The Hold of Shame

When we trust that God is genuinely on our side, we discover the liberty to live a transformed life and experience a sense of belonging through openness.

As Christians, we have been washed by the blood of any sin that we commit.

Every sin we have committed, or ever will commit has already been forgiven.

We stand before God holy and righteous.

But we still sin…So why do we need to confess?

The answer is not about guilt…it is about shame.

It is about restoring our relationship with God.

When Adam and Eve sinned they felt their nakedness, they felt rejection and they felt contaminated.

An along came sin - They immediately began to hide, cover up and protect themselves.

Protect themselves from who?

God?

The God who created them, loved them, and walked with them?

It was a natural reaction to their sin compared to God’s holiness.

It is not that God would condemn them, it is that their sin condemned them.

Shame brings in it a message that says, “I am unpresentable.”

So Adam and Eve hid.

And so do we.

God did not change, he still loved them, he still desired to walk with them…what changed was Adam and Eve’s heart.

The truth is that God delights in his people and He desires to restore our relationship, rather than to hide in the shame of sin.

This morning I want to see the results of sin in our lives in three steps:

I. The Truth Changes in Our Heart

During Adam and Eve’s temptation we see the Truth changed ever so slightly by both the Serpent and Eve.

Satan, the Bible says, in the form of this serpent is more subtle than any other beast of the field.

He subtly changed the truth into a lie by telling Eve, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

What was the truth?

Genesis 1:29 KJV

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

Later God gave more specific instructions:

Genesis 2:16–17 KJV

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

The devil knew this was not the whole truth.

But following this path we see Eve answer, but she

A. Gives Incomplete Truth

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

She changes the truth to any tree except the tree in the middle of the garden.

She leaves out God’s instructions about the tree bearing seed.

She adds to God’s instruction by saying “neither shall ye touch it...”

God did not say that.

Sin often tempts us to tell ourselves and others incomplete truth.

This can lead us to being trapped by sin.

Not only that, but the truth changed in their heart because she lingered on the forbidden fruit…she..

B. Saw, Desired, and Took

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

This is the pattern that we fall too far too often!

She looked where she shouldn’t have looked.

Where we used to live in California there was a big shopping mall in town.

We didn’t go very often, but when we did, sometimes we would find ourselves walking past the Victory Secret store.

I always turned my head away and looked at the sunglasses store on the other side.

When my kids came along, I would quietly say, “look to the left.”

The kids knew we shouldn’t look there, and would join me in looking at the array of sunglasses.

When we go to the Grocery store, I dont’ even like to walk down the alcohol aisle.

I know the dangers of alcohol, and I don’t even want to look at it.

Why?

Because it starts with our curiosity to look…it turns into a desire to try…and then we take it, and are lead down a very dangerous road.

The truth was changed in Eve’s heart, This was forbidden by God…but she looked too close at the sin…she began to desire it…then she took it.

I believe there is truth here, that we should not miss.

The Bible says that Adam was with her in verse 6.

But Eve is doing all the talking.

It’s not that Eve shouldn’t have talked.

It’s not that Eve is lesser than Adam.

The truth is...

C. Adam Let Eve Lead

God designed the husband to lead his family.

Not because he is bigger and better.

It is just about God’s design for the family.

God made man to be the protector of the family.

Adam failed at his protection role - he should have gotten Eve away from tree…away from the serpent.

But he didn’t.

Men, protect your family from sin!

Establish barriers of protection and stand on them!

Wives and children, let your father’s protect you.

Don’t assume the worst from him, assume that he is trying to protect you.

We may not always communicate it in the right way, but realize there is usually a reason for what we say!

TV and movies portray the man as an idiot.

I’ve even heard ladies in this church tear down men.

Men don’t know how to do things right.

I don’t condemn anyone…it’s programmed by society.

We all have some of it in us, if we aren’t careful.

Don’t tear us down, we have a job to do…help us by listening and encouraging us.

When we work together we can prevent a lot of bad things from happening.

The Truth changes in our heart, when we begin to listen to the lies of Satan.

Secondly we see that...

II. Shame Immediately Enters

7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

As soon as they ate, both of their eyes were opened, and they realized they were naked…and for the first time in their existence they felt shame.

Christian Psycologist Curt Thompson says that Shame activates areas of the brain related to fear and survival, causing us to react with fight, flight or freeze responses.

This is exactly what we see with Adam and Eve.

This kind of response hinders a healthy relationship.

Often times with our children we notice a shift in the relationship.

At times we have asked if there is anything they want to talk about, or is there something that is bothering them.

The relief is amazing that comes over them when they confess, or else explain their hurt by something we have done, and we confess and apologize.

We see all throughout the history of man the consequences of living in shame, even here at the very beginning…It was a traumatic difference for them.

You see ...

A. They Began Unashamed

Genesis 2:25 KJV

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

They were naked all along.

It was only after they sinned that they felt vulnerable and revealed.

It was only after sin entered that there was any need to cover themselves.

They were not ashamed.

Life was good, just a man and his wife, with no shame, no sin, just living in the purpose they were created for…Working for God, walking with God, and fellowshipping with each other.

But then came sin, and they immediately felt a need to hide.

This is often the case...

B. Shame Creates Desires to Hide

8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

Sin caused them to be ashamed, to hide their shame.

As if God wouldn’t be able to tell.

God comes looking for them…of course He knows where they are, and what they have done.

But as is the very nature of God...

III. God Seeks to Save

9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

Immediately after Adam and Eve sin, God comes seeking to make the relationship right.

Can I tell you …It is the same today!

You do not need to hide from God, He desires to help you, to forgive you, to cover you and heal you!

God’s greatest desire is to walk with you each and every day…and when you hide from Him…He wants to help you!

