“And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradises. And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: ‘Where art thou?’ And he said: ‘I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.’ And he said to him: ‘And who hath told thee that thou wast naked, but that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?’ And Adam said: ‘The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my companion, gave me of the tree, and I did eat.’ And the Lord God said to the woman: ‘Why hast thou done this?’ And she answered: ‘The serpent deceived me, and I did eat.’”
God’s intimacy is always present. See that He walks through paradise, a familiar presence to Adam and Eve, and such should be your relationship with God. Is not an arrangement of service, or a gathering of yourself to pray at certain times, but a relationship that organically unfolds throughout your life. He walks through the paradise of your soul constantly, enjoying what is present there: “My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the bed of aromatical spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies” (Song 6:1). He does this towards the evening, because when divine love is in a soul, even when it is lost by mortal sin, its traces remain. Similarly, the movement from Truth into oneself darkens the intellect, because it is not lifted up towards the true light: “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that is wise hearkeneth unto counsels” (Proverbs 12:15). Therefore, God came to them in the evening, as truth and love were declining from them, that He may restore in some fashion the light to their life: “O God, my God, to thee do I watch at break of day” (Psalm 62:2). He in His loving pursuit of every soul makes His presence known, calling out to Adam and Eve, “Where are you?” They were cowering in shame and fear, afraid of what God would do to them. They had fallen from beatitude, beauty, security, perfection to this lowly place, and were afraid of a further rebuke from the God they have shown they do not trust. It is a drawing of Adam out of himself, as love draws one from focusing on themselves and into the heart of the beloved. Therefore, when the God of love called, Adam loved, lifting up His head to the sweet, tender voice of Love, coming out of his hiding place and confessing his failure. He says that he was naked, assuming that because this was displeasing and terrifying to him, it was also displeasing to God. God’s answer, however, is lofty, and he responds, “Who told you that you were naked?”, as if to say, “You were wonderful in my eyes as you were. Why do you find yourself displeasing now?” O how you can hear the tenderness of the Lord now when you hear that “There is now therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh” (Romans 8:1), because the presence of Christ in your soul lifts it past the radiance of unfallen humanity and brings Jesus to the world: “I will take hold of thee, and bring thee into my mother’s house” (Song 8:2), and God now speaks to you in canticles of love that you may be confident in the depth of his affection for you. God shows that he knows the cause of Adam’s shame, that he reached to a knowledge to make himself like God: “If I was not humbly minded, but exalted my soul: as a child that is weaned is towards his mother, so reward my soul” (Psalm 130:2). He is not wrathful, He does not condemn Adam to the punishment he deserved, but invited him out of himself, that he may correct his fault by a sincere admittance. Ah, how all people drink sins like water, “for a just man shall fall seven times and shall rise again” (Proverbs 24:16) but at each moment the love of God does not come down with aggression, but invites you to start anew: “Shall I come to you with a rod; or in love, and in the spirit of meekness” (1 Corinthians 4:21). His love is as a furnace, and you can throw your sins into His loving Heart as they happen, then bringing them to confession for a formal cleaning of your feet that pick up so much spiritual dirt in the walk of life: “If I wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with me” (John 13:8). Adam, however, rather than running to his Father and apologizing with affection and abandonment, shifts the blame both to Eve and to God for giving him such a companion. God turns to Eve, and where she admits the fault, does not turn to mercy but blames the serpent. O that all would understand the unfathomable mercy of God! O that all could know that their consciences could be wiped clean by love alone: “I will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be cleansed from all your filthiness” (Ezechiel 36:25), that they may be robed in spiritual beauty and purity because of how loved they are: “I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these [lilies]. And if the grass of the field, which is to day, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, God doth so clothe: how much more you, O ye of little faith” (Matthew 6:29-30). In love alone, you may be as one that “have washed their robes, and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Apocalypse 7:14), and then are beckoned: “At all times let thy garments be white” (Ecclesiastes 9:8). It is not in blaming, it is not in self-condemnation, it is not in evasion that God’s love envelopes your soul, but in acknowledging what has taken place: “I have acknowledged my sin to thee, and my injustice I have not concealed” (Psalm 31:5) and asking for the sentence of love, mercy, affection, and grace: “Draw night to God, and he will draw nigh to you” (James 4:8). This is why “sin shall not have dominion over you; for you are not under the law, but under grace,” that is, you live the life of love, and God desires to pour out all the love possible into your heart: “the love of God is poured forth in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us” (Romans 5:5).