Who Told Adam That He Was Naked?

[sevenzedek]

Below is a quote from from Walter Marshall's book, "The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification." After reading the section in which this quote was found, I wondered who was it who did told Adam that he was naked? This raises more questions for my untrained mind: for who was the sacrifice of Christ; man or God? If the death of Christ was meant to purge us of our "evil conscience," what purpose did it serve for God?

To those who are well seasoned in theological thought, bear with me. I have no seminary training.

“Our conscience must of necessity be first purged from dead works, that we may serve the living God. And this is done by actual remission of sin, procured by the blood of Christ, and manifested to our consciences, as appeared by Christ’s dying for this end (Heb. 9:14, 15; 10:1, 2, 4, 14, 17, 22). That conscience, by which we judge ourselves to be under the guilt of sin and the wrath of God, is accounted an evil conscience in Scripture, though it perform its office truly, because it is caused by the evil of sin, and will itself be a cause of our committing more sin, until it can judge us to be justified from all sin, and received in the favor of God. Love which is the end of the law must proceed from a good conscience, as well as from any other cleanness of heart (1 Tim. 1:5). David’s mouth could not be opened to show forth the praise of God until he was delivered from bloodguiltiness (Ps. 51:14, 15). This evil guilty conscience, by which we judge that God is our enemy and that His justice is against us to our everlasting condemnation by reason of our sins, strongly maintains and increases the dominion of sin and Satan in us, and works most mischievous effects in the soul against godliness, even to bring the soul to hate God and to wish there were no God, no heaven, no hell, so we might escape the punishment due to us. It so disaffects people towards God, that they cannot endure to think, or speak, or hear of Him and His law, but strive rather to put Him out of their minds by fleshly pleasures and worldly employments.” –Walter Marshall

 

[Jackie Kaulitz]

Interesting question. I'm just about to start that book myself, based on a recommendation from a PB brother.

As your untrained sister in Christ, I would answer: No one had to tell Adam. He suddenly became aware due to his disobedience and fall. Once he was no longer innocent, he realized he had transgressed God's law and attempted to hide himself from God. From the fall, man's nature is prideful, selfish, lustful, etc. So he became "self-conscious" and "self-centered".

 

[sevenzedek]

Interesting question. I'm just about to start that book myself, based on a recommendation from a PB brother.

As your untrained sister in Christ, I would answer: No one had to tell Adam. He suddenly became aware due to his disobedience and fall. Once he was no longer innocent, he realized he had transgressed God's law and attempted to hide himself from God. From the fall, man's nature is prideful, selfish, lustful, etc. So he became "self-conscious" and "self-centered".

I would agree, but, in the OP, I am really taking aim at what the death of Christ affected in us and in God. Paul labors a great deal in Hebrews to show that God is for us. And then, in Hebrews 10:19, 22, he "therefore" applies the faithfulness of God to our "evil conscience." I am just trying to put it all together here.

 

[py3ak]

Jon, I would be intrigued to hear how the quote made you think of that particular question. I have always taken it that consciousness of their mutual guilt made Adam and Eve self-conscious in the bad sense of that term.

The sacrifice of Christ was for God and man. That Walter Marshall speaks about it with regard to its impact upon man does not imply that it did not have a Godward reference as well. And indeed, the two are closely linked. The guilty conscience knows itself in need of propitiation; the confidence that God appointed Christ to be that propitiation, and accepted his work as a full and complete atonement is necessary for the purging of the conscience. If the sacrifice of Christ had not appeased the wrath of God and satisfied the claims of his law, it could never have given quietness to our conscience.

 

[sevenzedek]

Jon, I would be intrigued to hear how the quote made you think of that particular question...

... If the sacrifice of Christ had not appeased the wrath of God and satisfied the claims of his law, it could never have given quietness to our conscience.

What made me ask the question was Marshall mentioning Adam's evil conscience later in his book. I know it was Adam's conscience that told him he was guilty. But God said, " Who told you?" This implies that it was not God who told him. It was directly after this that God makes clothing out of animal skins for Adam and Eve and gives them gospel promises.

