What is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Is the meaning key to understanding what happened in the Garden? God subsequently “made” Eve from a rib of Adam.
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed - GEN 2:25 (emphasis mine). But then clearly, something very profound happened after they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? - GEN 3:7-11 (emphasis mine).
Before they ate: they were naked and not ashamed. Afterward: they were afraid (to be in fear) because they KNEW they were naked. There are so many questions here. “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed”. This is very plausible. Why would they be ashamed? Adam and Eve would have known no other way. It was their natural condition; to be without clothing as we know it. But did they have a garment of righteousness; or were they clothed in “a glory” as it were? Was this “covering” called sinlessness? I can not find anywhere that specifically says Adam was one kind of body before the fall and another afterward. However, it is not only conceivable but it is indeed evidenced elsewhere. The Bible speaks of “sinful flesh” …certainly Adam after the fall.
Who shall transform our body of humiliation into conformity to His body of glory, according to the working of [the] power which He has even to subdue all things to Himself - PHIL 3:21.
Our “vile” body…our body of humiliation…as opposed to His glorious body. Adam and Eve were ashamed of their body of humiliation. They discovered the difference in their bodies from that of the glorious body. They were “inferior” but they had not known that prior to eating of the tree of good and evil. They had changed. They did not now want to be with God…they hid from Him. And Adam even blamed God for his sin… The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat - GEN 3:12. "If YOU had not given me this woman I would not have sinned". Yup…that’s enmity alright. And also, they knew they were naked…they knew they were without glory. They had lost something amazingly exalted and they saw now vile bodies…humiliation.
But before the fall, we understand Adam and Eve to be “in a state of innocence”. What correlation might we make with the body of Jesus? Jesus says of Himself after His resurrection, Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have - LUKE 24:39 (emphasis mine). Jesus had a sinless body and then He had a resurrected, glorified body, but yet flesh and bones. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body - 1COR 15:44.
J.N. Darby says, [Adam was perfect as an innocent man. The breath of life in his nostrils was breathed into him by God, and he was responsible for obedience to God in a thing wherein neither good nor evil was to be known, but simply a commandment. The trial was that of obedience only, not the knowledge of good or evil in itself. At present, in Christ, the portion of the believer is a participation in the divine nature itself, in a being who knows good and evil, and who vitally participates in the sovereign good, morally in the nature of God Himself, although always thereby dependent on Him. It is our evil nature which is not so, or at least which refuses to be dependent on Him ~Darby’s Synopsis on Ephesians]
What the “tree” did (was it the “fruit” of a tree or was it the “act of defiance”?) was to make them aware that they had sinned. In disobeying God they themselves became aware of the evil, which disobedience to God is. In sinning, they became aware of sin. This is contrasted by the Good, the Holiness which they now KNOW God to be. They lost their “innocence” which was their state in sinless fellowship with God. But disobedience separated them from that fellowship because, it requires an act of self will to challenge, resist, disagree with, disregard, defy God; and that “act” instantly disconnects and isolates one from the divine and aligns with satan.
And the treachery of sin is that it was Adam who first did not want to be with God! Sin turns us first away from God. Sin begets sin. But the Spirit of God calls us back to Himself to seek His mercy and forgiveness that we may again be in fellowship with Him. "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see" REV. 3:18 (emphasis mine). This is what Jesus made possible…the reconciliation back to being a son of God.
So now knowing this (I should say, “considering this”, because I’m not sure what I “know”, but rather, am trying to learn) does not really allow me to fathom what was lost. For two reasons…the one I can’t help, the other to my shame.
1. I wasn’t there! I have not known the relationship of Adam to God before the fall.
Certainly Jesus is an illuminating example and revelation of that relationship, but to me, it is still as if looking in a glass darkly, For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known - 1COR 13:12. (emphasis mine).
2. I have not attained to that which God has given me; which is the relationship I have with God in Christ!
What I mean is, I have not yet reached that state of perfection. I say “to my shame” because I (and too many of us) still have more “carnal” than “spiritual” in my life, which severely hinders the growth process. Please do not misunderstand. I do not condemn. I merely say I/we have not yet reached that state of perfection. If anyone reading this is offended because it does not refer to you, please write to me and help me up to your level. I say that with all due respect and sincerity.
I will conclude with the words of a more godly man and I will say Amen. Again… J.N. Darby says, [Now the Lord's ascension has immense significance in connection with His Person and work. He ascended indeed as man, but He first descended as man even into the darkness of the grave and of death; and from thence-victorious over the power of the enemy who had the power of death, and having blotted out the sins of His redeemed ones, and accomplished the glory of God in obedience-He takes His place as man above the heavens in order that He may fill all things; not only as being God, but according to the glory and the power of a position in which He was placed by the accomplishment of the work of redemption-a work which led Him into the depths of the power of the enemy, and placed Him on the throne of God-a position that He holds, not only by the title of Creator, which was already His, but by that of Redeemer, which shelters from evil all that is found within the sphere of the mighty efficacy of His work-a sphere filled with blessing, with grace, and with Himself. Glorious truth, which belongs at the same time to the union of the divine and human natures in the Person of Christ, and to the work of redemption accomplished by suffering on the cross! ~Darby‘s Synopsis on Ephesians]
Peace and Blessings,
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