In Genesis, it says this:

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.

To what were their eyes opened? To themselves. To their weakness. It was a very uncomfortable awakening. They had to take action. They made clothing out of leaves.

But this covering was not enough. When they heard the Lord, they ran and hid. Some say they were motivated by guilt. I don’t think so. Listen to Adam: “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He says nothing about feeling guilty. He says he was afraid because he was naked.

Why do they feel so vulnerable? Their new separation from God made their self-awareness nearly unbearable.

Contrast this to the revelation of Jesus to the open eye of faith. This is a view that looks outward. We see the same Lord as Adam having come to rescue us with more than a covering of animal skin.

We respond in faith not in fear. We run towards him not away from him. He offers us a robe of righteousness. He has purchased this robe with his own blood, not the blood of animals.

The result is an awareness of God not ourselves. We already know we are weak and alone. That is why the rescue of God is so wonderful. We see his strength. We see the man who did not fall to temptation. We see our true hero, our Saviour.

This is a much better eye-opening experience that Adam. And make no mistake. If you see Jesus as the Son of God, it has been revealed to you by his Father. Your faith in response connects you to God.

We have received the grace of God. We know God as Our Father. Adam walked the earth as disconnected from God. Yes, he walked in clothing given to him by the Lord but he did not experience the closeness he had before.

Why not? He gave the wrong answers to the questions of the Lord. He blamed another not himself. He might have received immediate forgiveness. We can’t know because he refused to accept blame.

We never hear from Adam again. We don’t know his reaction to the curse on the earth. We know he raised a family and found that the curse on the earth did not prevent him from farming but only made it difficult.

But we find the Lord offering us living water. He says, “Whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst again.” He offers himself as the Bread of Life. And Jesus said unto them, “I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger.”

Jesus speaks in simple words that we can understand. But they are spiritually understood. This bread is not gained by the sweat of the brow, but received as the gift of God to needy yet undeserving people like us.

He knows our needs more than we do and has come to satisfy our greatest need. He is the Tree of Life, the Water that destroys thirst, the Bread from heaven, the True Manna and more.

He says, Come and buy, without money and without price. He knows we could never afford the price and so gives it to us free instead, having paid the price himself.

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