Continuing the commentary on Genesis 2:25 and 3:6-12, I want to look further into the effect the experience of sin had on the relationship between Adam and Eve and how these things still hinder us today.

First, Adam and Eve went from being naked and free from shame in front of each other, to sewing fig leaves together to cover themselves up. With the tragic onset of guilt and shame they suddenly felt compelled to hide their bodies from one another. This “cover up” affected their relationship. Now we have two people who have literal barriers constructed between them. Intimacy was easy, natural before. They were free and open to love, touch, relate. Now there is the awkwardness of the leaves and then the clothing God made for them.

Next, shame over their disobedience drove them into hiding from God as well. They fear their loving Creator and their strained relationship with God impacts the couple’s relationship. The animal skin clothing would always be a reminder of their failure and their need of a sacrifice. Death happened and it was their fault. They play the blame game, however, pointing the finger at others … “The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree.” Adam blames the woman, and even more amazing, God himself. Eve doesn’t really do any better by saying, “The devil made me do it.”

This is now the new normal in their relationship. They have a desire to keep things hidden, to keep secrets. They hide their thoughts and feelings. There is distance created in their relationship with God and one another. Shame and fear are the driving force and the real “covering” they now put on. They deflect accountability for their own actions creating even more distance and conflict in their relationship. Intimacy is no longer easy or natural.

Adam and Eve no longer look at one another with pure intentions. Selfishness, the desire to preserve and feed self has crept in and now they “see” things very differently. Eve, “saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining…” something for herself so she just took it. This is their manner of relating now. There is a turn toward the more visual and physical and a turning away from the spiritual and supernatural. They no longer view the other in terms of what they can share with them but for what they can get from them. Baser sin-driven instincts take hold. Trust is gone.

In this kind of relationship, how can they possibly survive? We know that it eventually affected their children as well… all of them. It is awesome to know, however, that God would use this very foundation, the family, to remove sin’s curse and provide the means to bring us back into intimate fellowship with him and each other. This is the heart of God and the fulfillment of all his hopes and dreams for us.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

5He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:1-5)