame nor protect him from the fear of exposure.)

At this point God does not chastise Adam, "Why would you hide from me after all I've done for you...you should know better..." Rather God responds with the loving wisdom of a parent who has just learned that an enemy has whispered into their child's ear the message; "You are ugly, shameful, and worthy of rejection."

The Father asks his child, "Who told you that you that you were naked?"

God knows that Adam's hiding, terror, and shame did not "just happen". Adam's present condition had a legitimate cause triggered by a definitive event. Adam is being led to consider his own story and discover where the message of shame came from. In a sense God is saying what we all say in the face of a tragic turn, "Tell me what happened."

Before we consider the Father's next question, "Have you eaten...", let us consider and fully search out the answers to these first two questions, "Where are you?", and "Who told you that you were naked?" Let us consider our own story. For as it is for Adam so it is for us. Nobody simply wakes one morning with a load of anxiety, shame, and a terror of being seen as they really are. We are not born into shadows. We are driven into them. And so we too must join with God in asking ourselves the question, "Who told you that you were naked?"

In other words, "Where did that message come from?" Have you, like Adam, ever been encouraged to understand the messages you've recieved, ever been encouraged to see how they have driven you into the shadows of fear and shame? Have you ever been encouraged to name your accuser? I began by asking the question, "What happened to Adam and Eve?" Now I ask, what happened to us?

Committing to Getting (The temptation and Fall of Adam)- Part 1

"Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?"
Gen 3:9-11

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”" Matthew 4:1-3

"I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed..." Revelation 3:18

Where are you? Do you know? Are you able to name the landscape of your heart as well as the geography of your surroundings?

This seems to be a very important question to God. There is something He wants us to learn, for certainly He who knows all needn't learn from us our whereabouts. Where are you? Are you feeling freedom, joy, and deep connectedness with others and God? Or are you feeling pressured, failed, lonely, fearful, accused, threatened, guilty, or trapped? Where has it led you? Are you able to name it? If not, why? Could it be that God is asking, "Where are you?"

For Adam the answer was clear. He heard the voice of God, undoubtedly calling to him, and Adam realizing that he was naked, was seized by a terror that drove him into the shadows of hiding. Something about being seen without any covering, being exposed as he really was before God, terrified Adam. In truth it wasn't the idea of being exposed before God alone that terrified Adam. For long before the Lord steps on the scene we read in verse 7, "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 coverings."

Adam's penchant for hiding what was true about himself began with his closest human relationship and seems simply to carry over to God, the only difference being Adam seems aware that God, being the All Seeing One, cannot be blinded by our pretense and shadow seeking. God sees us as we really are. To one committed to shadows the Lord must be a terror indeed. How transparent are we with those whom we value most? How does this carry over to our relationship with God?

Is it possible that the exposure we fear is actually the invitation of God calling to us from the cool of a garden which we, like our eldest ancestors, have lost?

Before we turn to solutions, before we look for escape, let us first ponder the implications of this first question God asks, "Where are you?". Resist the temptation to justify, defend, or blame. Let us simply join God in asking the question and agree to stay here until we get an answer. Until we have our answer we can go no further and receive no more.

Rags to Riches

"Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." - Rev 3:17-20


We always associate the image of Jesus knocking on the door of the sinners heart as an invitation for unbelievers and yet forget the imagery was intended to represent Jesus as knocking on the hearts of believers to wake them up to the fact that they could no longer feel their true brokenness because of their spiritual pride. Here is Jesus asking permission from us to enter our woundedness and helplessness. We are so reluctant to admit that we hurt and can’t fix ourselves and yet that is what qualifies our need for a Saviour.

It is interesting to note that what kept them removed form the true reality of their spiritual poverty was their trust in, and focus on, that which they perceived as their "riches". It was their focus on what they thought were their strengths, their dependence on what their hands had accomplished for them, that served to distract them from their inherit and inescapable neediness. It was prosperity that anesthetized their perception of need.

Also very revealing is the fact that Jesus lets them know that in the absence of their self-dependent facade He would provide real riches and clothing so that, "that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed". This is evidence that what we trust in, what we consider riches, actually serves to protect us from being exposed as naked and shameful. We cling to "riches" because we fear shame. Yet we fear shame because we believe our acceptability depends on our own merit and ability.

"Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong." - 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

"Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. " Phillipans 3:7-9

Groaning

"I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies."
-Romans 8:18-23

All creation groans in expectation of the revelation of the glory of man. That includes us. Our longings for others and for ourselves is a longing for the revelation of the glory of God in man. When we grieve the absence of some quality of being within another or ourselves we are in fact grieving the absence of that glory. When confronted with some great natural wonder or beauty in nature we feel awe and wonder to be sure but if beneath it all we feel a subtle sorrow a subtle ache for that which we know not we are longing for His glory. When high accomplishments and long realized goals fill us with exuberance and joy within, when the great joy of receiving what we really wanted still holds a barely perceptible ache of dissatisfaction a nameless disappointment we are in fact longing for the glory of God.

We were created to long for it.  To look for it. To expect it. Our disappointment reveals our deepest longing, as well as our truest design. Ours is a holy discontent.

It is our disappointments rather than our joys that point to His glory..for all disappointment is at root disappointed desire. This is the core desire for God. We see Him less in wealth than in poverty, less in strength than weakness, less in satisfaction than dissatisfaction, less in wholeness than brokenness. He is near the brokenhearted. He is near the outcast. He is near the orphan. He is near the widow. He is near the outcast. He is revealed to the poor in spirit. He is near the sorrowful. He is near the broken and contrite heart. 

He calls through our quintessential disappointments. When from a sea of disappointment, from a world where even the very best it can offers is not enough, one hears the call, the sure invitation of that which they most long for, a calling towards that which beneath all desires is most desired..the effect is one of joy. There is a and sweet sorrowful joy more satisfying than any pleasure and more enduring than any pain. It is the call of the Beloved and our hearts leap. It is the call of our Beloved heard not in tones of earthy satisfaction and satiation but in the enduring, persistent, dissatisfaction with the very best life has to offer. 

As Lewis put it. "When I find in myself a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy it must be that I was created for another world entirely." 

It was also the sweet revelation of the psalmist who with a deep abiding dissatisfaction with all else this world could offer discovered a singular longing for the One who alone can satisfy. You can hear his desperate joy filled longing in these words.. 

Psalm 73:21-28 NIV

When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, [22] I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. [23] Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. [24] You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. [25] Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. [26] My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. [27] Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. [28] But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.

We see Him not in our satisfaction, but dissatisfactions. Not in our fullness but our poverty. Not in our pleasures but our disappointments. It is the call of the redeemed. It is the call of the Beloved. And our hearts rejoice at the sound of His voice. 

Self-justification

If our focus is on self-justification we will never have the freedom to face all that we are. We will want to exaggerate our holinesses and minimize our depravity. This is because of the fallen ideal that our acceptability depends upon our ability to perform well. We loath and fear our imperfections and sin because they threaten our sense of value before others and ourselves. This is why self-justification is always a movement away from love. Self-justification always depends on the performance of the self, while love always depends on the free choice of our lover.

To be committed to a path of self-justification; earning our own worth and defending our own honor, is to be bound up in the old covenant of rule-keeping rather than embracing the new covenant of mercy.

"'For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more."

In speaking of “a new covenant,” he has made the first one obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old will soon disappear." -Hebrews 8:12-13

To be held

Sometimes our desire to hold on competes with our desire to be held. We strive to fix what can't be fixed, understand what can't be understood, or change what can't be changed in a desperate rush to control that which can't be controlled.

All our white knuckled grasping betrays a central reality we both crave and fear most of all. The reality is that we long to simply let go. We are so tired. So often confused and failed. We long to rest...and yet we are terrified of letting go. We fear if we let go all will crumble and fade. We long to let go but fear that life truly does depend on us. We fear that if we let go we will find that we are all alone, that we have been abandoned and forsaken. We are like inept children condemned to care for ourselves in the absence of a loving parent. Our striving and clinging betrays a fundamental fear.

However the truth is that what we crave most is not the control that would allow us to order our lives completely rather we long for the assurance that even if we can't (and we never can) perfectly order our lives there is someone else who is strong, wise, and loving who is in control. Someone who is so committed to us that we never need fear being abandoned ever again. We long for a love and strength that is greater that our fear and weakness.

