Who Told You That You Were Naked?
Several years ago I got a voicemail from a Hollywood producer thanking me for applying to the show Naked & Afraid and saying she’d like to talk more about having me as a contestant. She had reached the true Courtney based on the information, but the application was a lie. Some friends played a prank, and boy did they get me. Have no fear: I called her back and said, “I’m afraid that I will not be getting naked in the woods nor putting it on television!”
Adam and Eve, however, were in fact naked and afraid in the Garden of Eden after they chose to disobey God.
When questioned by God, Eve blamed the snake, and Adam blamed Eve. Matthew Henry says, “those who are willing to take the pleasure and profit of sin, are backward to take the blame and shame of it.”
God’s questions in Genesis 3 were to help Adam & Eve understand that the fault was their own. Yes, we know there was deception, and doubts were planted. We know the appearance of the fruit drew them in and created a deep longing that needed satisfaction. We know they heard outright lies.
However, those are not the reasons Adam and Eve were hiding from God and ashamed of their nakedness. Acting on lies and leaning into deception is bad, but the truth is: they disobeyed God, and for that, there were consequences: both external and internal.
Adam and Eve knew God and his Word, yet they didn't stand on it to combat the deceiver or the doubts. They didn’t let it stop them from outright disobedience. They chose to feast on forbidden fruit instead of the eternal truths of God. Simply put, Adam and Eve exchanged the truth of God for a lie.
They aren’t the only ones. In my life, I can come up with excuses and certainly find things and people to blame, but the bottom line is: my sin results in many real consequences like shame, broken relationships and unmet expectations. My designs on sin mean that I miss the mark on full life.
God’s design is meant to guide our lives: lives of true freedom (naked & unafraid), being provided for in abundance (the Garden of Eden), and having unencumbered communication with God (speaking with him face to face). The Designer sets the rules, the borders, and the methods, and they are good, infinitely good. We, His design, are to follow His way and enjoy His creation and each other. When we don’t, we won’t experience freedom, abundance and intimacy with God.
All design is this way. For example, you can’t put diesel fuel in an engine designed to run on gasoline. It doesn’t work, and it causes big problems. With even bigger implications— when we don’t follow the design for life that God created: life doesn’t work, and there are consequences, deep ones: shame, fear, blame, anger, hatred, broken relationships, war and death, to name a few.
In this life there will be deception. The grass (and fruit) will look greener on the other side even when it’s not. The evil one and this world will lie to you.
But…. we have a way to combat this deception. We have the Word of the Creator. We must cling to it; memorize it; hide it in our hearts. We can hold up scripture and God’s promises to the lies and doubts, and live by His Word, not by the world’s.
So the answer to the question, “who told you that you were naked?” is no one. No one had to tell Adam and Eve they were naked. They saw it. They felt it. Their sin told them. The resulting shame of their disobedience was eye-opening. The covering-up, the hiding, the fear was now part of their being… and then it became ours.
I’m so thankful we know the One who is the way, the truth and the life as we navigate this broken world. He rescued us from our guilt and shame. He covered not only our naked shame but our sinful hearts with his blood and with his love. Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us…. that we might be covered for eternity…. and live today in the freedom God designed for us.
