Why does God ask what he already knows? Every night Adam and Eve were naked in the garden when God came to walk with them in the cool of the day. This night he knows the answer to why they now see themselves as naked but he sakes anyway. Why? Because in this we sewe God as the ultimate counsellor. Redemption is in telling God from the heart what he already knows to be true.

God asks them three questions: Where are you? Who told you you were naked? And have you eater on the tree?

This sermon focuses on question two: who told you you were naked?

1. The problem of nakedness
They lost their purity and acceptability, therefore they hid from God who they no longer felt acceptable before. They knew they were now vulnerable before God and each other. God has the ultimate unseen eyes that they knew they were not pure before anymore. Hebrews talks about God seeing all and nothing hidden from his eyes.

2. The human solution to nakedness
They cover themselves with weak fig leaves. They feel now like we all feel in that we must be hidden so that we can be fully loved. They feel to be loved they must not be fully known. Perfectionism is fig leaves. So are other functional saviors. Religion is a fig leaf that can make people not pleasant to be around in their smugness, pride or despair. We have to repent of both our bad fig leaves of wrong living but also the fig leaves we use that are ‘good’ but are used to cover us and make us hidden and loved. For example we say, I will be covered if I have a good family, a good job, do well at church, etc. Only God can cover us.

Can we be fully known, not hidden by leaves, AND fully loved?

3. The divine solution to nakedness.
Ezekiel 16 talks of the baby girl cast off in helpless nakedness.
Hosea talks of buying back his naked wife from the slave stand and hosea clothes her. This is a picture of what God does with his people?
Isaiah 61 says we are clothed. How? Through Christ’s utter nakedness on the cross, God charged to his account my sin! He covered me with something other than fig leaves.

Romans 4:7 says, 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

In Luke 24 we see people begging the rocks to fall on them and cloth them before the pure, always seeing eyes of God. They are looking for clothing of their nakedness before God. The only clothing is God clothing us.

When adam and Eve left the garden a flaming sword guarded the entrance. To commune again with God as Adam did in the cool of the day, someone has to go through the sword for us. That is what Jesus did through him hanging naked, shamefully on the cross for all who would call on him to save them. Revelation talks of us being given clothes of righteousness to wear one day.

God covers us from God best!