Inspirational Message
Inspirational Message: Garment Imagery Appears in Genesis!
God says humans have been created in His image. Let us skim the first chapters of Genesis to discover our creation. Imagine the earth fresh from the hand of God and untainted by sin. In what ways does our world today differ from what it was then? Can we visualize Adam and Eve in an environment beyond our wildest wanted dreams! Perhaps they neither wanted nor needed anything more. Surely they felt the love of God, smelled the flowers, enjoyed the animals and tended the garden from their maker. Is it possible for us to have a similar relationship with God, our Creator, in a corrupted sinful world? We do not meet God face to face, however we do have the privilege of living our lives in constant connection with the same Lord God. Surely sin has affected all of us in different ways. What choices must we make to walk closer to God? What were the emotional results of the Fall of man and how do we continue to suffer these effects?
It is beneficial for all of us to be spiritually covered when we suddenly feel naked and afraid! In Genesis 3, after eating fruit from the tree in the midst of the garden, Adam and Eve knew they were naked. They made coverings for themselves. We know today, just as they knew then, that we cannot hide from the presence of God! Will the blame-game help us? Remember how Adam blamed Eve. God spoke to Adam, not Eve, and therefore he should have felt moralistically responsible not to eat the fruit! Eve took of the fruit and ate before she gave some to her husband who was with her at the time and he also ate some of the same fruit.
The blame-game continued with Eve and the crafty serpent. As with us, disobedience to God is the cause of problems. Adam should have guided Eve with God’s instructions instead of following Satan’s advice which can destroy anybody! Adam and Eve learned with difficulty how actions are followed by consequences.
What kind of close relationship between Adam and Eve is in Genesis 2:20-25? As “one flesh,” Adam and Eve were close then, not only to God, but to each other. In verse 25, they were both naked, the man and his wife, but they were not ashamed! With such example of purity and innocence, this sinless environment, they were not ashamed which did not matter because no shame existed. There must have been an openness, a transparency, an innocence about them and all that they did which allowed for their state of affairs. What a life of honesty and freedom must have meant to them at that time! God ordained it this way for their enjoyment and happiness.
In our own lives, are we constantly hiding things, cutting moral corners, using coverings that don’t reveal what is really going on for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed and that shall not be known. What are some things that we may need to change about ourselves?
Adam’s and Eve’s decision to disobey God was one of those irreversible, regrettable actions. What does God’s reaction to Adam’s and Eve’s disobedience tell us about Him? What kind of hope can we, in our mistakes and disobedience, draw from this story? Adam and Eve could not have recovered their innocence by their own efforts. When we accept the covering that God through Christ has purchased for us by means of His sacrifice on the cross is sufficient for God to restore His image in us!
With all kinds of garment imagery in our time, Jesus Christ has connected heaven to earth with bonds that never can be broken. A way has been paved for us to live as closely with our Creator as possible. An innocent happiness was lost at the Fall, but God provided another covering through the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior! We must learn to depend on Christ to replace our garments of imagery with His robe of righteousness.
Mrs. Gladys R. McElmore, a resident of Norfolk’s Middle Town Arch Community, is a New Journal and Guide Freelance Contributor on religion. She is a native of Essex County, Va.