I often feel the same thing from church members.

They will pull away from me, avoid talking to me, hide from me.

I’m not God! I mess up too!

You don’t need to hide from me!

But I do want to help pull you back out into the light.

I’m not going to judge you, but I will speak the truth of God’s Word, and try to help you.

We see in this passage three crucial truths about how God handles our shame...

A. God Searches Out the Truth

He knows already - He has known from before the worlds ever existed every sin that you will ever commit.

And He has chosen to send His son into the world to die for those sins.

That’s how much He loves you!

That’s how hard He is seeking to save you!

But notice how God, even though He knows the answers, He still asks them questions.

9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

God knew where they were...

11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

God knew how they found out they were naked...

God knew they ate of the fruit of the tree...

God knew they had disobeyed Him.

He continues with His questions...

13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? ...

God knew what she did, and why she did and who tempted her.

Notice there were no questions for the serpent…just judgement.

God is interested in getting the truth out in the open.

Why?

John 8:32 KJV

32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

The truth sets you free!

God isn’t looking for information…He already knows it all!

And it is right here we find our second of the three crucial truths we need to understand...

B. God Wants Confession

10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

What is confession - we confuse the word today.

When a policeman makes an arrest, and the criminal reveals everything he did we say he made a confession.

But the truth of the matter is that is not what confession is when it comes to God.

Because God already knows what we did.

What God is looking for is for us to agree with Him that what we did was sin.

The Greek word confess is a compound word, or two words put together into one word.

The Greek word is homologéō - homou means similar, or alike and logeo - meaning words spoken

So we see the word means to confess, or to agree with words.

God wants us to stop hiding, stop covering our sin, and bring it out into the light and agree with Him that what we did was sin.

Light exposes, but light also heals.

God knows that we will never heal, until we bring what we are ashamed of into the light.

By the way, just a side note, sometimes we feel shame for what might have happened to us.

When we are not at fault, but something shameful has happened to us…we can still feel shame, and want to hide it.

Please listen to me, you will never be able to heal by hiding.

Please seek help, come talk to me, or my wife about what you have experienced and begin the healing process.

God in His loving mercy searches out the truth…not because He is an oger or a tyrant…but because He loves you and knows that shame hurts us.

God Knows the truth already, but seeks out our confession so that we can begin to heal.

Then we see the third crucial truth we should understand about God is that...

C. He Covers Our Sin

21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

God loved Adam and Eve, he did not want them to live in their shame.

Once the truth came out, once the confession was made…God set about making a covering for their nakedness.

Yes, there were consequences...

immediate spiritual death

eventual physical death

work became tiring, and painful

child birth became sorrowful, and painful.

they were separated from the perfection of the garden, and their ability to walk with God in the same way they did before.

But God was not content to leave it there...

He established a system of blood sacrifice that would roll forward the sins of men until the day when the Perfect Lamb of God would come and shed His perfect blood for the sins of the whole world.

All those who trust in that Perfect Lamb are made alive again spiritually.

Ephesians 2:1 KJV

1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

Ephesians 2:5 KJV

5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

The word quickened means to make alive again.

One of the punishments of sin has been erased - we are alive in Christ!

We have the Holy Spirit that comes to dwell in us and empower us to do the work God has called us to do.

In this another punishment of sin is erased in part…the work that would be too hard, in fact impossible for us to accomplish on our own, is made possible through His Holy Spirit.

One day, we will see that land that is fairer than day!

We will see that perfect land, not a garden this time, but a holy city!

God desires to renew us to fellowship with Him, in part now through the Holy Spirit, through the Words of God, through the prayers of faith…but one day our fellowship will be fully renewed as we see God face to face!

Conclusion

The truth is, none of us are flawless.

We make mistakes, fall into sin, and bear shame.

While we might try to hide behind false facades of success, wealth, fitness, humor, or perfectionism, we're only deceiving ourselves.

We become masters of pretense.

However, when we confront our shame and admit our faults, failures, and intentional straying from God's path, we can experience redemption and forgiveness (1 John 1:8–10).

1 John 1:8–10 KJV

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Through Jesus, we are able to be completely known, loved, and redeemed.

Jesus is no stranger to temptation (Matthew 4:1–11) and fully understands the weight of shame (Not the shame of sin, but the shame of being ridiculed and mocked by those who crucified him.

Philippians 2:7–8 KJV

7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

He has a deep compassion for those who struggle under shames burden.

Yet, much like in the garden of Eden, there are voices that try to tell us a different story—a false version of God.

Instead of a message that speaks of a loving God who seeks us out, delights in us, and has created us for joy and relationship,

Shame insists that we are inadequate, destined to fail, and will face abandonment and judgment, not just from others but from God as well.

Recognizing these "deceptive" voices for what they are is the first step to transforming that false narrative into the gospel’s message of confession, forgiveness, and redemption.

We’ll explore this more in next week.

Though we will never fully escape sin’s presence until everything is made new, we don’t have to live in hiding.

God longs to truly know you and be fully known by you.

Shame loses its power in an environment where God, who sees everything—the good, the bad, and the ugly—continually pursues you, loves you unconditionally, and calls you into His light.

Let’s not forget the true story, demonstrated in the person of Jesus, of God’s deep love for you.

The gospel liberates us when shame seeks to condemn.

How we view God will make a huge difference in whether we will come to Him or not.

When you picture God in the garden after the fall, what narrative do you hold onto?

Is it the story of a loving God who searches for His people, aware of their sin and desiring to help them?

Or do you see a judgmental God, coming back only to highlight their shame and bring condemnation?

The way we perceive God influences how we see ourselves and others.

Reflect on what it means to view God as being for you, not against you—even in the midst of your flaws.

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