Read Genesis 3:6-11 In the Garden of Eden, we read about the story of Adam and Eve making the worse decision in human history which we call The Fall. (We can't be too hard on them because all of us have continued down this path and would likely have made the same bad choice!) Nevertheless, God had warned earth's first couple that if they ate of the forbidden fruit they would 'surely die'. And yet, the serpent tricked Eve into eating anyway. And Eve influenced Adam to do the same.
At first, nothing perhaps seem to happen. What God had said must not have been true. They were still standing. They were still alive. And maybe with a sigh of relief, they whispered to each other, "Whew! We didn't die!"
Or did they?
It is true that they didn't fall dead physically at that moment. Yes, there were still standing but inside they were falling. The spirit died instantly which set the course for them to begin a journey of death. When their spirit died, one of the first things that happened was that their eyes were 'opened'. The Bible says, "their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked." For the first time, they were aware of what life was like without God's presence, without God's glory, without His covering. Yes, sin and the serpent had stripped them of God's clothes. Sure, they are always naked before but they were covered in glory.
As a result, they made clothes for themselves. Clothes made attempting to hide this new shamefulness. Today, we do the same thing. We create temporary coverings attempting to hide our shame. We "put on" fake smiles. We try to numb the pain inside by drugs or alcohol. We live behind a curtain of fear hoping no one sees the 'real' us.
But God's first act of grace was to create earthly clothes for humanity to put on until the time faith would come. When Christ came, he gave us the opportunity to be clothed in glory again. And now, the Bible says, "Put on the new person fashioned in the image of Christ!" (Romans 13:14)
Put on His peace, joy, grace, mercy, hope, and victory. Don't just 'fall' there - put your clothes on!
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