Now, here’s what’s interesting about that statement. When God says this, He is making this statement before the fall of man. That doesn’t happen for another chapter. So what that means is at this point, there is still no sin, no disobedience, nothing to hinder the relationship between God and man. Adam was living in a state of perfect intimacy with God. Every day they would walk together in the cool of the day. Adam is perfectly known and loved by an omniscient Creator and yet the word that God uses to describe Adam is ‘alone’.
I wonder how many of us would use that same word to describe our own existences. Most of us live lives in which we’re almost continually surrounded by other people. We drive on crowded freeways and wait in long lines at Starbucks before we get to our jobs where we work around dozens of people and yet many of us, if we were being truly honest with ourselves would admit that there are times when we just feel alone in the deepest recesses of our soul. It was Thoreau who said, ‘Most men lead lives of quiet desperation, and they go to the grave with the song still in them.’ Is that not the case?
And so the Bible says that we were never meant to do life on our own. Not only were we created to live in fellowship with God. We have also been created to do life with one another. And the reason for that is because we have been created in God’s image and after His likeness and God Himself dwells within community. Yeah… God is a community within Himself made up of Father Son and Spirit. And His desire is that we would become participants in that community.
But walking in deep meaningful relationships with other believers is something that is easier said than done. And the reason I think so many of us fail to walk in authentic community with other believers is that it requires us to be honest and open with other people about our struggles and about the things that are really tripping us up in our walks. And that’s a scary thing to do.
Here’s what sin does. It causes us to hide our true selves because of fear and shame. Think back to the Garden of Eden. Prior to the fall, Adam and Eve lived in community with one another in this beautiful paradise and you know what the Scriptures tell us about them? It says in Genesis 2:25 that ‘they were both naked and they were not ashamed.’
What does that mean? They were naked and they weren’t ashamed. What is God trying to tell us? I think that what’s being said is, they had nothing to hide from one another. They had absolutely no secrets that they were keeping from one another. And this is the first picture God gives to us of what it means to walk in community. Walking in genuine community means exposing who we really are .
But then what happens after the fall? What is the first thing that Adam and Eve do? They realize that they’re naked and they hide by sowing fig leaves together. They hide their identity from each other and then they hide from God. Which, by the way, I always thought was kind of funny. As if God was looking around saying, ‘Where is that little rascal? I can’t find him anywhere.’ God knew where Adam was. You can’t hide from God. But that’s what sin does. It makes us want to hide from each other and from God.
And the only way to defeat sin is by walking in the light with one another and before God. It’s going to be a continual battle. And it’s going to require that we walk in deep meaningful relationships with other Christians. It’s a fight. This isn’t natural. If it was so natural, why is the Bible filled with, “Don’t forsake it...Don’t forsake it...Don’t forsake it...Get with one another...Confess your sins...Walk deeply with one another... And so in our pursuit of God, we must find that 'band of brothers' or sisters that we can run with, and battle with, and pray with, and cry with, and laugh with and grow with. Your growth in Christ depends on it.
-Daniel
