Genesis 3:7

Carnal Knowledge

The eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Sixteen-year-old Kyle Wilson was a star basketball guard for the White Rock Christian Secondary School. He won’t be playing basketball anymore this year. He was suspended from classes for two weeks and dropped from the line-up of the defending British Columbia provincial champion White Rock Christian Warriors basketball team from the remainder of the season. The boy broke the school’s code of conduct when he got his girlfriend, a fellow student, pregnant.

The story was front-page news for Vancouver’s two daily newspapers this week past and has become editorial fodder for apologists promoting modern sexual mores. Kyle’s father does not think the school overreacted. In fact, he is quoted as saying that he hopes Kyle learns a lesson. Vern Wilson, a founder of the school, is quoted as saying, “He did something wrong… You have to teach these kids character. It’s very important about life, especially in this day and age.” Other students enrolled in the school are equally supportive of the school. “It’s fair,” says Katherine Schmitz, a Grade 11 student. “Everyone knows the rules, and if you want to come to this school you abide by the rules.”

You would think this situation would be a no-brainer. Where is the controversy? Parents and youth sign a code of conduct which includes no drinking and no sex. Moreover, the school refuses to teach about sexual techniques, choosing instead to teach students abstinence. With agreement by all enrolled at the school and agreement by parents whose children are enrolled there and agreement by the faculty you would think there would be no controversy. The story is reported and you would think the news media would move on to other earth shattering issues. However, the days following must have been slow news days since the editorialists seized upon this story and immediately provided an apologia for surrender to teen sexuality.

The unsigned lead editorial for Tuesday, March 14, 2000 said that Kyle must surely have learned not to leave home without a condom. It goes ahead to condemn the school for refusing to teach “safe sex” instead of teaching teens to practise abstinence. According to this view Kyle has really sacrificed too much if he is forced to be a parent. Better he had a condom in his pocket.

As an aside, in my years of research and study in the realm of biology I have never heard that a condom in the pocket would prevent pregnancy nearly so well as refusal to engage in sex. I think the school has the better argument, but then the sexual Nazis have never been known for their ability to reason. They are threatened by anyone who does not salute their flag, and they are so arrogant that they can never be wrong.

Nowhere are the lines of demarcation between the view of the world and the position presented by the Living God more in conflict than in the realm of sexuality. Christians see sex as a sacred gift, given to bless and enrich our lives. The world views sex as a mere animal urge which is so powerful that no one can control it. In the view of the world, a man thinks about one thing all the time, and they are all too ready to degrade man to a mere animal in order to justify their own lack of control.

This transition from godliness to identity with the beasts began when our first parents fell. The transition in sexual views occurred immediately and the process has accelerated throughout human history. Adam and Eve succumbed to the satanic lie and rebelled against God. As we have seen in previous messages, Eve was deceived, though this in no way excuses her actions. Adam, however, chose to rebel against the Creator. Worse yet, Adam failed to restrain Eve and thus from the beginning of the seduction seems to have given tacit approval to her actions. We are left with the impression that this first couple hoped that they would become equal to God.

Matthew Henry has some well-written words on this subject.

Now, when it was too late, they saw the folly of eating forbidden fruit. They saw the happiness they had fallen from, and the misery they had fallen into. They saw a loving God provoked, his grace and favour forfeited, his likeness and image lost, dominion over the creatures gone. They saw their natures corrupted and depraved, and felt a disorder in their own spirits of which they had never before been conscious. They saw a law in their members warring against the law of their minds, and captivating them both to sin and wrath. They saw, as Balaam, when his eyes were opened (Num. 22:31), the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand… They saw themselves disrobed of all their ornaments and ensigns of honour, degraded from their dignity and disgraced in the highest degree, laid open to the contempt and reproach of heaven, and earth, and their own consciences.[1]

The text before us says far more than we might imagine. They had hoped to know good from evil. In fact, with their rebellion they did know good from evil. Before the Fall they had known good, but they had never known evil. God knows both good and evil. Good is that which is associated with Him and with His character. Evil is all that is opposed to Him and to His will. Adam and Eve, after their rebellion, knew good and knew evil, but they were powerless either to do the good or to resist the evil. Thus, they were miserable and riddled with feelings of guilt, suffused with shame and ruled by fear, conditions which were utterly new to them since there had been no guilt nor shame nor fear before the Fall. In an instant their knowledge changed from divine to carnal.

