Genesis 3:8-10, New Living Translation

“When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God among the trees. Then the LORD God called to man, ‘Where are you?’ He replied, ‘I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.’”

When God created earth, He created the perfect atmosphere to live in. When He had finished all His creation, He said it was very good. Adam and Eve were not just physically alive, but spiritually alive as well. They could talk to God whenever they desired. Until one day, Adam and Eve were deceived. For a moment, they doubted God ‘s goodness, and they sinned, causing spiritual death. The security that Adam and Eve once had was gone.“When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God among the trees. Then the LORD God called to man, ‘Where are you?’ He replied, ‘I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.’” (Genesis 3:8-10, NLT)

How did spiritual death happen? When they eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, their understanding of good and evil comes to be. Instead of living innocently, they recognized they were naked. What did Adam identify with? He said, “I was afraid.” He identified with fear.

Because of Adam and Eve’s sin against God, we all are born into sin. How often have we identified with fear, or anxiety, or feelings of not belonging or not having purpose? Just as Adam and Eve were deceived by the serpent, so we are being deceived by Satan. Satan would like us to think that we are without purpose, and like we don’t really belong. He wants us to be afraid, because when we are in fear, we aren’t focused on the goodness of God.

You see, God knew that sin would enter the world and separate man and woman from Him. So, even then, He had a plan to redeem us. This happened by the sacrificial love of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 7:14 (NLT) says, “All right then, the LORD himself will give you a sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (which means, ‘God with us’).”

Luke 1:31-33 (NLT) says, “’Don’t be afraid, Mary,’ and the angel told her, ‘for you have found favor with God! You will conceive, and give birth to a son, and you will name him, Jesus. He will be very great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor, David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end.’”

1 John 2:1-2 (NLT), “My dear children, I am writing this to you, so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate, who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins— and not only our sins, but the sins of all the world.”

Because Christ came to earth, fully man, and fully God, and was crucified for our sins, and raised up from the grave and ascended to heaven, we now have life! We are redeemed and brought back into a relationship with our Father! If we listen to what God says, who we are, we no longer have to identify with fear and guilt and shame. If we truly receive Christ as our Savior, God calls us: blessed, united in Christ, and holy, chosen, free, forgiven, saved, His own people. (Ephesians. 1)

If we believe God, if we believe His word, then “Perfect love, expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows we have not fully experienced his perfect love.” (1 John 4:18, NLT) In Christ we find our purpose, our identity, security, and significance. Who will you choose to listen to and believe, the deceiver or the loving voice of your Father?