The man and his wife hid
themselves from the
presence of the Lord God.
Genesis 3:8
Genesis 1 is the story of creation, and it was good, good, and very good.
Genesis 2 was very good too. It was a glorious garden - Eden - and the final triumphant words of this (scripture's second chapter) are "not ashamed." (Because there was no sin, things were very good and there was nothing to be ashamed about!)
Scripture is giving us a picture of what this unashamedness looks like. It's answered by one word: "Naked."
Now, here's the question: Why do we cover up?
Let's start with physical nakedness. Most cover up because we're less than thrilled with parts of our body! But why? Animals don't cover up, but humans do. So why? It's because of sin. People judge; therefore, we're wary of the judgment - and constant evaluation - of others. We cover up ... fearfully ... protectively ... because of sin.
We also cover up our physical nakedness because of another sin: Lust. To be blunt and earthy - but for a theological reason - dogs don't cover up. Indeed, a female dog in heat may have encounters by many, many male dogs. This is normal. We don’t think much of it. And unless we over-anthropomorphize our dogs, we don't cover them up. This is nature.
So why do we cover up human nakedness? It's because we're not dogs. There's something sacred about human sexuality. It’s designed into us by the creator. Therefore, we cover up a woman because she’s sacred (and to protect her from unwelcome lustful advances). We cover her up to protect the man from lusting in his heart and violating God's intent for human sexuality only within the sanctity of marriage.
Therefore, without sin - without self-consciousness, judgment, lust, and (old word) fornication - nakedness would be God's holy ideal. Indeed, without sin, there's no need for any barriers between people. (And clothing is a cloth barrier.) And there are other kinds of nakedness that God intended for humans to enjoy. But because of anger, betrayal, cheating, lies, and pain, people put walls and barriers between themselves and others. We are too rarely emotionally naked and psychologically naked. We don't share our fears and our dreams because we're afraid we'll be belittled and judged.
Thus, because of sin, we live in a world of walls. We put barriers between ourselves and others because we've been hurt and don't fully trust.
We also put walls between us and God. That's what today's passage is all about. And it's all about trust. We're ashamed. That's what sin does. We're guilty, and we know it. We lie, cheat, steal, and have doubts. And because we anthropromorphize God, we can't fully trust. We can't believe he's more loving than a nice human. We can't comprehend that he's as forgiving as the father in the parable of the prodigal son. Therefore, we try to hide from God all of our faults and fears ... because we're afraid we'll be judged.
We also try to hide from him, because we simply want to do what we want to do. We’re self-centered. Greedy. Lustful. Deceptive. Therefore, we fool ourselves into thinking that if we don't really admit our sins, God won't really see our wantonness and betrayals. Like in the Wizard of Oz, we're trying to fool God, calling, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."
Well, guess what: The man behind the curtain -- each of us -- is naked. And God sees it all. And yet he still loves. Yes, he continually grieves … as sin continually hurts us and others. Tremendously. Therefore, he implores us to repent. Confession is stripping off the illusion of clothes. He knows all already. And what he doesn't want is the lies, the cover up, the illusion that we can't be seen. He wants you.
In Christ's Love,
a guy who is writing this
while wearing clothes
(I wonder why?)
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