Restoring the Glory

​On the day that Adam and Eve chose to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil their relationship with God completely changed.  Genesis 2:16-17 says, "And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."  The death that God refers to is the death of their covering—the Shekinah glory.
 
Genesis 3:7 is one of the passages in the Bible that demonstrates a principle that occurs throughout life:  The spiritual and physical realms mirror one another.  "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves."  When God came to walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day they hid from Him, because they had become aware of their nakedness and were afraid.  They were no longer covered—spiritually and physically.
 
Without the Shekinah—the manifest glory of the Lord—Adam and Eve were unable to abide in His presence.  Eating the fruit of the forbidden tree gave them the right to be independent and unsubmitted to the Lord.  Since the day of the fall God has been on a mission to restore us.  He began by killing an animal and starting the requirement of shed blood for forgiveness.  A physical covering was made for Adam and Eve with the skin of an animal.
 
The Lord still longs for us to have full communion with Him.  We must play a part in restoring of the Shekinah glory.  To do so, we must be willing to give up our freedom of choice to surrender unconditionally to Him.  Wade Taylor, in his devotional, Being Made Ready, writes about the process of restoring the Shekinah in one of his daily devotionals titled "Arrayed in His Glory."  He explains that when we vocally give up our right to do as we please and ask God for forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Jesus we are covered with the "Garment of Salvation."  However, the Lord is calling us to join Him at the banqueting table as the Bride of Christ.  The "Garment of Salvation" is meant to be replaced by "the Bridal Garment."  Wade Taylor says that we weave our own "Bridal Garment."  The weaving "begins with the commitment of our lives to unconditional submission and obedience to His will and purpose, as we walk with Jesus...The first step is to separate ourselves from the 'tree of knowledge' and re-attach ourselves to the 'tree of life,' through the victory that Jesus gained in our behalf on the cross...As we rightly respond, we will grow into spiritual maturity and receive the linen bridal garment."
 
What are we weaving?  Daily we have the opportunity to weave our "Bridal Garment."  Revelation 19:7-8 describes it:  "Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory.  For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.  Fine linen, bright and clean, was given to her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)"
 
As our desire for intimacy with the Bridegroom supersedes all earthly desires, the Shekinah (the manifest glory of the Lord) will cover us.  Are we getting ready?  "...And those who were ready went in with Him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut." (Matthew 25:10)