“Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.” Revelation 16:15

Dictionary Definitions

Nakedness: Having no clothing or protection, exposed to harm

Restoration:

1.      A return of something to a former, original, normal or unimpaired condition.

2.      Restitution of something taken away or lost

3.      A putting back into former position, dignity

4.      Something that is restored, as by renovating.

In the beginning Adam and Eve enjoyed fellowship with the Lord. What was it that separated them from God? It was mistrust. There was no reason to doubt God’s love, but as soon as the serpent placed doubt into the heart of Eve, she mistrusted. Anything outside faith and trust in God is sin (Hebrews 11:6).   Sin causes one to hide from a Holy God. God is light, therefore, no one can come near Him without His light exposing their sin.  That is why Adam and Eve hid from God and did not greet Him when God came to meet with them in the garden following their disobedience.

 Sin is like a raw nakedness which causes shame and separation.  Suddenly, Adam and Eve were ashamed of their nakedness and tried to cover themselves. Innocence does not see itself naked, because it does not know sin, so it is not ashamed.  So God asked the question; where are you? Why are you hiding from me? Did you disobey me and eat from the tree that I told you not to eat? When Adam responded that he was naked, God immediately asked, “Who told you that you were naked”.

Why were they told to avoid that tree? There lurking disguised as a serpent was the father of lies- Satan.  God told Adam and Eve that if they disobeyed Him they would surely die. But Eve lusted after the forbidden fruit and the consummation of sin happened the moment she took a bite. And immediately she saw her nakedness. Adam was not deceived (1 Timothy 2:14) but went along with Eve in the transgression. In essence, he put Eve before God.  He listened to his wife instead of hearkening to the voice of the Lord.  In the Garden of Eden where the Lord was pleased to dwell with mankind, there was all provision.  In fact, God saw to it by creating everything they would need first before creating them (Genesis 1: 1-31). God created the animals to be companions with Adam, but he was not able to relate to the animals because they were unlike himself ( Genesis 2: 18-22). So God created a woman from Adam’s own flesh. At which there was instant fellowship and companionship with one another (Genesis 2: 20-24).  When God created mankind (man and woman), He created them in His image (Genesis 1:26-27). Nothing in creation is like God except mankind. He created mankind with the potential to develop into His character and nature, such as Eve was to Adam.

The choice to choose good over evil is the real test of genuine love. But first one has to be exposed to evil in order to make a choice. In that garden, Adam and Eve were only exposed to Good, walked naked and experienced no shame (Genesis 2:25).

 But God was not enough, and Eve desired more than what God had provided.  So she wandered away to the only thing that was denied her, the tree where she would discover the knowledge of good and evil.  She listened to the serpent and doubted God’s goodness.  Immediately, when Adam and Eve were confronted with their disobedience they went into the “Blame Mode”, Adam blaming Eve, and Eve blaming the serpent. The first indication of what it would cost to cover their nakedness and sin, was not what they could do, but only what God could do and so it was that He covered their nakedness with the skin of an animal, shedding its blood for their sake.  But this was a temporary cover-up and God promised the ultimate solution for the sin problem by promising that “One” would come from the seed of woman – Who’s sacrifice and blood would ultimately destroy Satan’s dominance over mankind. During the redemptive process the Savior would be bruised but the devil’s headship and power would be destroyed (Genesis 3:15).

Innocent children are not aware of their nakedness. They can run around in front of anyone without clothes and without shame.  It isn’t until they are able to distinguish good from evil, they become aware of sin (wrongfulness) and experience shame.

The first thing Adam and Eve wanted to do when their eyes were opened to sin was to try and cover-up and hide from the Holiness and Righteousness of God. They even tried covering up by diverting their sin to someone else.

Jesus Who is the light that shines in darkness came to earth to expose mankind’s sin so everyone coming to His light could be brought to repentance (John 3: 19-21, Luke 23:34).  Nakedness speaks of exposure, unclothed, and without protection. When one experiences shamefulness, that person usually wants to cover-up the misdeed that has caused the shamefulness and separation from others. Jesus Christ took on man’s shamefulness and hung “naked” on a cross for our sake. He became sin, shame and unrighteousness and experienced the punishment for all sin, both physically and spiritually.  Those who believe are restored back into fellowship with God (Luke 15:11-32)

 When anyone comes to repentance (responsible for their own sins), and has faith in what Christ has done, then that person takes on the righteousness of Christ and is clothed from on high. When anyone repents and comes to faith in Christ’s salvation through faith in His death and resurrection, then God no longer sees their nakedness but sees only the righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore, Satan can no longer accuse anyone who is in Christ Jesus, because there is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

The one who has faith is clothed in Christ’s flesh which He gave up for the cleansing of all mankind’s sin. The one who has faith in Jesus Christ becomes part of Him and is “born again” into the Kingdom of God ( Matthew 6:33).

Satan is the god of this world and has dominance and authority over all unbelievers.  When one accepts the Truth, then that one is a believer who does not doubt God and is therefore set-free from the dominance of Satan and translated into God’s Kingdom where Christ reigns eternal.  Then God’s work begins knitting together that person into His image through His Word and through the work of the Holy Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

When we stand before the throne of God, we will either be naked and our sins exposed or clothed with the Righteousness of Christ Jesus.  Some will attempt to clothe themselves with good works and deeds, but only the work of Jesus Christ and His salvation is able to cover our nakedness (Matthew 7: 22-23, Revelation 3: 17-18).

Are you still naked or are you clothed?  Choose to be clothed in Christ’s Righteousness and receive the gift of eternal life through faith in His Work and not your own  (Ephesians 2:8).

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.            Isaiah 61:10