Yes — God's grace is clearly evident in Eden: after Adam and Eve sinned and hid, God Himself went looking for them and by His grace restored them to fellowship.
After the Fall, Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves with fig-leaf aprons — what Les Feldick calls the energy of the flesh, man's own effort (Clip 6). They did not go looking for God; rather, God came looking for them, and Les teaches that this pursuit was prompted by His grace — an attribute that has been evident since day one (Clips 1, 2, 3). God brought them back into a relationship with Himself, and they were restored into fellowship by faith (Clips 2, 7).
Genesis 3:7 — Records Adam and Eve's inadequate fig-leaf covering — the point where human effort fails and divine grace becomes necessary.
Genesis 3:9 — God's call, "Where art thou?" is God seeking the hiding sinners, the first visible act of grace in the narrative.
Romans 5:20 — Paul declares that where sin abounded, grace did much more abound — a truth Les applies directly to Adam's sin in the Garden.
Scripture records that when Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree, "the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons" (Genesis 3:7). Their self-made covering did not resolve their condition — when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, "Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden" (Genesis 3:8). They did not approach God; they fled from Him. Then the record shows God acting: "And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?" (Genesis 3:9). Rather than abandoning the guilty pair, God sought them out. Paul's later commentary in Romans applies directly: "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Romans 5:20).
Les Feldick emphasizes that God has been a God of grace from day one — grace is one of God's attributes, not a concept that began with the Church Age or with the Apostle Paul (Clip 1). He points back to the Garden: Adam and Eve sinned, sewed their fig-leaf aprons, and then ran and hid when God approached. They did not go running looking for God; it was God who went looking for them, and the basis for that search was His grace (Clips 1, 2). Les stresses that God could have forgotten about Adam and Eve, "zapped them, and started over," but instead His grace took Him to pursue them and to bring Adam and Eve back into a relationship with Himself (Clips 2, 3). He also notes that the fig-leaf aprons were the energy of the flesh — man doing what he could do — and that God had nothing to do with that self-effort (Clip 6). From this Les draws a universal principle: mankind will never of his own volition go looking for God; God always has to make the first move (Clip 5). Adam and Eve, he says, were restored into fellowship by faith, just as every Old Testament believer was, and God has done everything possible through Christ to bring fallen man back to Himself (Clip 7). Les applies Romans 5:20 — "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" — to show that God's grace was already evident even at the moment Adam sinned (Clip 4), while warning that this grace is not license (Clip 0).
Scripture records that after sewing their fig-leaf aprons, Adam and his wife hid themselves among the trees of the garden when they heard the Lord God walking in it (Genesis 3:8). Les Feldick observes the guilt that drives people to want to cover themselves — which is exactly what Adam and Eve did with the fig leaves (Clip 6). He also notes that Adam and Eve never ran to meet God; they hid (Clip 5). The larger principle, Les says, is that "mankind will never, of his own volition, go looking for God... God has to make the first move" (Clip 5).
Les Feldick answers directly: God went looking for Adam and Eve because of His grace. They had violently disobeyed Him, yet God did not abandon them. He reached down and brought Adam and Eve back into a relationship with Himself (Clip 2). Les emphasizes that God could have just forgotten about them, "zapped them, and started over," but His grace took Him to pursue them (Clip 3). This pattern, he says, has never changed — God always makes the first move toward fallen man (Clip 5).
Les Feldick is emphatic: even though believers today speak of the church age as the age of grace, God's grace as an attribute did not begin with the church. "God has been a God of grace from day one" (Clip 1). He points out that the word "grace" appears about thirty or forty times from Genesis up until Paul's writings (Clip 3). Paul himself writes in Romans 5:20, "But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound," and Les applies that directly to the Garden — even when Adam sinned, God's grace was already evident (Clip 4). The example of Noah, who "found grace in the eyes of the LORD" (Genesis 6:8), reinforces that grace was operating throughout the Old Testament (Clip 1).
Les Feldick notes that as soon as Adam and Eve's eyes were opened, they knew they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons (Genesis 3:7). He asks his class whether God told them to do this — the answer is no. Nor does Scripture say Satan suggested it (Clip 6). What prompted them was guilt, and their response was what Les calls "the energy of the flesh" — man doing what he can do to deal with his own sin. God had nothing to do with the fig-leaf covering (Clip 6).
Les Feldick teaches that after the Fall, God did everything necessary to bring fallen man back to his original state. "Adam was restored into fellowship by faith. Eve was restored into fellowship by faith." This was true all the way up through the Old Testament — restoration has always been by faith (Clip 7). While Adam's one sin brought the human race into condemnation, Christ superseded it: God, through the person of Jesus Christ, has reconciled it, paid the debt, and made everything possible to bring men back to Himself (Clip 7).
Grace Is Not License
Les clarifies that being secure in God's grace and election never gives a believer license to sin, which frames how grace operates in every age — including the grace shown in the Garden.
God's Grace From Day One
Les traces God's grace back to Eden: Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves and hid, and it was God's grace that prompted Him to go find them. Grace is an attribute of God that has existed from day one.
God Sought Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve did not go looking for God; God went looking for them. Les says the basis for this pursuit was His grace, and He brought them back into a relationship with Himself.
Grace That Pursues
God could have forgotten Adam and Eve, destroyed them, and started over, but His grace took Him to pursue them. Les also observes that the word 'grace' appears about 30–40 times from Genesis until Paul.
Grace Abounded in the Garden
Using Romans 5:20 — 'where sin abounded, grace did much more abound' — Les shows that even at the moment Adam sinned, God's grace was already evident.
God Makes the First Move
Adam and Eve hid rather than running to meet God, and God had to find them. Les draws the principle that mankind never seeks God on his own — God always makes the first move.
The Energy of the Flesh
The fig-leaf aprons were man's own effort — the energy of the flesh — not something God told them to do. This highlights why human works can never cover sin, making God's grace necessary.
Restored by Faith
Adam and Eve were restored into fellowship by faith, the same way all Old Testament believers were. God did everything possible through Christ to bring fallen man back to Himself.
Genesis 3:7: And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Shows man's inadequate self-effort to cover sin, which sets the stage for God's grace.
Genesis 3:8: 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.
Shows the guilty pair hiding from God, demonstrating why grace requires God to take the initiative.
Genesis 3:9: And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
God's call to the hiding sinner is the first visible act of grace — God seeking the sinner.
Genesis 6:8: But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
Les uses this verse to prove God's grace was present and active long before the New Testament, already operating in the earliest chapters of Genesis.
Romans 5:20: Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.
Paul's declaration that grace superabounds over sin, which Les applies directly to the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden.
Yes. Les Feldick teaches that God has been a God of grace from day one — grace is an attribute of God that did not start with the church or with Paul. In the Garden of Eden, God's grace prompted Him to go looking for Adam and Eve after they sinned (Clips 1, 3).
Les explains that God could have forgotten them, "zapped them, and started over," but His grace took Him to pursue them instead. He reached down and brought Adam and Eve back into a relationship with Himself (Clips 2, 3).
By faith. Les Feldick teaches that Adam was restored into fellowship by faith and Eve was restored into fellowship by faith, just as all Old Testament believers were. The fig-leaf aprons — human works — were never God's solution (Clips 6, 7).
Paul's statement in Romans 5:20 means that even at the moment of Adam's sin, God's grace went far beyond the offense. Les applies this directly to Genesis: God's grace has always been evident, even in the Garden (Clip 4).
Watch the Teaching: Does God Harden Hearts? Romans 9:18-24 and the Potter's Clay