Knowledge of Good and Evil — God had warned against eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Death would be the sure result of disobedience. Adam and Eve did die. Physically death began to reign in their bodies the moment they sinned against God and since that time death has reigned on earth. Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command [Romans 5:12-14].

Though there is no doubt that physical death was in view, spiritual death was instantaneous. Immediately with his disobedience Adam died and plunged the race into a state of separation from God, a state described as spiritual death. Paul describes this state as being dead in … transgressions and sins, as following the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air. He concludes that all of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath [Ephesians 2:1-3].

Modern psychologists have effectively explained away guilt and shame and fear. They distinguish between our feelings of guilt and our guilt as sinners, between our feelings of shame and our nakedness before God, between our feelings of fear and the manner in which we attempt to flee from God. This contributes significantly to my sense of disgust at the emphasis upon feelings among theological scholars of this day. Those feelings are far less important than the conditions which prompt them to the fore in life. Theologians endeavour to deal with the conditions, even as the unthinking masses think they are confronting the situation through addressing their feelings.

When Adam sinned, he and Eve knew good from evil. Consequently they felt guilt because their eyes were opened and they knew that they had rebelled against God. They would deal with their guilt through denial, blaming someone else for their condition (a response which characterises mankind to this day). They knew they were naked, and they were ashamed—so ashamed that they made a makeshift cover for their nakedness. Man still focuses on the external and attempts to cover-up his failure through refocusing the attention of all on his external features. Adam and Eve were fearful, for they knew they had transgressed Holy God, and so they fled. Fear leads to flight, and Adam and Eve were the first people to ever try to hide from God.

I would have you understand that the knowledge of good and evil result in our guilt before God. Because we are capable of distinguishing between good and evil we understand that we are open books before God, standing spiritually stripped of all cover. As moral agents knowing good and evil we endeavour to flee from God who is righteous. We know we cannot stand before Him and even when we have been born into His family we tremble in His presence, for He is God. Those feelings of guilt are born of our guilt. That shame which suffuses our lives is the result of our spiritual nakedness before God. The fear we feel when we think of God’s presence is the natural result of our longing to flee from responsibility imposed by the knowledge of good and evil. We are fallen in that we know what is right and we are powerless to do what is right.

Whenever I speak in this manner our minds turn almost unconsciously to the words of the Apostle in Romans 7:21-24. I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

If you are familiar with the Word of God you know that Paul hurried to supply the answer to his rhetorical question. Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord [Romans 5:25]! Though we are powerless in our own strength to resist the power and the allure of evil, through Jesus Christ our Lord we are delivered from this body of death and set free from the law of sin. This point is so crucial that we need to take a moment before pushing on in our study. We need to examine this issue in greater detail.

Through Jesus Christ the law of sin is annulled. You should not imagine this statement to be a magical incantation, nor some mere religious formula. The Name of Christ the Lord is used by His people, not as an amulet to ward off evil, but as confession that He reigns over them and that they are submitted to His rule over their lives. There is among the unthinking the thought that perhaps the Name of Jesus can be employed much like a silver cross would be used to ward off vampires. Jesus is not a genie to be employed whenever we feel frightened. Perhaps you recall an incident which occurred when Paul was evangelising in Ephesus. The account is recorded in Acts 19:13-16.

Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

These Jewish exorcists thought that the Name of Jesus was magical, and that through possessing the secret knowledge of using His Name they would exercise power for their own benefit. They knew that when Paul spoke that Name the demons were powerless before it. They thought that the demons submitted to Paul because he knew a secret incantation, but when Paul called on the Name of Jesus people were freed from the power of evil because the demons submitted to that Name. They reasoned that they could appropriate that Name as one more piece of ammunition in their arsenal against spiritual powers. Jesus, however, is not a magic power. He is not a mere name which can be employed for the benefit of fallen man. Jesus Christ is the Name and the Title of the Son of God with power over sin so that those who submit to Him may be freed of the fear of death and brought into the glorious liberty of sons of the True and Living God.

