The text brings before us three great fundamental facts —
I. Man is made for Fellowship with God — " They heard the voice {or sound, i.e. steps) of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day."
II. Sin breaks the Fellowship — "The man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amougst the trees of the garden."
III. God seeks to restore it — " And the Lord God called unto the man, and said unto him, Where art thou ? "
L
The Fellowship.
1. What is Fellowship ?
Eeal religion stands or falls with the belief in a personal God, and in realizing the need of communion with Him. When once we destroy, or tamper with, the conviction that we are living, or should be living, in spiritual contact with a Divine Being who has revealed Himself to us in His Son, worship ceases to have any real meaning. We may not be able to certify or interpret to
> J. W. Shepard.
GENESIS III. 8, 9 73
others this contact with God. But the deepest of truths is that God is not far from any one of us, and it is the Divine Spirit within us that seeks and strives for communication with our Heavenly Father.
Speak to Him thou for He hears, and Spirit with Spirit can
meet — Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet.
God made us to speak to Him, not only in formal prayers on stated occasions, but in the silent language of meditation, and in the effort implied in maintaining our belief in His presence and nearness to us. It is a sure sign of something being wrong with us if we shrink from this great thought, and take refuge in any view of life that tends to hide from us the solemn mystery of standing before the living God.
Lift to the firmament your eye.
Thither God's path pursue; His glory, boundless as the sky,
O'erwhelms the wondering view.
The forests in His strength rejoice;
Hark ! how on th' evening breeze, As once of old, the Lord God's voice
Is heard among the trees.^
2. How may it he enjoyed ?
There are two ways especially in which the fellowship between God and man may be enjoyed.
(1) By meditation in the quiet of the evening, — God was heard walking in the garden "in the cool of the day." It may be that the phrase means no more than the evening breeze. God comes to us all more or less distinctly in the evening — it is a time for leisure, rest, reflection, and worship. After the toil and tumult of the day it is a period of hush and quiet, and amid the stillness we can hear God's voice borne on the wind.
Morn is the time to act, noon to endure; But oh ! if thou wouldst keep thy spirit pure, Turn from the beaten path by worldlings trod, Go forth at eventide, in heart to walk with God,
* J. Montgomery.
74 FELLOWSHIP
IF It is only in the cool of the day that I can hear Thy footsteps, 0 my God. Thou art ever walking in the garden. Thy presence is abroad everywhere and always; but it is not everywhere or always that I can hear Thee passing by. The burden and heat of the day are too strong for me. The struggles of life excite me, the ambitions of life perturb me, the glitter of life dazzles me ; it is all thunder and earthquake and fire. But when I myself am still, I catch Thy still small voice, and then I know that Thou art God. Thy peace can only speak to my peacefulness, Thy rest can only be audible to my calm ; the harmony of Thy tread cannot be heard by the discord of my soul. Therefore, betimes I would be alone with Thee, away from the heat and the battle. I would feel the cool breath of Thy Spirit, that I may be refreshed once more for the strife. I would be fanned by the breezes of heaven, that I may resume the dusty road and the dolorous way. Not to avoid them do I come to Thee, but that I may be able more perfectly to bear them. Let me hear Thy voice in the garden in the cool of the day.^
This life hath hours that hold
The soul above itself, as at a show A child, upon a loving arm and bold Uplifted safe, upon the crowd below Smiles down serene, — I speak to them that know This thing whereof I speak, that none can guess. That none can paint, — what marks hath Blessedness, What characters whereby it may be told ? Such hours with things that never can grow old Are shrined. One eve, 'mid autumns far away, I walked along beside a river; grey And pale was earth, the heavens were grey and pale, As if the dying year and dying day Sobbed out their lives together, wreaths of mist Stole down the hills to shroud them while they kissed Each other sadly; yet behind this veil Of drearness and decay my soul did build, To music of its own, a temple filled With worshippers beloved that hither drew In silence; then I thirsted not to hear The voice of any friend, nor wished for dear Companion's hand firm clasped in mine ; I knew, Had such been with me, they had been less near.'