"The Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says, “Only in returning to me and waiting for me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. You said, ‘No, we will get our help from Egypt. They will give us swift horses for riding into battle.’ But the only swiftness you are going to see is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you! One of them will chase a thousand of you. Five of them will make all of you flee. You will be left like a lonely flagpole on a distant mountaintop.

But the LORD still waits for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for him to help them." -Isaiah 30:15-18

"Turn back to him whom you have deeply betrayed, O people of Israel. For on that day all of you shall throw away your idols of silver and idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you." Isaiah 31:6-7

"I know, O LORD, that the way of human beings is not in their control,
that mortals as they walk cannot direct their steps." - Jeremiah 10:23

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. "
-Matthew 11:28

Recieving or Grabbing

We are at any moment either demanding what we see as justice or pleading for mercy. We are asking for a gift, or striving to get our "just desserts". The problem is that what is most important in life can never be earned or obligated. We all are in need of mercy more than power whether realize it or not.

"What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses,

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,

and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”


"So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy."
- Romans 9:15-16

The Image of God

If man, the image bearer, was created to glorify God (that is accurately reflect Him), then it must be noted that every human we have ever encountered in a very real sense represented to us the face of God.

In this sense if ever we experienced wounding and sin from our fellow man it was in fact the image of God that was marred. Those to whom it was granted to display the glory of God mislead us as to the nature of the One whose image they bore.

When one person sins against another, through omission or commission, they are showing God to be corrupt. The wounds inflicted by sin teach us that what we desired most from others; love...the surest reflection of God, is foolish, dangerous, false, unobtainable, and shameful.

If anyone has harmed us it is our longing for God, our hope for a taste of His Spirit, that has been most assaulted. We come to distrust our longing for Him and flee from the vulnerability that is required to both seek out and receive such tenderness and mercy. We learn to hate our neediness and the desire that points to Him.

To reconcile our hearts to those who have wounded us, to embrace forgiveness, is not simply to reconcile with those who have sinned against us, but it is also to reconcile our wounded hearts to God. It is to resurrect those long hidden desires that always pointed toward Him, and in so doing resurrect the fallen image of God in our lives. It is to give back to God our deepest most vulnerable desires and afford Him all the hope, trust, and love He so richly deserves.

"How long, O you sons of men, Will you turn my glory to shame?" Psalms 4:2

"When they set their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost, with a wall between them and Me, they defiled My holy name by the abominations which they committed..." - Ezek 43:8

"All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." - John 10:8-10

Self Imposed Barriers

"But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’" - Matt 9:13

"So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy." - Rom 9:16

"And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry." -Luke 15:21-24

“Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’ “But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’ “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.'" -Luke 15:28-31

"What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written:
“Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,
And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”" Romans 9:30-33

It is better to be loved than to be worthy. Yet when we desire justification more than mercy we allow our desire to be held in honor outweigh our desire, our deeper desire, to simply be held.

It is never our sin or failure that keeps us from receiving love, rather it is our grasping for righteousness and justification. We insist on obligating others and attempting to earn what can only be given freely as a gift. In so doing we render ourselves incapable of receiving love.

"Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due." Romans 4:4

Loving the Unlovely

Self-esteem, however highly touted, means nothing if one is entirely alone. What good is self-love among the truly unloved? The popular saying "I am enough!" is utter rubbish. Just ask anyone who has no-one. We were not created to be alone; value and meaning is derived from the context of meaningful relationship.

True self-love, or self-esteem, rather than a result of psychological discipline and positive thinking, is a product of actually being loved and esteemed. The power of self-love is not rooted in the self at all. The power of true self-esteem is external and objective. I can love and accept those less lovely aspects of myself only because those aspects of myself are, in actuality, loved and accepted. Because I am loved I am therefore lovable...irrespective of my opinion.

"Love comes from God...

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect...

We love Him because He first loved us." - 1 John 4:7, 16, 19

Our ability to love ourselves as we are is found in our willingness to allow ourselves to be loved as we are. Love comes from God.