What does it mean that Adam and Eve were naked and not ashamed (Genesis 2:25)?

Response

Genesis 1 recounts the creation week during which God formed the heavens and the earth and populated them with creatures intended to carry out His plan and purpose. Genesis 2 provides a closer look at His creation of the first man and woman, and the final outcome of all this creative work is stated as, “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” «And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.», (Genesis 2:25, ESV). Adam and Eve were pure, without sin or guilt, and therefore felt no shame. The events in Genesis 3 shed light on the true value of that state of innocence.

In Genesis 2:16–17, God had cautioned Adam that although he was free to eat from almost any tree, he was forbidden from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The consequence of disobeying this command would be death. In Genesis 3:1, the serpent enticed Eve to consume the forbidden fruit, and she did, with Adam joining her. Upon eating, their eyes were opened in a new way—now, for the first time, they realized their nakedness «And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. », (Genesis 3:7a). Adam and Eve had been free of guilt. They had not disobeyed God, so there was no cause for shame. However, after breaking His command, they became aware of their guilt. They had transgressed against their Creator, and that guilt weighed on them, leading to shame over their nakedness.

While they remained sinless, they felt no need for covering. There was no condemnation or scrutiny upon them. But once they sinned, they became acutely aware, in their guilt and shame, that they were eExposed. So they fashioned clothes from fig leaves to cover their loins, or their genital areas «And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. », (Genesis 3:7b). They tried to conceal their guilt and shame with the product of their own efforts. This was the remarkable initial attempt at works salvation—they tried to rid themselves of guilt by concealing their nakedness on their own. When God called out to Adam, he initially hid because he realized he was naked and was afraid «And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. », (Genesis 3:10).

Ever since Adam’s sin, nakedness has been linked with shame (see 2 Samuel 10:4-5;Isaiah 47:3;Ezekiel 16:39;Ezekiel 23:29;Hosea 2:3;Nahum 3:5;Revelation 16:15). The fall has impacted all of us. We all have an inherent sense that we require a covering. Being exposed to others makes us feel uneasy, vulnerable, and afraid.

As the Genesis narrative progresses, it becomes clear that our own attempts to cover ourselves cannot redeem or save us from our guilt and shame. Adam and Eve were under the penalty foretold in Genesis 2:16–17. On that day, they died—they were no longer able to dwell with God, but were separated from Him and the relationship was broken. Furthermore, their bodies would eventually succumb to death as stated in the additional consequence introduced in Genesis 3:19.

But God revealed the solution to Adam and Eve. In Genesis 3:15, God proclaimed that one day the seed of Eve would crush the head of the serpent. Later, GoD is even more specific about a forthcoming Savior who would not merely cover guilt and shame. Through His own blood and the loss of His life, He would fully pay the required penalty so that those who were guilty could be righteous before God. The blood of this Savior would once and for all cover the guilt and shame of humanity. Though this plan of salvation was not extensively detailed in Genesis, by the time of Cain and Abel (Adam and Eve’s first children), there was an understanding that without the shedding of blood, there is no covering for sin. Abel offered God a sacrifice of a slain lamb, which God accepted «And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: », (Genesis 4:4).

Later, during the time of the Mosaic Law, God prescribed animal sacrifices so that people would comprehend the severity of sin and the exceedingly high price that had to be paid to address it: life itself, symbolized by the pouring out of the blood of the sacrifice. While we were all separated from God due to sin, the Savior took on our guilt and paid the price with His own blood «All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. », (Isaiah 53:6). Through His blood, we can draw near to Him and experience the fellowship with God that we were meant to have from the beginning «but now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. », (Ephesians 2:13). By His grace, God liberates us from our guilt and shame, simply requiring us to believe in Him or place our trust in Him, rather than in our own efforts.

Just as in Genesis 3, God providedA covering for Adam and Eve, God in His mercy provides a covering for all those who come to Him in repentance and faith: “I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10; cf: Ezekiel 16:8). In heaven, the shame of our nakedness and the disgrace of our sin will be covered with “fine linen, bright and clean” «And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. », (Revelation 19:8).