Where are you Adam (guilt and shame)?

Before the fall we read that Adam and Eve were naked, and they were not ashamed (Genesis 2:25). When, because of their sin their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked (Genesis 3:7), they were afraid and they hid (verse 10). They were hiding from God and, trying to control things by sewing fig leaves together, they were also hiding from each other and from themselves. Adam and Eve were suffering from both guilt and shame. Though guilt and shame are related, they are not the same. Roughly speaking, guilt says I did something wrong, shame says there’s something wrong with me. The cure for guilt is to be forgiven. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive when we confess to Him (1 John 1:9).

It seems to me that Adam and Eve must have been suffering both from feelings of guilt, and from feelings of shame. Certainly they were guilty, they had eaten the fruit they were commanded not to eat (Genesis 2:17; 3:6). But as we have seen, they were afraid because they were naked. They had not sinned by being naked, for they were naked and not ashamed in their state of innocence (Genesis 2:25). In fact, shame can be totally unrelated to sin. In Bible times the barren woman was shamed because her barrenness was seen (falsely) to be a punishment for God for some unknown sin. And in Isaiah 54:4, we read of the Lord telling the barren woman that she will not be ashamed anymore.

We need to see that what the Bible is talking about here, is much more than about physical nakedness. It’s about reversing what Adam and Eve had before the fall, openness, vulnerability, transparency and loving relationships. Mother Teresa put it well when she said “Nakedness is much more than for a piece of cloth.” Post fall, it’s about loss of dignity, about loss of face, of being seen or considered to be deficient. It may or may not be related to sin. The good news though, is that shame was included in Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross. I mean He was publicly shamed both by being crucified, and by being crucified naked. It seems to me, that that this is part of what it means when He tells us that He faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9 again).

Father, shame can be so debilitating, but it’s really not from You! The Scriptures tells us that You are not ashamed to call us brethren (Hebrews 2:11). So I come to You again this morning Lord with a thankful heart, thanking You that both our guilt and our shame are covered by the blood of your Son. Since You are not ashamed of us, we must not be ashamed of You. So I pray this morning Lord, that You would give us the boldness, the peace and the grace to always be ready to give an answer of the hope that is within us with meekness and with fear. And I give You the honour and glory and praise again in Your precious and Holy and lovely Name Amen