AN AGE-OLD QUESTION: What do I do with my shame?
- We’ve all done things we are not proud of. We have all sinned. How do we deal with the shame that comes from that?
- It’s an ancient problem that has troubled people since pretty much the beginning of time.
- This morning I want to again look at early Genesis and late John to see a parallel that is instructive for what God is doing in Christ.
TWO GARMENTS: One garment was given to temporarily cover shame; one garment was taken in permanently uncovering sin.
- Genesis 3:21-22; John 19:23-24.
- Unpack both passages before giving the point.
- I want to delve into these two passages and try to see the link between then before sharing what’s in your sermon outline to bring the connection together in one statement.
1. Genesis 3:21-22.
- The word we are going to focus on in both passages is “garment.”
- In Genesis 3, we have the woman and the man believing the serpent in vv. 1-6. This leads to the Fall. This is an idea we have come back to again and again throughout this series. In Genesis we see the Fall and then in Jesus we see the “Re-creation.” This sermon unpacks another piece of that reclamation.
- After the Fall, in v. 7 we are told that Adam and Eve made leaf coverings for themselves because of their shame. The verses that follow bring God’s condemnation for what they’ve done and the enumeration of the consequences of the Fall. Then in v. 21 God kills some animals and makes garments of skin (leather?) for Adam and Eve.
- So in Genesis 3 here we see garments given to cover their nakedness and shame.
2. John 19:23-24.
- Remember that the word we are focusing on is “garment.”
- Here we have the soldiers at the crucifixion. The soldiers generally got whatever from the condemned was worth keeping. In Jesus’ case they divide up His clothes into four shares. But the undergarment was seamless so they didn’t want to rip it apart. Instead they gamble for it.
- This is a fulfillment of a prophecy from Psalm 22:18. Notice how exactly it is fulfilled. Both the prophesied division is there as well as the casting lots.
- Let’s go back to v. 23, though, for the main point I want to make out of this passage. Notice that the word “garment” shows up again. Now, it would be each to misunderstand what it was because the NIV uses the term undergarment. You might think it’s referring to underwear. It’s not. This is a tunic – a long, shirtlike garment worn under someone’s outer clothing. NASB and Amplified both translate it as “tunic.” We don’t know for certain if Jesus was crucified with what we would consider an “underwear” type of wrap for modesty or not. I would think so.
- The point here, though, is that Jesus is stripped of most of His clothes as He is put on the cross. His garment is taken away.
- All this brings us to the point in your sermon outline: One garment was given to temporarily cover shame; one garment was taken in permanently uncovering sin.
- When we think back to the Garden of Eden and the shame that Adam and Eve felt after their sin, their pressing desire was to cover their shame. They tried to do it through covering their nakedness with leaves and then later God did a more permanent job of it with garments of skin.
- It’s important for us to note what God didn’t say in that moment. He didn’t say, “Listen, you shouldn’t feel any shame. What you did wasn’t wrong.” No, as we discussed earlier, He actually brings the curses for their sin upon them right around that time as well. They were guilty.
- No, the shame was real because the sin was real.
- God gave the garment to them as a way to cover their shame. It didn’t permanently solve the problem, but it provided a stopgap solution.
- But then when we move to John and what Jesus did, we see something different.
- Jesus’ garment is taken. He dies on the cross and His wounds are visible to all. He is dying for us. At the cross, the horror of sin is given its ultimate expression. This is important: the cross doesn’t hide our sin – it exposes our sin. This is how bad our sinfulness is. This is the horrible remedy that was required: the brutal death of the innocent Son of God. Stripped of His garment, our sin is displayed.
- But, of course, Jesus doesn’t just uncover sin. He died for our sin. He paid the penalty for our forgiveness. That’s all crucially important and wonderful. But this morning we are focusing on the uncovering and how that echoes Genesis.
- That leads us to a question: am I willing to face the reality of my sin, the way it was uncovered at the cross?
- Most aren’t. It’s unpleasant. It’s painful. It reveals realities about us that we’d rather not think about it. So why should I face the reality of my sin, the way it was uncovered at the cross? Let’s talk about three major reasons.
WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OF FACING MY SIN LIKE THAT?
1. It just admits what you know is in your heart.
- Romans 3:10-12.
- We like to project an impressive image. We want people to think we have it all together.
- We like to hide our sinfulness. We are good at sin management.
- But we know what’s really behind the scenes. We know the darkness that lurks within us. We know the things we think that are wrong. We know the things we do when no one is looking.
- It is stressful and disingenuous to live like this. We are living a lie.
- There is a wonderful relief with admitting the way we really are. No more pretending.
- We like to say, “I’m a good person.”
- But when we say that we don’t mean, “I’m a deeply moral and spiritual person in close connection to the truth of God.” We merely mean, “I don’t beat my wife or do drugs.”
2. Jesus knows how you really are and still loves you anyway.
- Romans 5:6-8.
- This isn’t just about “accepting yourself” or some other psychological mumbo-jumbo. It’s being honest about who we are.
- But that raises a larger question: where does that put us before God?
- There is great news there. Yes, we are sinners. But He already knew that and loves us anyway. So facing up to the reality of sin in my life doesn’t mean that I’m without hope before God. Not at all. God has known the reality of my sin all along and has been working in Christ to provide a remedy. The remedy is the cross and, as we’ve been talking in the sermon, that’s a solution that squarely faces the reality of our sin.
3. The cross offers forgiveness, not excusing.
- Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 9:22.
- One way to put this is that the cross offers forgiveness, not excusing.
- Excusing would mean God looking at our sin and essentially saying, “Listen, it’s no big deal – let’s not worry about it.” That is not at all what the cross tells us.
- The cross offers forgiveness. Forgiveness looks at sin and says, “Yes, it is a big deal. It’s a huge problem. In fact, it’s so substantial that the only solution was the only Son of God offering Himself as a sacrifice for your sin.
WHAT ALL THAT ADDS UP TO: The cross is not a cover-up.
- When you look at the situation as a whole, the cross is not a cover-up. It’s not an attempt at good P.R. or an effort to distract people from the reality of the situation.
- No, our “garment” truth today in Genesis and John points us to just how starkly the cross lays out our sinfulness. It’s hard to look at but it’s necessary.
- Jesus isn’t here to offer excuses. He’s here to offer forgiveness.
- You see this in families sometimes. There are shameful secrets but how they deal with them is by not talking about them. Somehow it’s not real if you don’t talk about it. Except the pain and sin is still there.
- Have you been covering up your sins? Have you thought that was the best option? The only option?
- The cross gives us something else. It’s not a cover-up.
- This is not about covering the problem. It’s about changing the heart.
