“I’m naked!” is a scary and disturbing statement! In fact, I thought I was naked a few days ago! In order to effectively convey why, I should probably explain a little bit about how I sit down.
Yes, my method of sitting down. So, when I was little, I often had the chair moved when I went to sit down. Now I actively search out the chair with my very own seat so I don’t fall on my backside. I received a new pair of pants this Christmas that are pretty stretchy. (I know! Denim technology has made a few advancements!) When I went to sit down with these new stretchy jeans, the jeans stretched with me, which I was not use to, so I thought I didn’t have any pants on.
Being naked is such a great fear that we all have. There’s that classic dream of going to school or work and being completely naked. In the dream, we all have the extreme desire to clothe ourselves with something, but we can’t seem to find anything to cover ourselves with so we focus on the people laughing and mocking us.
In the beginning, God created a perfect world. The world was without sin. Genesis 2:25 reads, “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” This means nakedness, in and of itself, isn’t a sin, but, like most things in this world, is corrupted by sin. In Genesis 3:7, right after the fall, it's stated, “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.
And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.” Immediately, after Adam and Eve sin, the two tried to cover up their sin. Since the very beginning, humanity has been trying to cover their nakedness, and failing.
Once Adam and Eve sinned, they broke the relationship between God and each other. Fortunately, God had a plan, like He always does. Even though His creation just released sin and corruption upon the entire creation, first he clothed them. In Genesis 3:21, God “made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin and clothed them”. Fig leaves wouldn’t do the job so God, in His great compassion, knew that bloodshed would be the only way to effectively clothe Adam and Eve from their sin.
The blood of these animals would be the first of many sacrifices made throughout the entire old testament required by God’s for His people to earn favor in His eyes.
God also provided the sacrifice that would satisfy His anger once and for all. Christ died naked on a cross, shedding his blood, to satisfy God’s anger. The author of Hebrews names Jesus the “founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Christ endured the humility before God so that we never would.
Now, through Baptism, we are literally clothed with Christ. Galatians 3:27 reads, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” We cannot clothe ourselves from the shame of nakedness because of our sinful nature.
Whether it be our physical clothes, like pants and a shirt, or the figurative clothes we try to put on our personalities, such as human-attained perfection or good works without faith, God sees through them all for the wretched beings we are.
But with Christ there is forgiveness. We are seen as fully- clothed children of God through Baptism and our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior. No longer is there the fear of humiliation or inadequate before God because we are clothed with Christ.
Thankful for the robe of Christ to cover my nakedness,
JS