When Paul exults in the deliverance God provides, the thanks is offered because the freedom is given through Jesus Christ our Lord. What I would have you see is that it is as Jesus the Son of God is recognised as Master that the deliverance is given. The reason I am compelled to emphasise this point is because a heresy is taught in evangelical churches which teaches that you can make Jesus Saviour at one point and at a later point make Him Master of life. Even among many Baptists do you find this strange teaching that you may be saved without necessarily submitting to Christ as Master of life. Such a thing would be immediately and soundly rejected and condemned by the Apostle. If Jesus is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.

Just as you have heard me say on many occasions. If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Romans 10:9-13].

It is as you confess Jesus is Lord together with believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead that one is saved. It is calling on the Name of the Lord which brings God’s salvation. It is vital that those who realise their fallen condition be confronted with God’s provision of a Lord over their powerless life which brings freedom from the law of sin and which brings forgiveness of sin. It is as we submit to Christ as Master of life that we receive freedom from the penalty of sin, power over the power of sin, and the promise of deliverance from the presence of sin.

If you have failed to embrace Christ the Lord as Saviour, let this be the day of salvation. If you have yet to receive Jesus, God’s Son, as Master over your life, let this be the day of your deliverance from death. Even as the message is delivered you may quietly speak to the Living Son of God. “Lord Jesus, I do believe that you died because of my sin. I now receive you as Master of my life and ask that you set aside my guilt. Remove the shame of my wicked acts and set me free of fear. I do confess that you are Master of my life and I do confess that you died because of me. Amen.”

Guilt — The man and the woman experienced feelings of guilt when they sinned. Their progeny experience feelings of guilt before God. Whenever we permit ourselves to think of God we feel guilty because we know He is holy and we know that we are not holy. We know that God is without sin, and we know that we are sinful. We endeavour to quantify sin, always classifying ourselves as better than another because we know that we cannot measure up to the perfect standard of God’s only Son.

“I am not as bad a sinner as…” and you can fill in the blank. “At least I have never robbed a bank,” we gloat, even though we have stolen time from work. “Well, I never killed anyone,” we murmur, even as we think of another whom we detest. “But I’ve never committed adultery,” though we do enjoy the thoughts we harbour about some other individual. When we are utterly honest, we know that we are guilty before God and we feel our guilt acutely. Because we are haunted by these feelings we find we must do something about them. Usually that something is to deny our guilt.

We have a long heritage of denial. Caught in their rebellion our first parents denied their guilt. Adam blamed Eve, and indirectly accused God as the reason for sin [Genesis 3:12]. Eve shifted blame to the serpent and pleaded that she was deceived [Genesis 3:13]. When sin is exposed we attempt to shift the blame. Modern psychologists have assisted us in excusing our sin. We can always find another to blame for our sin. We often blame our parents for the way we act, and some parents blame their children for their actions. We blame society for our choices, or we blame government, or we blame the education system, or we blame the church. We seem incapable of confronting our own sinfulness and confessing that we are sinners. We seem unable to accept responsibility for our own actions, and we certainly are unwilling to admit guilt before God and before one another.

I do not believe that I have pastored a church yet which did not have some prominent individual in the congregation that wrecked havoc on the congregation and who yet pleaded that people needed to understand him or her. When confronted by the consequences of their evil actions they inevitably whine that I need to understand. Effectively, these individuals present wrong as that which is good and demonstrate that they treat right as wrong. They are revealing that though they know good and evil, they are incapable of doing the good and have surrendered to the evil. Those same individuals are so self-centred that they are incapable of admitting guilt. They reveal through their actions that they know little of grace and know nothing of the power of sin or the freedom of walking in the light of God’s forgiveness.

To deny that evil is evil is no doubt thought to be great gain by those engaged in actions which are wrong. Actually this is not the case. Rather the assertion that wrong is right is the end of the line. In the first chapter of Romans Paul demonstrates that this is the case through the threefold repetition of the phrase God gave them over (or up).

