How in this world can a sinful man worship a Holy God?
We don’t have to go far in the Bible to see a serious break in the relationship and fellowship between God and man. Just 3 chapters into the Bible we find a willful act of sin by man by exercising independence towards God and deciding to go his own way.
Can you imagine how Adam and Eve felt when one day they are walking in the Garden of Eden in worship with God and the next day they are exiled from the Garden and from His presence? For the first time they felt grief, emptiness and fear. In one act they exchanged the worship of God for rebellion against God. It that one act of rebellion they ceased to “reflect” the image of God in their lives.
They also decided in that one act of rebellion that God was not “worthy” of being their authority. In that one act of rebellion they replaced God with “self” as their final authority. Now they ruled their own lives. God could no longer be seen in their lives and choices. Their worship came to an end, as they could no longer walk in the cool of the Garden with their Father. How could they restore their relationship and fellowship with God? Was there something that they could do to get God to take them back?
Man could not close the gap between himself and God. God would have to act before sinful man could return to a place of worship. Sin would have to be dealt with by God and in God’s way to restore mankind.