Naked and Afraid – 29 March 2023, Anno Domini

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ND the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. (Genesis 3:9-10)

 

            The Fall of Man in Adam is one of the greatest apparent tragedies of Holy Scripture; however, God was neither surprised nor dismayed at Adam’s knowing disobedience to His single Commandment concerning partaking of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. In is providential foreknowledge, God knew the two progenitors of our race could not overcome the temptation of the Serpent. 

 

            The moment Eve partook, and gave Adam, both died immediately in the spiritual sense, and gradually in the physical. They had no prior knowledge of sin, but now the great burden of guilt overwhelmed them. They discovered that they were naked and were very afraid. 

 

            The couple at first attempted to hide their nakedness from God by sewing fig leaves together to cover their nakedness, but their works of self-redemption profited nothing in the penetrating eyes of the Lord. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 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. (vv 6 & 7) Man has always sought the wisdom that would make them equal, or above, God Almighty, but those efforts always end in ruination.

 

            Nakedness has become something well received in our modern society. Our children are subjected to it on the various media sources, and it seems that it has led to every kind of perverse behavior. Though public nakedness always merits the disfavor of God, nakedness itself is representative of all sin that cannot be concealed from the searching eyes of God. 

 

            The feeble works of Adam and Eve to cover their sins by the labor of their hands proved totally unfruitful. So today, good works cannot cover our sins – it is only the blood-stained Robe of Righteous purchased by our Lord Jesus Christ that can cover the filth of our sins.

 

            Knowing the enormity of their disobedience, Adam and Eve, knowing they were now naked before the Lord tried to hide their sin by covering their nakedness. Such efforts have been the object of almost all major religions – only the Gospel of Christ offers forgiveness and redemption apart from good works. Only the Gospel of Christ offers a substitute for the condemnation of sin. 

 

            That one whose sins are so grievous and habitual that he can no longer sense the error of his ways is much like that sinner whose sins have seared his conscience as a hot iron sears a wound. Paul describes those sinners in 1 Timothy 4:1-2 1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron. 

 

            The knowledge of our sins instill the fear of judgment in the hearts of those whose hearts are still malleable to faith, love, and truth. Just as Adam and Eve were fearful and ashamed of their nakedness, so is the sinner whose heart is being drawn to the Mercy Seat of God. Fear is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10) But that fear is the mechanism by which we are drawn to repentance and salvation in Christ. The fear of damnation does not remain as a mortal fear, rather the fear becomes one of dread in dishonoring the Name of the One who died for you. It is no longer the fear of a brutal judgment to death, but one of a fear to dishonor or bring shame on the Heavenly Father and His only Begotten Son who purchased your adoption into the family of God by a precious sacrifice at Golgotha.

 

            We are all naked before the Lord, but now, in Christ, we are given a covering Robe of Righteousness that is imputed to us by way of our Lord Jesus Christ and the purchase He made for us.