God Hasn't Departed From Amongst Men

 

God Hasn’t Departed from Amongst Men

God told Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, lest he die after eating it. The serpent, on the other hand, exalted the goodness of that same tree, claiming that if Adam ate from it, he would become like God, knowing good and evil. Adam, who only knew good, followed the serpent's advice, desiring to be like God without asking God Himself how to be like Him. After eating the fruit alongside Eve, they became aware of evil, and this awareness marked the fall of man from good to evil.

In a state of evil, man is aware of what good is but is not empowered to do good. Naturally, in this fallen state, he is only empowered to do evil, and doing good becomes unnatural and difficult.

Seeing the state of man, God never left him. He continued to appear on Earth through men like Enoch, who found it natural and easy to do good, unlike those around him. Enoch's growing perfection aligned so closely with heaven that he didn't need to experience death but was taken up to heaven. The men whose stories are documented in Scripture were those who were aware of good and naturally operated within the realm of good. Moses referred to himself as the meekest man alive at the time. While this might seem like self-praise, his statement came from a place of true knowledge, not self-exaltation.

Moses knew himself as a man who had once killed an Egyptian for assaulting a fellow Israelite. However, after he encountered God in the burning bush, a transformation began within him. The constant contact with God after that moment reshaped him into a humbler man. Even though he struck the rock when he should have spoken to it, his perfection continued after his death. In fact, God's power was so evident in him that his strength remained undiminished and his eyesight stayed sharp.

From Moses to Joshua, who was filled with courage and God's spirit, and to all the prophets, priests, and kings of ancient times, God kept appearing to men in the flesh. He spoke to them either by the Spirit or through dreams, and because they were filled with God's Spirit, they communicated with Him. However, human imperfections often led these men to fall short of the ideal. Moses didn’t reach the promised land, Saul committed suicide, David's lust destabilized his family, and Isaiah thought he was a perfect mouthpiece for God until he realized his shortcomings. These imperfections meant that God couldn’t fully establish Himself on Earth until Jesus paid the ultimate price.

Jesus was faultless, and while this is hard for humans to achieve, His life created the possibility that man could indeed be faultless, as it was in the beginning before the fall.

Although Jesus was the Son of God, He referred to Himself on Earth as the Son of Man, meaning He humbled Himself, placing Himself lower than man to show that man could return to the state from which he fell. Throughout His time on Earth, Jesus’ path was fundamentally different from that of any other man. His earthly experiences reflected this reality: His miracles were based on belief in Him as the Son of God, His words were considered blasphemy by the ruling religious leaders of the time, and His actions were often misunderstood by His disciples, despite Him fully embodying God. Man’s ignorance meant that His actions could not always be understood.

However, He was not discouraged by the unbelief and continued on His purpose. He walked the path of humiliation, shame, and death, and indeed was humiliated, shamed, and crucified. He walked this path in perfection, without holding grudges against anyone. Jesus knew exactly what He was doing.

In death, many of His disciples grieved, but after His resurrection, many came to believe in Him and His words even more. His ascension, witnessed by His disciples, gave birth to a new world—one that opened humanity to perfect transformation, restoration, and redemption from the ills that plague every man.

To this day, God continues to appear to men through men.