"And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed"Gen:2:25
In the great creation epic of Genesis, we are told that the creator God made Adam and Eve and that he made them naked.
The Lord had had formed the man Adam outside of the Garden of Eden gave him life and placed him in the midst of this idealict Paradise.
"Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it". Gen:2:7-9, 15
Eve
After bring the man Adam into the Garden the Lord then brings forth wife out of the man himself and presents her to Adam.
"So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame." (21-25)
Sin Brought Shame
Adam and Eve were naked together before one another and their creator but they had no shame. There was shame only when they both sinned by heeding the voice of Satan in the guise of a serpent and taking and eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
"Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” Gen:3:7-11
Adam and Eve taking the prerogative of what is "good and evil" to themselves altered their relationship with one another and with God. They now had a distorted view of God, and each other, and who they were created to be , and were always meant to be.
Their nakedness was ,in their minds something to be avoided and they attempt to cover it by their own efforts thru sewing fig leaves together.
There entered now a a profound sense of shame and they are led to hide among the foliage of the garden to avoid God himself even as he calls out to them.
"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”"
Where Are You?
With their minds now having an altered view of God they now had sought to avoid him, yet it is God who comes looking for Adam and Eve. It is humanity, embodied in Adam, who hides from the creator . In God interaction with them he asked them a simple yet probing question. "Where are you?" The Lord God knew where his human children where, but he wanted them to know where they are.
Hostile in Your Minds
What Adam and Eve did, is to demonstrate thru their actions, what St.Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Church are Colossi Greece regarding the attitude of mind which alienated humanity from our God.
"And you, alienated as you once were and even hostile in your minds, amidst your evil deeds,"Col:1:21
That is, all humanity ,embodied in our first parents, have had a latent hostility toward God. This hostility has manifested in our collective and individual lives. This hostility which manifest in different ways, including wanting to avoiding God,ignorance of God,indifference toward God and even defiance toward God.
This hostility arises out of a distorted view of God, that is what occurred in Adam and Eve's minds, it was their minds which became hostile toward God, not God's toward them, God came looking for them, even after their minds were darken toward him.. This hostility, which now alienated humanity, in the person of Adam , and led he and Eve to hide and to cover their nakedness, has kept humanity from having a right relationship toward God and toward one another. Adam and Eve could no longer feel right being naked before God and one another, they had from God and attempted to cover themselves by sewing leaves together not wanting to be exposed before God.
Naked Before God
God made our first parents naked, he could have very easily dressed them, but did not. Why? In creating humanity naked in the persons of Adam and Eve God was showing us what it is he had intended for us all. Our Lord wanted humanity to be naked before him, that is nothing would be covered. Our Lord wanted a completely open relationship with his human Children, that means there would be nothing to separate us from he and one another, we would all be naked before having no shame, recall that shame only entered when their view of God became distorted.
"Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame"Gen:2:25
This is not to say ,that as the human family grew over time that all would go unclothed , that is not the case, God himself would have provided the extended human family with the appropriate attire, nakedness before God is condition of the heart, meaning that we are completely before him with nothing to obstruct of relationship with our God and each other. There would be no shame.
"No creature is hidden from Him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account" Heb:4:13
God Calls to Us
Adam and Eve being created naked only shows us what is true, that our Lord sees us for what we are ,yet, loves us none-the-less. He comes and seeks us out even when we hide among the trees of this world. That means our God is always reaching out to us knowing full well where we are hiding.
This God has come to us in the person of his holy Son Jesus, and comes us to beckoning to us, asking us all "where are you?" .
"He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2Thess:2:14
Our God wants us to see where we are , where we are hiding from him among the trees of this world , to come out and meet him , to feel no shame before him, to see God as he truly is, as a loving Father who wants us to experience his unconditional love for us, in spite of who we are or what we have done.
Thru Jesus our God has come calling us , and in Jesus, who we meet in the Gospel message, we encounter a loving Father who wants us and desires us to know him.
"If you have seen me you have seen the Father"Jhn:14:9
Clothed With Christ
Thru Jesus our God has provided us the appropriate attire , even as he covered Adam and Eve's nakedness with the sacrifice of skins for them.
"The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them"Gen:3:21
God did this for two reasons , one to look ahead to the sacrifice of his Son Jesus upon the Cross which takes away all of humanities excuses from being excluded from a relationship with God , and to eliminate the shame which Adam and Eve were feeling, toward he and one another.
Thru Jesus we have been given the appropriate attire that we might be at ease with him having the shame which sin brings upon covered over.
"for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ"Gal:3:27
Jesus is the garment be which we may adorn our selves and bring peace to our hostile minds and take away our shame.
Their nakedness was ,in their minds something to be avoided and they attempt to cover it by their own efforts thru sewing fig leaves together.
There entered now a a profound sense of shame and they are led to hide among the foliage of the garden to avoid God himself even as he calls out to them.
"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”"
Where Are You?
With their minds now having an altered view of God they now had sought to avoid him, yet it is God who comes looking for Adam and Eve. It is humanity, embodied in Adam, who hides from the creator . In God interaction with them he asked them a simple yet probing question. "Where are you?" The Lord God knew where his human children where, but he wanted them to know where they are.
