[Genesis 3:8-13]
Eating the fruit from the tree ushered in a shift of perspective for Adam and Eve that brought feelings of shame, guilt, and desire for concealment. Why would this be the case? Was it wrong for them to be naked? Did God create them with flaws that would make them ashamed and want to hide? God created them and said they were good – the serpent told them the fruit would give them knowledge of good and evil – so covering themselves is a weird decision for them to make and hiding from God doesn’t seem right because God is good and they were created good…so why hide?
Obviously, the serpent deceived them. Knowledge of good and evil doesn’t seem to be the initial result of eating the fruit, but shame is. Gen. 2:25 says that they were naked and felt no shame. This has now changed and they feel shame for their nakedness. This is not recognition of good and evil, because their nakedness isn’t an evil thing…it was how God created them. Shame and guilt is what they find.
Now, we today are still dealing with the repercussions, wrestling with our own shame, using our own figurative fig leaves to hide ourselves behind. It is sad to know, that due to our own esteem issues and lack of self-worth, we can also work hard from behind these walls to penetrate other people’s fortresses with insults, attitudes, and actions that bring more shame and hurt into their lives.
Adam and Eve seemed to have some concept of good and evil before they ate the fruit. They knew right from wrong and seemed to understand the terms. The knowledge they seemed to have acquired was of a deceptive quality. Of course the serpent is the one who told them what they would receive (though the name of the tree seems pretty self explanatory)…God only told them they would receive death.
As I mentioned at the beginning, shame brings about desire for concealment – wanting to hide. Looking at the passage, we find three areas of concealment that Adam and Eve used, which we today still struggle with. When we begin to understand our spirituality, we find that our growth is about us coming out of hiding. It is about learning to deal with these three areas of concealment in a proper way that allow us to flourish in our relationship with God and others. The three areas of concealment are:
- I. Hiding from each other
-using the fig leaves to make clothing
- II. Hiding from God
-hiding in the bushes as God walks through the garden
- III. Hiding from ourselves
-Adam blaming the woman and the woman blaming the serpent…not wanting to recognize one’s own faults and failures.
We will wrestle with these three areas for the extent of our lives here on earth. We will never be able to deal with them fully, but progress can be made. We deceive ourselves if we think we can deal with these issues on our own, as if we have the power and control handle this.
We are in need of redemption and a savior. We need to become the new creation that Paul talks about. We no longer live lives hidden in darkness, but we walk in the light as Jesus is in the light. We find confidence to no longer walk through life with shame and guilt because we now live in the realm of grace. Excitement and hope are more pronounced parts of our lives and we wish to offer this wonderful way of life to those around us. Jesus tells us not to hide our light under and basket, but to let it shine for the world to see.
