Hello, Bride of Christ,
“Ever read Scripture and feel your heart shift within you?” This was a question I asked my son as we finished reading Scripture and began our journey to his friend’s home.
“Yeah, sometimes,” he replied.
I wonder if Adam and Eve experienced a similar heart shift after God pronounced His judgment in the garden (Genesis 3:14–24, NKJV). Perhaps it wasn't only what God said that shifted their hearts, but also what He left unsaid?
Why do you think God chose to focus more on the external and physical ramifications of their decision rather than explicitly describe the impact on their relationship with Him?
Eve would bring forth life through pain and would experience a struggle in her relationship with her husband (Genesis 3:16, NKJV). Adam would toil over the ground, laboring for a harvest that would never fully satisfy (Genesis 3:17–19, NKJV).
Yet, there is no mention of:
No more walks in the garden in the cool of the day.
The absence of the nearness of the Almighty.
The broken fellowship between the Creator and His creation.
Why doesn't God explicitly write about the relational loss?
Perhaps the heart shift is found in what unfolds next.
After Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden (Genesis 3:24, NKJV), Eve gave birth to Cain and proclaimed, “I have acquired a man from the LORD” (Genesis 4:1, NKJV). In her words, we catch a glimpse of her continued recognition of God as the source of life. Even outside the Garden, she acknowledged the Lord.
We also see evidence of this desire for fellowship in Genesis 4:3–5, as Cain and Abel bring offerings before God. Their parents must have passed down the practice of bringing offerings to the Lord, teaching their sons to acknowledge Him through worship.
We are created with a need for relationship with God.
He didn't have to tell Adam and Eve they would miss Him. Their very beings would remind them through the ache of separation and the desire for His presence.
First John 4:16 tells us that God is love. We need love. And Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 13 that without love, all else amounts to nothing. Adam and Eve, much like us, would journey through this earthly life and discover through lived experience that without Love Himself, everything else is just a clanging cymbal.
Throughout Scripture, we see the slow but purposeful progression of restored fellowship between God and humanity. Through the Mosaic Law, God established His covenant with Israel and instructed them to build the tabernacle so He could dwell among His people (Exodus 25:8). Yet access to His holy presence remained restricted. Only the high priest, from the tribe of Levi, could enter the Most Holy Place, and only once a year (Hebrews 9:7).
But God...
He provided the solution before humanity could fully comprehend the depth of its separation.
Look back at Genesis 3:15.
Right there in the Garden, God declared His promise: the Seed of the woman would ultimately crush the serpent's head.
Jesus.
The redemption story was already unfolding before the ache of separation could even be fully understood.
Bride of Christ, today we have the privilege of Emmanuel—God with us—through the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. He now sits at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us (Hebrews 7:25). And because of His finished work, we are invited to boldly approach the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16, NKJV).
So, this month, accept the invitation.
Allow your heart to shift—not away from the demands, distractions, and noise of this earthly life, but back toward the One who is Love Himself.
Return to His presence. Draw near to Him.
