Who Told You?
Who are you listening to?
Genesis 3:11
Who told you that you were naked?
God came into the garden, in the cool of the evening to spend some quality time with his two favorite people in the world (OK... the only 2). He calls Adam... Eve... but no answer.
Again He calls... Adam... Eve... no answer.
Adam... where are you... and from the bushes comes a tiny voice... right here.
Well, come out here, I want to see you.
I can’t.
You can’t
No, I can’t
Why?
I’m... I’m...NAKED!
I wonder why God didn’t say, Yea, and... You were naked yesterday, and the day before and you didn’t hide. I made you naked. What is wrong with naked?
Adam did not say... I’m ashamed... or I ate from the tree... or I disobeyed... or I feel sorry.
He said ... I’m NAKED!
Whoa... Wait just a cotton-pickin’ minit... Naked... Where did you hear about naked. I never said anything about being naked. I never used that word. Where did you learn it? Who told you that you were naked?
(((Ethan and the F word)))
When God heard... NAKED... God stopped Adam and asked, Who told you that you were naked?
God knew there were only 4 possibilities... only four people in the garden...
Adam He did not know naked
Unless he could talk to animals... like that doctor... someone told him
Eve She didn’t either
God He didn’t say it
SATAN
Now, this sermon is not about the sin of Adam... or the affect of that sin on mankind... or the affect of the sin on Adam and Eve.
This sermon is about NAKED.
When people ask you this week, “What did your preacher preach about?” You tell them, “He preached on nudity.”
Next week we’ll have more people.
Why am I focusing on this question... “Who told you that you were naked?”
For the same reason God did.
God heard that Adam had disobeyed, had sinned and was ashamed... but God did not focus on the sin... first.
He focused on NAKED
Why?
I believe it is because it was the most dangerous problem
I know most would say the sin is the most serious... a matter of life and death.
TRUE... but God already had a cure for sin... Jesus was already scheduled to die on the cross. Sin would be fixed.
But God heard something that concerned Him very much... he heard Adam say... I am not worthy... I have no value... I don’t matter.
There is a very important conversation that is omitted from the bible... between verses 6 and 7 of Chapter 3.
Allow me to tell you about it. It is not in your bible but let me read it to you from the Pendleton Version...
6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
And the serpent came to Adam and Eve and gloated... Thou hast done it now. What dost thee think thy Father will say now? Will he walk with thee in the cool of the day... or else wilt he speak to thee with kind words. NO, he shall not. He shall cast thee away as one casts away the husks to the swine. He will smite thee and abuse thee and cast thee away from His sight. Thou art a sinner and art not worthy to stand before him. Thou hast shown thyself to be weak and vulgar and worthless. Shall God love thee? Nay! He shall go and find another to take thy place. He shall find one that is good and obedient and He will love them and not thee. Thou art worthless. Thou art defiled. Thou art not worthy to be loved or cared for. He lovest thou not because thou art not good enough, not pure enough, not desireable. If thou wert the last man and woman on earth, He would not love thee. You should go away and hang thy head, feel ashamed, be disconsolate. You deserve naught but to be ostracized and pitied and kept at arms length. People shall mark thee for the sinner you art and will laugh at thee because thou thinkest thee were a Christian. Thou art not a Christian. Thou art a failure, a worm, lower than a worm. Thou art the dust on the soul of a worm. He shall shake you off like the dust on his shoes. How couldst thou spit in God’s eye like that. How couldst thou be so weak... so slovenly... so utterly despicable and altogether to be abandoned. You are spiritually and void and naked.
7And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
9And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
When Adam said that... God heard “I hid because I am scum and not worthy to be seen. I am not worthy to be with you. I know you hate me and are going to do some vile thing to me.
A preacher tells a story of a father of a little girl. Whenever she got a “boo-boo” she would always ask her Daddy to “put a band-aid on it.” Most of the boo-boos did not warrant a band-aid... most were not even worthy of the name boo-boo. But Daddy loved a game he played as he made a big deal over the boo-boo, and kissed it and put a band-aid on it. It was usually a waste of a band-aid, but band-aids were cheap and it was their special time. It made him feel ten feet tall because she thought he could fix anything.
One day she got a scratch and Daddy ran inside the house and got a band-aid. To his surprise, when he tried to put it on she would not take it. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I don’t want to wear that band-aid.” She replied.
“Why? You have a cut, you need a band-aid.” he said.
“I’ll look silly.” She answered.
“Other than her sister and her mom, there was no one else in the yard. None of her friends were over, cars were not streaming passed our house and watching us play, the world was pretty empty at that moment.
But for the first time I can remember, she felt shame. She had discovered shame. Somewhere, somehow, this little 5 year old had learned to be afraid of looking silly.
The Daddy fought back tears as he realized that the special time was over, never again to be the same. She was now more worried about what other people would think that about her special time with her Daddy who could fix anything.
He felt he had been robbed by some unknown robber who had broken into that special time and stolen away one of the sweetest and most precious things in his life.
The Daddy painfully asked the girl...“Who told you that you were silly?”
He was really saying, “Who did this terrible thing. Who robbed you of your innocence... of your naiveté?
WHO ROBBED ME????
That is how God felt that day in the garden when he called to Adam and Adam did not want to come... did not want to enjoy their special time together... did not respond with innocence and purity.
The whole place... the whole relationship had been spoiled... perverted... IT WAS GONE!!!
It was not just the sin. Yes that had spoiled the whole thing. Yes that messed it up.
But the real problem was not just the sin... it was the nakedness... Adam’s feeling that he was not good enough... that he was damaged goods and that he was not worthy of God’s love.
The real problem is that it robbed Adam... and God... of the very special relationship they had.
It drove a wedge between them... placed distance between them.
God asked... WHO DID THIS?
What God thinks of you (according to Ephesians chap. 1, Vs 1-13):
You are blessed (vs.3)
You are chosen (vs.4
You are holy and blameless (vs.4)
You are an adopted son/daughter (vs.5)
You are redeemed through His blood (vs.7)
You are seated with Him (Jesus) with the Spirit (vs. 13)
As a Christian (one who believes in their heart and follows Jesus as Lord), you are described in Ephesians 2:4-10 as:
Alive together with Christ
Raised up with Christ
Seated with Him in heavenly places
In Christ Jesus
Saved by grace
His workmanship
Because of these things, you can now say WITH CERTAINTY and NO fear, shame or guilt:
I have peace in God (Romans 5:1)
I am reconciled (brought back) to God (Romans 5:11)
I am a child of God (John 1:12)
I am helped my God (Hebrews 4:16)
I have no condemnation or guilt (Romans 8:1)
I am justified (made right with God, just if I’d never sinned) (Rom. 5:1)
I am completely forgiven (Colossians 1:14)
I am tenderly loved (Jeremiah 31:3)
I am the aroma of Christ to God (He smells Jesus’
goodness, not mine!) (II Corinth. 2:15)
I am the temple of God (I Corinth. 3:16)
I am blameless and beyond reproach (Colossians 1:22)
I am protected, hidden, and surrounded by God (Ps. 32:7)
This sermon draws upon other sermons found on www.sermoncentral.com
