The Sin Series Part 2: Despise The Shame
(Preached by Pastor Kenneth Chin at Acts Church Malaysia on 16 September 2018)
Read | Genesis 2:25
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Contrary to what it is like today, Adam and Eve were both naked in the Garden of Eden and felt no shame. This all changed when they took a bite of the forbidden fruit which God had commanded them not to take. That moment marked the beginning of feelings of shame for all of humanity.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
The problem is not in the nakedness, it is in the shame.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Read | Genesis 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
Before they ate the forbidden fruit and sinned against God, Adam and Eve did not even realise they were naked. The problem came when they felt shame and began to hide away from God’s presence when they heard Him walking in the cool of the day.
The Bible tells us that they sewed fig leaves and made themselves coverings in an assumption that God would not notice their sin.
Isn’t this like us today? When we sin against God or against our brothers and sisters, more often than not our first reaction is to conceal our faults either by covering them up with lies or by denying that they ever happened. Little children do it too.
In these moments, God draws us closer to Him and just like a father would, He wants us to come clean.
God is ready to cover us.
Read | Genesis 3:21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
Do you realise that the first sacrifice made in the Bible was not that of Abel, but when God sacrificed the animal to cover man’s nakedness?
God had to take its skin off and put it on Adam and Eve to replace their fig leaves. He offers us the same covering today through Christ Jesus, who He sent to die a painful death to cover the sins of all men until the end of time. We do not need to pay for it, it is freely given when we come clean to God to ask and believe that He has us covered.
Will you accept God’s covering instead of your own?
No more sin if there is no more shame.
If we are not ashamed, there will be no more blame, not to ourselves or to those around us. When we start letting God into the darkest areas of our lives that bring us shame, we will be in His presence, out of the deceiver’s grasp and we will sin no more.
Read |Genesis 3:12-13
Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate. And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Do not care about what people say about you, that does not define who you are. Instead, seek God for what He says about you. Let His word for you be bigger than anyone else’s.
Endure the cross, despise the shame.
Read |Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
We have to see the joy of the Lord to endure the cross that is before us. Despite the shame we feel, we can only find true freedom by looking unto Jesus and seeing His great plans for us when we obey Him.
Adam endured the shame and despised the cross before him which led him down a path of blame, losing him his authority with God. Jesus, endured the cross, despised the shame and was able to sit down at the right hand of the Father, restoring back His authority as God’s son.
Choose to not live a life full of fear, guilt and shame but live a free live, safe and warm in God’s covering.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Truth for Today
Genesis 3:21, “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” (NIV)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Reflect and Respond
Have you ever made mistakes and afraid of being blamed? You try to hide the shame with the foresight that you might be scolded, but are you still living in shame?
Written by: Heidi Lai & Ivy Wambaa
Edited by: Hailey Chung
