Nakedness and the Holiness of God
Tim Keller | March 21, 1993
Overview
We were created perfect in a perfect world. Adam and Eve rebelled against God’s rule, which resulted in sin, shame, and nakedness. Ever since, we have been trying to cover our nakedness and hide our true selves from God, ourselves, and other people. We can never adequately deal with our nakedness, but God has come into our wrecked world to provide a perfect cover for us.
Outline
Understanding Genesis 3:7–24
Genesis 3 shows us a perfect world that was ruined by human mistakes and disagreements. Even in this mess, God looks for us, asking “Where are you?” not to punish us, but to lead us back to Him. This question helps us understand the Bible’s main story, the history of our world, and who we are. It also helps us think about how we, as humans, are weak and how God offers us a way to overcome our weaknesses.
1. The problem of nakedness
In the Bible, being naked means being fully known. This wasn’t a problem for Adam and Eve until they disobeyed God. After that, being naked made them feel scared and unacceptable. Their fear and sense of loss remind us of how good things used to be and how we often struggle between wanting to be fully known and loved, and thinking that people will only love us if they don’t know everything about us.
2. How people try to hide their nakedness
Many times, people try to hide their mistakes and fears by changing how they look and act so others will see them in a good light. This can lead to working too hard or always helping others, like Adam and Eve covering themselves with fig leaves. Some people even use religion to cover up, but no matter what, we can’t escape our own judgment, reminding us that we can’t hide from God.
3. How God helps us with our nakedness
We all have things about ourselves that we can’t fix on our own, like a child who needs a parent to fix their blankets at night. God, through Jesus, covers our mistakes and makes us feel valuable again. This shows us that being a Christian is about accepting what Jesus did for us, not about being perfect or pretending to be someone we’re not. We should find out who we are in Jesus, letting God’s love change us into more caring and helpful people.
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