|
There are many themes which you can trace throughout the Bible. For example, all throughout the Scriptures, you can trace the themes of birth & rebirth, faithfulness & unfaithfulness, and redemption, just to name a few. Following these threads helps us to see the connections between the Old and New Testaments and to get a better idea of the bigger story that is being told throughout our Holy Bible. Another one of these themes which spans the entirety of Scripture is God's desire to dwell with His people. What a beautiful thought and reality! This week, we will follow this thread throughout the Bible and consider what we have to learn from it. There are so many instances to which we could point in order to trace this theme, but we will just focus on five of them.
Today, let's go to where it all begins: the garden of Eden! In the garden, Adam and Eve experienced remarkable intimacy with God. God created Adam and then created Eve specially for him. In the first few chapters of Genesis, we see God interact with Adam and later Eve. God created them, and He delighted in their creation (Genesis 1:31). He provided for them (Genesis 1:29). He spoke to them (Genesis 1:28, Genesis 2:16, etc). God also had seen the needs of Adam and crafted Eve to meet those needs (Genesis 2:20-22). They had a very close, intimate relationship.
After Adam and Eve sinned, the Bible says the following in Genesis 3:8-9:
"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?'"
We can infer that this was a regular occurrence, for God to walk in the garden with Adam and Eve. We would not expect that God would only be present with them after they had sinned but before also. Perhaps this was a daily occurrence, that "in the cool of the day" God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden. Can you imagine having this kind of daily interaction with the Lord? This intimacy and fellowship shows how God designed the interactions between Him and mankind to be. He didn't have to create man, but He did. Then He could have just abandoned them or kept them at a distance, but He didn't. God desired to dwell with the people He had created. He placed them in a garden and walked and talked with them.
What does this tell us about God?
Our God is a personal God. He desires closeness with us. He did not create us to abandon us and see how we would fair. He desires a relationship with us.
What does this tell us about ourselves as mankind?
We were designed to have intimate fellowship with the God of the universe. This is God's intention and His plan. When this was broken, through sin, Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, but this does not mean that mankind could no longer have any fellowship with the Lord. As we will see this week, the Lord continues to seek His people and dwell among them, despite their sin.
Consider this thought today: How does knowing that God created you with the desire to be in an intimate relationship with you make you feel? How does this lead you to worship Him?
|
Apple
Spotify
Stitcher
YouTube
