As I experience this battle within for the continuous establishment of an intimate place with the Lord not just in word alone but in living reality, I wonder where did all this struggle come from. There has been a battle raging against us having an intimate connection with God since the beginning of our Creation. We were designed for an intimate relationship with the One who created us, you could say it is in our DNA (especially for those who are "in Christ"). In Genesis 3:8 we see the root of this battle, God comes to Adam and Eve after they have eaten of tree of knowledge of good and evil but they choose to hide themselves. It seems to me that the Bible is referring to a pattern, where God would come to Adam and Eve seeking relationship and intimacy. Notice that the initiation is on God's part not Adam and Eve's but I believe in the past they would have responded in a like manner (because they were created in His likeness). In other words, if God desired intimacy, wouldn't it make sense that we would desire intimacy because we were designed and made in His likeness and image. Yet at this point Adam and Eve choose to hide themselves which must have gone contrary to their very design, exposing that something drastic had happened. I believe this is the first time that Adam and Eve's will is exposed as contradictory to God's will. The entrance of "The Lie" by Satan was not just a minor twist or another commentary about the going ons of the Garden but a completely different world view offered by a creature who was in full blown rebellion against the whole Created Order. In the book "Face to Face with God" Bill Johnson says, "The reason that the territory beyond the garden was in turmoil was that Satan, one of the three archangels, had set up his rule there after being cast out of heaven for his rebellion and his desire to be worshiped like God." A friend of mine, Lee Eddy, who is a pastor says that everything has a sound vibration and a light frequency. Therefore "The Lie's" entrance into the peace and tranquility of the Garden of Eden must have been like listening to music you have never heard before or seeing the Enemy must have been like looking at alien (Close Encounters). Agreement with the worldview of "The Lie" would change the perception of everything, including how Adam and Eve would perceive the invitation of God for a walk in the cool of the day. Instead of the invitation of God for intimacy being something that was familiar and in harmony with everything they already knew, now for the first time His invitation would be out of frequency and harmony with what they had come into agreement with (The Lie). I think of the scene in "Jurassic Park" when the first tourists of the park have crashed and then there is silence and the tremendous thundering of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Every footstep shakes them to the core and the fear is overwhelming as they are about to confront an inhabitant of another world. I am no suggesting that God is like the dinosaur but simply that Adam and Eve's perception of God at this point would be one of the entrance of a being from another world. Their response of hiding themselves is beginning to make more sense. Adam admits his fear in Genesis 3:10, so fear is the root of why we don't respond to God's invitation to intimacy and also it is the vulnerability of feeling "naked" before Him. We certainly can hide from people, even people we love but from God we all stand "naked" because Hebrews 4:13 tells us "And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." It is amazing that God has made a way for us to stand before Him "naked and unashamed" through Jesus Christ, even with our ongoing issues, struggles, and weaknesses. I wonder if the same invitation to intimacy is being spoken out by God today, which asks the question "Where are you?" when we have hidden again like Adam and Eve. Instead of appearing before God one time, we live life on a continual journey where we hide and then come before Him "naked". Unfortunately, this cycle happens often on a daily basis because any time we rely on the flesh we hide. We may hide behind our smile, our performance, our avoidance, an addiction, or a myriad of other ways. Jesus Christ has purchased for us to have continual unbroken fellowship with God, the veil has been torn but we need to respond and come out of hiding. I want the intimacy Jesus purchased for me with the Father.
Designed for Intimacy,
Bret
