And They Knew They Were Naked

Some thoughts on Genesis 3

Here are a few thoughts I sent to a friend today in response to a question about Genesis 3…

Sometimes it’s helpful to think about the literal imagery first.

Adam and Eve were naked. God created them that way, walked with them in the garden while they were naked, and commissioned them to be imagers while they were naked.

It’s not until they eat of the tree that their eyes are opened and their nakedness brings shame.

At the very depth of being, Adam and Eve were children of God. Even though they were created a little lower than the envoys, they were good… very good in fact.

When the serpent tempted them to take of the fruit, he lied and said that doing so would make them like God. Of course, this was true in a sense, but it made them forget they were already like God, having been made in the Divine’s image.

In reaching forth through their own effort and taking of the tree in order to seize another level of being all on their own, something God didn’t need them to have in order to fellowship them, they realized their own inadequacy. They realized their humble state.

But Christ, who was also made lower than the envoys, took on the image of man, didn’t “reach out to seize” the fruit, and revealed to us the heart of God: while we were considered enemies and sinners, God poured out love for us. That is, even in our nakedness, we are loved, cherished, and, indeed, very good.

Never through reaching out and grasping for ourselves can we become partakes of the Divine nature. Christ, instead, fulfills the righteous requirement of the Law, bestows upon us the image of God via gift, and tasks us with being image bearers today, despite what doubts we have because of our own inadequacies.

And instead of being clothed with the feeble leaves of our own works or even God-given animal skin, we put on the garments of Christ.