What It
Means to be Loved
Genesis 2:25 – 3:24
Introduction
· I’m using this format to preach
because I want you to understand I’m talking to you, not at you
· We all know this story well
o It’s not a fable
o Adam and Eve were real people
o Whose rebellion plunged the whole of
humanity into sin
o That’s also real
§ The wife would want his role
§ He would be harsh
· The result is a nakedness that
reveals how “known” we truly are
o Originally nakedness was good, it
meant we were “known”
§ They were sooo know, that they had no
awareness of their vulnerability
§ In fact, they had no fear God would
not love them, or their relationship could be diminished at all
§ Wouldn’t you like to be loved that
way?
o Sin made nakedness a representation
of shame
o So our desire is to hide our sin and
hide from God
· We’ll look at three things this
morning:
o Problem with nakedness
o Our solutions to nakedness
o God’s solution to nakedness
Message
· Problem with nakedness
o What is nakedness?
§ To be naked is to be known, to be
uncovered
§ It is an awareness of our vulnerability
§ Our openness to the scrutiny of
others
o God had just three questions for
Adam:
§ “Where are you?”
§ “Who told you you were naked?”
§ And, “did you eat of the tree?”
o God asks but He already knows
§ “Where are you?”
· Did God need to find Adam?
· Was God perplexed?
· God moved toward Adam, not Adam
toward God
§ Then God asks, “Who told you you were
naked?”
· God is making a point right? Because
Adam, “you’ve ALWAYS been naked”
· Adam had a new awareness of his
vulnerability
· That’s a scary thing, unless,
you believe you are unconditionally loved
§ And, “did you eat of the tree?
· In other words, “Did you disobey Me?”
· Did you rebel against My authority?”
· Again, didn’t God already know? Sure
He did
o God wanted Adam to understand
something
o Sin left them vulnerable and uncovered,
that’s what sin does
o Question, what areas of your life are
you hiding from God?
§ What sins do you maybe think He can’t
deal with?
§ How bad would it be to be uncovered
today?
§ We’re gonna come back to this
· Our solutions to nakedness (I’ll camp
here for a while)
o They Sewed fig leaves
§ I now have rebelled against a holy
God
§ I have seen how bad my sin is
§ And I make fig leaves
o Realize, We are infinitely creative
in trying to cover our own sin
o Know this, our deepest desire is to
believe we can be both know and loved
o How, what fig leaves do we sew?
§ You have to love me for who I am – no
· I am getting older
· I’m sagging
· I’m balding
· I’m not asking Shelly to love me
because, I’m asking in spite of
· Be careful you’re not taking a
secular theme and trying to make it biblical, it’ll fail
· Pretending or being forced to like
something you don’t is a long-term recipe for disaster
· God doesn’t love that way – He
doesn’t want me to stay in my sin, or approve of my sin
§ Excuses
· The woman You gave me…
· The serpent deceived me…
· If I had a better job
· If my spouse would…
· Things are busy around the house so
my kids are amped up…(I’m struggling to get them to obey right now)
· One of the most meaningful examples to me was when a friend recalled how
he was in the parking lot…he couldn’t hide at that moment
§ Drama
· I seek it
· I surround myself with it
· I now complain how much I endure
· I make big gesture to show how hurt I
am
· It’s really manipulation
§ Marginal Issues
· The “star at Christmas”
· Pre-trib vs. post
§ Boasting
· You need to know how smart I am
· You need to know how successful I am
· When Ryan candidate, “I’m a little
threatened…”
§ I don’t have time
· Maybe, it’s I won’t make time
· Which could mean, I don’t really care
that much
§ The Law
· I read my Bible twice a day
· My kids know 20,000 verses
o We desperately try to control what
people see
§ and to a large extent what even I see
about myself
§ I need to be acceptable
o You see, Pharisee’s repent of their
sins, Christians also repent of their righteousness
· God’s solution to nakedness
o Jesus
§ Nothing more, nothing less
§ To be loved BY Jesus
§ Then we can love LIKE Jesus
o “The gospel says you are more sinful
and flawed than you ever could believe or imagine; yet you are more accepted
and loved than you ever dared to hope…” Peter Scazzero
o To be loved by Jesus
§ Realize He alone can cover us – your
problems come when you don’t let Jesus cover you
§ Remember the flaming sword?
· God’s judgment?
· Someone has to go under the sword to
restore the relationship
§ His righteousness
§ His acceptance
§ Believing He will not pay us back
· Many Christians live like the OT –
God’s retribution/anger
· Resentment – God resents us
· (1 Corinth. 13:5)
· Jesus isn’t keeping score
· He has NO record
· That’s what the woman in Luke 7 does
o She washes Jesus’ feet with her tears
o And dries them with her hair
o She believed He would not keep a
record
o FOR-GIV-EN
§ If we can’t get this right before
God, we won’t get this right before others
o That’s allows us to love like Jesus
§ Scripture says it’s the only thing
that counts
§ (Galatians 5:6) “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”
§ We don’t pay others back
§ Shelly did this for me – sabbatical
§ Usually I approach these kinds of
things in a big circle
· Because I’m sort of sizing up how you
may respond
· I’m getting a feel for how safe this
might be
o To be naked IS to be vulnerable
§ Jesus wants you to give up.
§ He wants you to abandon your dream.
§ He wants you to face the futility of
trying to manipulate the other people into your service.
§ He knows there is no life to be found
in these things.
o In religion, you obey because God is
useful. In Christianity, you obey because God is beautiful.
Conclusion
· OK, we’re back to this question:
o Let’s pause for a moment, in what
areas of your life are you hiding from God?
§ If you had to pick one thing, what
would it be?
§ What sin do you maybe think He can’t
deal with?
§ What are you most afraid that someone
will find out?
§ PAUSE
§ How bad would it be, to be uncovered
today, maybe even right now?
· Parenting?
· Marriage?
· Time with the Lord itself
§ What sin? Just think a minute
o How willing are you to let God work?
o Maybe that is itself the issue: I
don’t want God working
· The host of trials and the tidal
waves of suffering, will reveal the foundation upon which we have been
building.
· It will show how many fig leaves we
have sewn and wear
· God brought a garment at cost
· As your Elders, we would count it a
privilege to walk through the heavy seas (or smooth waters) with you, pray with
you and for you
o Dan
o Ryan
o Eric
o Kurt
o Steve
o John
o Myself
· Catch one of us, find a corner
· Let’s be the Church
