God Walks in Eden
Have you ever felt the sudden weight of knowing you had done wrong—so much so that you wanted to hide? That feeling did not begin with us. It started long ago, in a garden where humanity first learned what shame feels like.
In the opening chapters of the book of Genesis, we are told of a time when God walked with Adam, a man created whole and good. Adam was not made broken or flawed. He was formed with care, made in God’s image, and placed in a garden where he lived openly before his Creator—without fear and without shame.
It is there, in Genesis chapter 3, that the story tells of the moment everything changed.
The garden was quiet that evening. The heat of the day had passed, and the light had softened into dusk. Leaves stirred gently in the air, and everything looked as it always had. Yet something had gone wrong.
Adam and Eve had listened to the serpent—the devil—instead of listening to God. The serpent had questioned God’s goodness. He suggested that something good was being withheld from them. And in that moment, they chose to trust the serpent’s words rather than God’s command. They reached for what had not been given.
For the first time, they felt shame.
Adam had been created whole and innocent. But when he and Eve chose to distrust God, something inside them shifted. Sin entered the world in that moment—but something else entered as well.
Their eyes were opened.
What had once felt natural and free now felt exposed. They were not suddenly ashamed of their bodies; they were ashamed of their disobedience. The trust between them and God had been broken, and they felt it immediately. Innocence gave way to self-awareness. Openness gave way to fear.
Shame took hold of the human heart.
So they hid.
They gathered leaves and stitched them together, trying to cover what they now felt inside. Then they stepped back among the trees, hoping the garden itself would shield them from the God they had chosen not to trust. The place where Adam had once walked freely with God now felt heavy with fear.
As the day cooled, God came walking in the garden.
God did not come unaware. He knew what had happened. He knew Adam had been tempted and had failed. Yet God came near, just as He always had, and He spoke gently into the stillness.
“Where are you?”
It was not a question because God did not know where Adam was. It was a question meant to draw Adam out of hiding. Adam answered with fear. He spoke of being uncovered. He spoke of hiding. Shame had taken root.
God spoke clearly about what had happened. The serpent had deceived. Adam and Eve had disobeyed. Sin had entered the world, and with it came struggle, sorrow, and separation. This was not spoken in anger. It was spoken in truth.
But even here, God spoke of hope.
In Genesis 3:15, God foretold that the serpent would not have the final word. He promised that one would come who would be wounded by the serpent, yet who would crush the serpent’s head. Evil would strike, but it would not win.
This promise pointed forward to another Man.
Many years later, in the Gospels of Matthew chapter 4 and Luke chapter 4, we are told that Jesus—the Carpenter—was led into the wilderness and tempted by that same enemy. Like Adam, Jesus was fully human. Like Adam, He faced temptation. But unlike Adam, Jesus did not give in.
Where Adam chose distrust, Jesus chose obedience.
Because Jesus chose to obey God completely, He lived free from sin—and free from shame. He never needed to hide. He never needed to cover guilt. He walked openly before the Father, trusting Him fully.
Where Adam’s disobedience brought hiding and fear, Jesus’ obedience brought peace and confidence. He did not listen to the serpent’s lies. He trusted God completely, and in doing so, He showed that humanity was not beyond redemption.
Shame is born when we turn away from God.
Obedience restores what shame has broken.
Jesus lived as a perfect Man, faithful where Adam had failed. By His obedience, He proved that Satan’s claim—that humanity was beyond hope—was false. A perfect Man could pass the test. And because He did, He could redeem those who could not.
The serpent would wound Him, but Jesus would crush the serpent’s head, just as God had promised in the garden.
Long before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, God had already spoken of this rescue. Long before the Carpenter walked the earth, God had already revealed His plan.
The story that began with hiding in a garden would move steadily toward restoration.
And the God who walked with Adam in the cool of the day is the same God who walked among us in Jesus—still calling people out of hiding, still restoring what has been broken.
This story comes from Genesis chapter 3. The promise it points to is fulfilled in Jesus, whose temptation is told in Matthew and Luke, chapter 4.
