Reading Genesis chapter 3 I am struck by the fact that Adam and Eve, upon eating the fruit, had their eyes opened and they realized that they were naked before God. We tend to focus on the meaning of the word naked the way we use it to mean “without clothing” when in fact I believe what the Bible is trying to convey is not just that they were without clothing but that they had something to be ashamed of and had no way of hiding it.

The nakedness of Adam and Eve was not the problem. Their lack of clothing was not an issue before they sinned. Why not? Because they had nothing to hide. When we say that you are naked we mean that you cannot hide what it is that you want to hide. When we are referring to clothing, you obviously want to hide the parts of your body that nobody else is supposed to see. But, the nakedness that Adam and Eve experienced before they sinned had nothing to do with their lack of clothing because it wasn’t a problem. The fact that they were naked was perfectly acceptable to them because they had nothing to hide nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to repent of.

Perhaps one of the problems in our society today stems from the fact that we do not realize how truly naked we are without the covering of the blood of Christ as we stand before God who sees all and knows all. We think we can hide things from Him. We think nobody knows what we do behind closed doors. But the Bible says in Hebrews 4:13
“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”

No matter how much you think you have hidden from God, you can be sure that you have hidden absolutely nothing from him. The idea that God doesn’t know or doesn’t understand the sins you have committed could not be more wrong. One day your sins will be laid bare before Him and you will have to acknowledge that He has known all along that you do not deserve Paradise but rather an eternity in hell. How much better to recognize that fact and be forgiven for those sins while there is still time?

When a person trusts in Christ as Savior, the Bible makes reference of receiving a cloak. When we get to heaven we will receive new robes. Adam and Eve received robes made of skins from a dead animal. The reason why those of us in heaven are given robes is to signify the fact that the only reason we are there is that Jesus has taken away our shame. He has taken away our reason for wanting to hide something. Since we will be wearing the robes of the righteousness of Christ, we have nothing to hide from God. We have already been forgiven for every sin we have ever committed as followers of Jesus Christ.

So the question is not, “Are you naked?” because we all are naked before God. The question is, “Has your nakedness, your shame at your sin, been covered by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ?”