There is Nothing Sinful About Nakedness

I am sitting alone in my room and struggling through some personal issues. As I lay here, I thought about Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden as they hid from God after eating of the fruit of the Tree of good and evil.

The Man and Woman Sin

1The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

2“Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3“It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”

4“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5“God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

6The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

8When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man^a and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the LORD God among the trees. 9Then the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”

10He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”

11“Who told you that you were naked?” the LORD God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

I was reflecting on this story again, and what I came to is that it isn't a story about a man and a woman eating apples in a perfect garden, it is a story about naive people coming to understanding about the potential to do wrong, or to make a mistake. The serpent was right that their eyes would be opened, but he left out a crucial detail. There is such as thing as the burden of knowledge. While God's Holiness is untouchable and without tarnish, the naivete that God created us with is heavily burdened by the potential for sin. God cannot be tarnished by the Knowledge of Good and Evil, but humans seem to burn with lust for it the minute we know it to be a possibility. 

I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked. 

Isn't that just the way we go?