Measure Upon Measure – Separation – The Restoration Of God - Part 3 Series

MEASURE UPON MEASURE – SEPARATION – THE RESTORATION OF GOD - Part 3

CHAPTER 2 - THE SECOND CONSEQUENCE

In the previous two messages we studied the first consequence to come from the disobedience of Adam and Eve. That was GUILT and associated SHAME. In the Garden of Eden SERENITY was RUINED when the RESULTS OF SIN manifested themselves. The Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to address all those consequences of sin to restore the sinner into a more glorious position than our earthly fore parents ever had. That was the SAVIOUR’S ROAD.

We now progress to the second consequence of the fall resulting from the deliberate disobedience of man and it is found in {{Genesis 3:8: “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.”}}

FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD IN THE GARDEN

There was a time when a beautiful creation existed but the presence of man in it was yet unknown. Then one day God took of the elements of the dust and from them fashioned a sinless man, perfect in his manhood, completely responsive in his worship of the Creator, desirous of beautiful communion but at the same time, an agent of free will. It would not be inconceivable to believe that the Personal Presence of God was the first and immediate comprehension of Adam after he became a living soul. God’s presence stood beside him and God instructed him and communed with him.

It would not be unreasonable to believe that it was God’s constant custom to commune in a Personal appearance with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. How the two individuals must have anticipated that afternoon fellowship closing each day, to share openly in that very special communion. Even when God was not literally present, there was still the unbroken, unspotted fellowship with the Lord God. There was not one cloud, not one mist, not one suggestion of any break in the closeness of communion with their Creator-God, or between the man and the woman themselves.

That was a relationship truly unique in the whole of human history this side of the rapture. The perfection of fellowship and the completeness of communion was their enjoyment in the garden, with one another, and with their Lord.

I did say just earlier, “it was God’s CONSTANT custom to commune in a Personal appearance with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day.” It was constant but it was not on-going. Sin destroyed that communion. For how long did God come down to fellowship with the two individuals?

There is no biblical indication how long that sinless relationship lasted, but I do have an idea. {{Genesis 1:27-28 God created man in His own image. In the image of God He created him. Male and female He created them. God blessed them and God said to them, “BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY, AND FILL THE EARTH and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”}}

God commanded procreation and there was nothing to prevent it, but Cain was conceived in sin; he was not sinless as his parents had once been, so we assume that fellowship in the cool of the evening lasted for only a very short period.

One of the names for Satan is Beelzeboul (sometimes written as Beelzebub) meaning “Lord of the flies”. I suppose we could say, “Lord of contamination,” for that is Satan’s purpose. It is amazing sometimes when I am preparing food and it might sit for less than a minute on a kitchen bench, that out of nowhere comes this horrible blowfly, whose aim is to contaminate and destroy what has been made/prepared/created. That is exactly Satan’s mission, to destroy and he attends to it very quickly.

The Sower sowed the good seed and in next to no time the devil planted his tares. A work for God is commenced and not long into it there is trouble, either internally or externally. We are not ignorant of Satan’s devices. Another name for Satan is Apollyon, meaning destroyer. He sets out to destroy all that belongs to God. In their innocence, Adam and Eve were ignorant of Satan’s schemes.

THE SECOND CONSEQUENCE - SEPARATION

But sin entered, and numbered among the dreadful results was SEPARATION. The innocence of sweet communion was shattered. It is Serenity Ruined. They then had no desire to hurry into the presence of the Lord. That previous and precious relationship was now severed. From that point onwards, God and man have been separated by sin and indeed a mighty gulf exists. Man, armed with his conscience, determines his own way, and that way is ever downwards. He flees the presence of God. The light of God’s presence will expose his SEPARATION, so as creatures of the night, man avoids the revealing light of the presence of God.