Hostile in Your Minds
What Adam and Eve did, is to demonstrate thru their actions, what St.Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Church are Colossi Greece regarding the attitude of mind which alienated humanity from our God.
"And you, alienated as you once were and even hostile in your minds, amidst your evil deeds,"Col:1:21
That is, all humanity ,embodied in our first parents, have had a latent hostility toward God. This hostility has manifested in our collective and individual lives. This hostility which manifest in different ways, including wanting to avoiding God,ignorance of God,indifference toward God and even defiance toward God.
This hostility arises out of a distorted view of God, that is what occurred in Adam and Eve's minds, it was their minds which became hostile toward God, not God's toward them, God came looking for them, even after their minds were darken toward him.. This hostility, which now alienated humanity, in the person of Adam , and led he and Eve to hide and to cover their nakedness, has kept humanity from having a right relationship toward God and toward one another. Adam and Eve could no longer feel right being naked before God and one another, they had from God and attempted to cover themselves by sewing leaves together not wanting to be exposed before God.
Naked Before God
God made our first parents naked, he could have very easily dressed them, but did not. Why? In creating humanity naked in the persons of Adam and Eve God was showing us what it is he had intended for us all. Our Lord wanted humanity to be naked before him, that is nothing would be covered. Our Lord wanted a completely open relationship with his human Children, that means there would be nothing to separate us from he and one another, we would all be naked before having no shame, recall that shame only entered when their view of God became distorted.
"Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame"Gen:2:25
This is not to say ,that as the human family grew over time that all would go unclothed , that is not the case, God himself would have provided the extended human family with the appropriate attire, nakedness before God is condition of the heart, meaning that we are completely before him with nothing to obstruct of relationship with our God and each other. There would be no shame.
"No creature is hidden from Him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account" Heb:4:13
God Calls to Us
Adam and Eve being created naked only shows us what is true, that our Lord sees us for what we are ,yet, loves us none-the-less. He comes and seeks us out even when we hide among the trees of this world. That means our God is always reaching out to us knowing full well where we are hiding.
This God has come to us in the person of his holy Son Jesus, and comes us to beckoning to us, asking us all "where are you?" .
"He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2Thess:2:14
Our God wants us to see where we are , where we are hiding from him among the trees of this world , to come out and meet him , to feel no shame before him, to see God as he truly is, as a loving Father who wants us to experience his unconditional love for us, in spite of who we are or what we have done.
Thru Jesus our God has come calling us , and in Jesus, who we meet in the Gospel message, we encounter a loving Father who wants us and desires us to know him.
"If you have seen me you have seen the Father"Jhn:14:9
Clothed With Christ
Thru Jesus our God has provided us the appropriate attire , even as he covered Adam and Eve's nakedness with the sacrifice of skins for them.
"The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them"Gen:3:21
God did this for two reasons , one to look ahead to the sacrifice of his Son Jesus upon the Cross which takes away all of humanities excuses from being excluded from a relationship with God , and to eliminate the shame which Adam and Eve were feeling, toward he and one another.
Thru Jesus we have been given the appropriate attire that we might be at ease with him having the shame which sin brings upon covered over.
"for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ"Gal:3:27
Jesus is the garment be which we may adorn our selves and bring peace to our hostile minds and take away our shame.
Our God ,thru the proclamation of the Gospel about his Holy Son Jesus, calls out to us all. Our Lord calls us to himself into a relationship where we feel no shame for brokenness and failures, where we can truly stand knowing that he loves in spite of ourselves and who wants us to stand naked before him with nothing to keep us apart.
Benediction: May we each and all hear the calling out to us of our God thru the Gospel and come form forth from among the trees of this world in which we have been hiding , and come forth and be clothed only in his holy Son Jesus Christ, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen
Rev. Todd Crouch, Pastor
The Fountain of life Church a Congregation of Grace Communion , 2101 Old National Pike, Washington, Pennsylvania, 15301. www.gcfountainoflife.org
The Fountain of Life is heard on the RKP Radio Network 1710 and 1670 AM in Washington and North Franklin ,and 1790 AM in the Arden Fair Grounds area of Washington Pennsylvania, and on 1710 AM in Bentleyville and Monongahela, Pennsylvania. And online around the world at www.rkpradio.com
You can follow the Fountain of Life on Face Book - Click on our Face Book link : https://www.facebook.com/Fountain-of-Life-Church-349595355088375/
The Fountain of life Church a Congregation of Grace Communion , 2101 Old National Pike, Washington, Pennsylvania, 15301. www.gcfountainoflife.org
The Fountain of Life is heard on the RKP Radio Network 1710 and 1670 AM in Washington and North Franklin ,and 1790 AM in the Arden Fair Grounds area of Washington Pennsylvania, and on 1710 AM in Bentleyville and Monongahela, Pennsylvania. And online around the world at www.rkpradio.com
You can follow the Fountain of Life on Face Book - Click on our Face Book link : https://www.facebook.com/Fountain-of-Life-Church-349595355088375/
"If It Is Not About Jesus, It Is Not About Anything"
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