Peek-a-boo

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. (Genesis 3:6-7 ESV).

Before their rebellion, Adam and Eve were in a state of pure innocence, completely exposed to God in their nakedness. In their original status, they were unashamed, a state of being that was lost due to their sin. Their sin had made them aware of their nakedness and caused them to feel shame. Both were so frightened of the Lord because of their nakedness they tried to hide from God, which we know is impossible. They were ashamed.

As humans, we have an antipathy for being naked in public despite the use and preoccupation of nudity within our society. Nudity is meant to be private. We understand this from the context of nudity throughout scripture.

God displayed his mercy at the beginning of creation despite the disobedience of Adam and Eve. God could have said, 'You disobeyed me; you are naked; now get out and never come back.' But God, in His infinite mercy, did not abandon them. In Genesis 3:21, we see God's compassion for Adam and Eve. “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”

This is the power of salvation. John wrote in 3:20, “ For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” Like Adam and Eve, we are exposed, we are naked in our sin, and we are ashamed. But through salvation, Christ clothes us again, He redeems us from our sin, and we are clothed in white through His blood. This is not just a covering but a transformation, a renewal of our being.

Like the clothing of skin God had sewn together, He also had sewn our salvation through Christ. When we are justified and sin, we are shamed and convicted by the Spirit, and we repent for what we have done and will do. This is because even our best efforts at righteousness, in the eyes of God, are like dirty rags compared to the perfect righteousness of Christ.

Our God is merciful and loving. When we place our faith in Him, we are born again in the Spirit, which means we experience a spiritual rebirth and are clothed in the righteousness of Christ, like royalty.

Do you know Christ?

Grace and Peace!