Three Questions (Part II)

In part I we looked at God’s first question to fallen mankind, found in Genesis 3:9: “Where are you?” We also looked at Adam’s response to this question in verse 10. Then, in verse 11 God asks Adam a second powerful question:

“Who told you that you were naked?”

This question, like the one before it, has enormous implications for all of us. Think about it for a moment – who did tell Adam he was naked? Our first instinct might be to say it was the serpent, but it wasn’t. It was Adam’s own heart. Before eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve were described as being “naked and unashamed” (Genesis 2:25). Now, as a result of eating the forbidden fruit, they were naked and ashamed! The difference was that their eyes had been opened, and they were now able to see themselves as they could not see themselves before.

But before Adam had time to answer this second question, God immediately asked him a third question, in order to help him see the answer to the first two questions:

“Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

Here at last, God makes the clear connection between their sin and its fruits. Adam and Eve were hiding from God because they were afraid; they were afraid because they knew they were naked; and they knew they were naked because they had eaten the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge and good and evil. Once they had eaten the forbidden fruit, they set in motion a natural, inevitable progression of events.

This same progression is true of mankind in general in regard to all sin. Through the law a man is made aware of his sin (Romans 3:20, 7:7). Once he becomes aware of his sin, he is defiled by that very knowledge or “consciousness of sin” (Hebrews 10:2). This knowledge of sin then brings a fear into man’s heart that he is unacceptable before a Holy God. And finally, as a direct result of this fear, man will seek to hide himself from God in one way or another.

As we saw in Part I, God has graciously provided the only way for us to get out of this trap – by putting our faith in Jesus, thereby being clothed with the beautiful, white garments of His righteousness. But as is often the case, things are not always as easy as they look on paper. It is hard enough to wear a garment that someone is trying to take off of us. It is harder still if we are constantly struggling with feeling unworthy to wear it.

As I said earlier, it was not actually the serpent that told Adam that he was naked – it was his own heart. And this is the same problem that many Christians have, even though we have been clothed with the very righteousness of Jesus. Often it is our own heart, trained for many years in law, that continues to condemn us with a consciousness of sin, telling us that we are “naked” and therefore leaving us ashamed. But if we will ever truly “receive the abundance of Grace and the gift of righteousness” (Romans 5:17) we can enjoy having our conscience made perfect forever. (Hebrews 9:14, 10:2,14) There is truly “now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1) And “If our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God.” (1 John 3:21)