I don't doubt that the cross affected God. But the affect the cross has on us would not have the affect it does have if it did not affect God (wow, that's too many affects). I know the cross meant something real to God. But this reality he demonstrates for us in the death of Christ somehow seems to say with big bold letters, I AM FOR YOU; NOT AGAINST YOU! It is almost like God is saying, "Who told you that you were naked? It wasn't me. Let me prove that I am for you. I give you the promise of redemption and I will clothe you with life and mercy until it comes to pass." And now every man who lives has the same mark of mercy that was on Cain. Yet for all of God's goodness, people go to hell because of their own evil conscience toward God. One of the biggest battles I have as a Christian is to look at my sin face to face and know that God is for me because of Christ.

The reason I started this thread is because I am an intuitive learner and I need help seeing what I am seeing. I just haven't put it together yet.

 

[JimmyH]

I"m no theologian but the impression I have is that when they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they became conscious of their nakedness. Of course the Father knew how Adam realized his nakedness. Perhaps He asked Adam to see if he would be truthful ?

It is my understanding, correct me if I am wrong, that the Father made a covenant with our Lord before the foundation of the world that He would go to this world of time to be the sacrifice for our sins. He knows the end from the beginning.

I don't think Walter Marshall could have been implying that we had to live a life of sinless perfection once regenerated. I think he understands that when we know that we have the salvation that is in Christ Jesus we turn towards the Father rather than away from Him. If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

[sevenzedek]

I"m no theologian but the impression I have is that when they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they became conscious of their nakedness. Of course the Father knew how Adam realized his nakedness. Perhaps He asked Adam to see if he would be truthful ?

Neither am I a theologian (in an ecclesiastical sense), however, I wonder if God asked Adam about who told him that he was naked in order to show him that his guilty conscience was not from God, but from himself.

 

[JimmyH]

I"m no theologian but the impression I have is that when they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they became conscious of their nakedness. Of course the Father knew how Adam realized his nakedness. Perhaps He asked Adam to see if he would be truthful ?

Neither am I a theologian (in an ecclesiastical sense), however, I wonder if God asked Adam about who told him that he was naked in order to show him that his guilty conscience was not from God, but from himself.

I would think that God endowed us, regenerate or reprobate, with conscience. Knowing intuitively the difference between right and wrong.

 

[DMcFadden]

The Walmart greeter told him?

I always assumed that eating of the tree (an act of disobedience) would bring with it dys-enlightenment, including shame.

Note how Horton handles it:

It is significant that when Adam and Eve hear God’s approach in judgment, they do not offer the proper covenantal response, “Here I am,” but instead flee from God’s presence in dread. Just as they disobeyed God when the saw that the fruit was pleasing to the eye and desirable to make one wise, they fled from God when they saw that they were naked and were ashamed. In both cases, they refused to place themselves at the disposal of their covenant Lord, hearing and obeying his Word. When God calls Abram, he issues a faith-creating promise of a future that defies all that the patriarch already sees or knows as possible: “And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Ge 15:6). When God calls to Moses from the burning bush, Moses answers, “Here I am” (Ex 3:4); and after forgiving Isaiah’s sins, God calls the prophet to proclaim his Word. He responds, “Here am I! Send me” (Isa 6:8). Like Sarai and Abram, Moses and Isaiah, Mary of Nazareth finds no basis in her experience or reason to justify the astonishing announcement of the angel that she will bear the Savior of the world. God’s Word has priority over any existing state of affairs that she can see either intellectually or empirically. She replies, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38).

Michael Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 90.

 

[Peairtach]

Maybe they knew they needed a spiritual covering for their sin and this manifested itself in an instinctual desire, as an incipient and sinful response to their sin, not just to hide from God but cover their bodies.

Clothes would have been invented or provided for in an unfallen world, once there was more than the innocent couple of Adam and Eve, but since they were alone and were man and wife, there was no reason why they should have felt shame in each others' presence. The purity of their relationship with each other was tainted by sin, and they were aware of this, ashamed of it, and made clothes.

So Adam and Eve covered themselves because of God and because of each other, but their bad conscience came from God the Holy Spirit.