Naked and Not Ashamed

"And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed."

Genesis 2:25 (ESV)

No, today's blog will not be on the subject of the sexual union between a man and a woman.  But this verse does bring up an interesting question to which many people assume they know the complete answer.  Most people assume that because the word naked is found that this verse is speaking only about the nakedness of a husband and wife and their lack of shame.  But a more profound question is hidden deeper within the meaning of this verse: Why were they not ashamed?

Our attention should be on the lack of shame not the lack of clothing.  John Piper, in his book This Momentary Marriage, give two possible reasons for their lack of shame.  First, Adam and Eve are not ashamed of their bodies because they were created perfect and without flaw.  Remember that the Fall of man into sin has not yet happened and God in Genesis 1:31 states that his creation was "very good".  But is this truly the reason why they were not ashamed? 

Both Jesus and Paul held this passage in Genesis 2 up as the standard for marriage in their time and we should do the same in our time.  So, this passage has a broader affect than only before the Fall.  Yes, Adam and Eve were perfect and without flaw or blemish, but in our fallen world today we should hold up the standard of no shame with our spouse.  A more modern example is Hollywood.   It is full of beautiful people who continually fail at marriage.  So, physical perfection is not the point.

A husband and wife are not ashamed because even though their bodies are full of flaw and imperfections the covenant love between them "covers a multitude of flaws" (Piper, 33).  This is a mirror of the covenant relationship that Christ has with his bride, the elect, which covers a multitude of sins.  This is very clear by Paul in Ephesians 5:31-32.  "The very essence of this new covenant is that Christ passes over the sins of his bride.  His bride is free form shame not because she is perfect, but because she has no fear that her lover will condemn her or shame her because of her sin" (Piper, 34).

Praise God for his covenant relationship with his church.  May our marriages in our churches reveal this covenant relationship to those who do not yet know him.  May our marriages declare the glory of God and his gospel to all around us.  Amen and amen.