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. (Gen 3:8)

After Adam and Eve had yielded to the tempter, the covering of light, their garment of innocence, was taken from them. "The eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." In the past they had been glad to see their Creator when He came to walk and talk with them. Now in their sinfulness they were afraid to meet Him. Hearing the voice of God in the garden, they "hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. (Sermons and Talks One 319)

In heaven itself this law was broken. Sin originated in self-seeking. Lucifer, the covering cherub, desired to be first in heaven. He sought to gain control of heavenly beings, to draw them away from their Creator, and to win their homage to himself. Therefore he misrepresented God, attributing to Him the desire for self-exaltation. With his own evil characteristics he sought to invest the loving Creator. Thus he deceived angels. Thus he deceived men. (DA 21)

We are sons and daughters of God. Satan is the destroyer and Christ is the restorer. He will make us partakers of His holiness. God does not make light of sin, but He seeks to rescue us from sin. There is not in Jesus Christ harsh, stern repulsiveness or resentment; and if we have the character of Christ we shall have His mold. There is no forcing us to holiness, but . . . He wishes us to imitate His character, to admire Him--true, pure, generous, and loving. (IHP 66)

TE: The result of distrusting God is seen by Adam and Eve's hiding from God when He went to be with them for their daily walk.

MM: Where does this idea come from? It makes it sound like God was unmindful of the Fall.

TE: Sin does not change God, but it changes us. Profoundly. It causes us to view God in a way He is not.

MM: They had every reason to be afraid. Fear is the result of faithlessness, of unfaithfulness, of being separated from Jesus. They hadn't heard of the plan of salvation, yet, so how could they not be afraid? Being alone, without hope, is a fearful thing. Even Jesus, on the cross, cried, Why have you forsaken me? For a time, He was lonely and afraid. Of course, the source of fear was different for A&E.

Tom, what you said about God showing up for "their daily walk" makes it sound like the fact A&E had sinned was no big deal. This idea is not biblical.

Being afraid of God was right and natural for A&E after they had sinned. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Their fear was not simply a result of sinning and misunderstanding God. It is how it is when sinners are without hope. They hadn't learned of the plan of salvation yet, so being afraid of God was right and natural.

It does sound like the Lord gave the appearance of ignorance of the fateful events that had took place. He asks, where are you? He asks, who told you? God does not blame man for what had taken place, He sets up an inquiry to investigate.

Then again, maybe it is natural for us to be afraid of God. If truly honest with ourselves, can any of us say that we are not the slightest afraid of God? That we rather trust Him 110%? Any who answer 'Aye' to those questions have reached perfection.

John says that perfect love casts out all fear, and that fear has to do with torment.

There's no reason to fear God. God is like Jesus Christ.

Regarding trusting God, there are other reasons that one can have for not trusting God other than being afraid of Him. In other words, one can not be afraid of God, and yet still not trust Him fully.

Perfect love casts out all fear, and loving perfectly is being perfect just as God is perfect, thus one who has had love cast out all fear has reached perfection.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.(1 John 4:18)

If love has thrown out your being afraid of God, what would those other reasons be?

Also, remember the first step in their path to disobedience: Satan got them to doubt God's love. Surely, that error was not wiped away by any other step along the way to their rebellion.

There's a vicious cycle that goes on here. Satan tempts us to doubt God, leading us into sin, which causes us to doubt God more, which leads us further into sin, etc.

To know God is to love Him. Trusting Him leads to obedience, which leads to trusting Him more.

In heaven itself this law was broken. Sin originated in self-seeking. Lucifer, the covering cherub, desired to be first in heaven. He sought to gain control of heavenly beings, to draw them away from their Creator, and to win their homage to himself. Therefore he misrepresented God, attributing to Him the desire for self-exaltation. With his own evil characteristics he sought to invest the loving Creator. Thus he deceived angels. Thus he deceived men. He led them to doubt the word of God, and to distrust His goodness. Because God is a God of justice and terrible majesty, Satan caused them to look upon Him as severe and unforgiving. Thus he drew men to join him in rebellion against God, and the night of woe settled down upon the world.

The earth was dark through misapprehension of God. That the gloomy shadows might be lightened, that the world might be brought back to God, Satan's deceptive power was to be broken. This could not be done by force. The exercise of force is contrary to the principles of God's government; He desires only the service of love; and love cannot be commanded; it cannot be won by force or authority. Only by love is love awakened. To know God is to love Him; His character must be manifested in contrast to the character of Satan. This work only one Being in all the universe could do. Only He who knew the height and depth of the love of God could make it known. Upon the world's dark night the Sun of Righteousness must rise, "with healing in His wings." Mal. 4:2.