In verse 24 we learn that God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. When men and women reject knowledge of God and refuse to be thankful their thinking became futile and they became fools with the consequence that God gave them over to their own best thoughts. He is talking about illicit sex—fornication, adultery, a lascivious mind—as the verses which follow demonstrate. In verse 26 God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity with one another. Here he speaks of unnatural and perverted sex—sodomy, lesbianism, homosexuality—as the verses following reveal.

It is the final surrender to which I especially direct your attention. In verse 28 we read that since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. The result of this surrender is that although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them [Romans 10:32].

You might think this third step to be wrong since it talks about the mind. We would reason that since sin enters the mind before it is expressed through actions, the third step should be the first. While it is true that sin does begin in the mind, the order Paul gives us here is correct. Paul is not speaking of the initial contemplation of sin, but rather the rational justification of sin by which we deny sin’s sinfulness and attempt to gain approval for sin. This is the worst thing we can do. It is the bottom rung of the ladder descending into the abyss of sinfulness.

With insight which is rare among members of the news media an editorial in the National Post addresses this exact point. That column presents a summary of recent news items from the United States and Canada surrounding the citizenry and the sodomite/lesbian coalition which has hijacked the political process in both countries. The editorial concludes with this thoughtful warning.

The gay-rights movement is not now and never has been a liberal movement (in the old-fashioned, liberty-promoting sense of the word liberal). The gay-rights movement is founded on beliefs about human nature, politics and the family that depart radically from those by which Canadians have lived since the settling of this country. …The gay-rights movement is not asking that its new beliefs be permitted to exist alongside the old; it is insisting that its new beliefs must replace the old—and that those dissenting souls who still uphold the old be hunted, isolated and punished.[2]

Although it seems natural to avoid the pain of guilt which results from sin, we must reject this attempt, instead allowing ourselves to feel the pain of guilt. If we never feel the pain of guilt we will never seek the remedy for sin which is surrender to the Great Physician so that He might heal us. We feel guilty because we are guilty. The reason we have guilt is because we are in rebellion against God.

Shame — Shame is also an effect of the knowledge of good and evil. When we do evil we feel shame. One of the most horrifying conditions known to man is to be shameless. When God wishes to express His horror at Israel’s sinful condition he speaks of their lack of shame. Two examples of that characterisation are provided.

Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute;

you refuse to blush with shame.

[Jeremiah 3:3]

Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct?

No, they have no shame at all;

they do not even know how to blush.

[Jeremiah 6:15]

There is in Zephaniah’s prophecy a telling statement to which I draw attention.

Woe to the city of oppressors,

rebellious and defiled!

She obeys no one,

she accepts no correction.

She does not trust in the LORD,

she does not draw near to her God.

Her officials are roaring lions,

her rulers are evening wolves,

who leave nothing for the morning.

Her prophets are arrogant;

they are treacherous men.

Her priests profane the sanctuary

and do violence to the law.

The LORD within her is righteous;

he does no wrong.

Morning by morning he dispenses his justice,

and every new day he does not fail,

yet the unrighteous know no shame.

[Zephaniah 3:1-5]

Though God is righteous and though He consistently and constantly dispenses His justice, yet the unrighteous know no shame. Why is that?

Before sin Adam and Eve were both naked, and they felt no shame [Genesis 2:25]. With their disobedience they realised they were naked and attempted to cover themselves because they were ashamed [Genesis 3:7]. Knowing they were naked, they felt ashamed. It is not a mark of maturity that our society attempts to glorify nudity, it is evidence instead that we have fallen so far that we no longer feel shame. We are trying to conceal the fact that our condition is desperate and that we are utterly condemned.

We try to cover our nakedness through attempting to divert attention away from ourselves. We use external and superficial comparisons of ourselves with other people in an effort to cover-up what we really are. Of course we always choose to compare ourselves in areas we know we will appear favourable and against others we know will appear unfavourable. We even cover up in the act of confessing wrongs. We are ashamed of ourselves and we will use any disguise.

Again, we try to focus on corporate sin so that others will not notice our personal sin. This is a futile effort, because societies, governments, institutions and even businesses reflect us and are themselves what we have permitted them to become. These entities did not emerge separate from us, but they are what we permit them to be. This is the reason I caution Christians against joining some noisy march or another to protest the social evil of the moment. Abortion and euthanasia did not become acceptable in a vacuum. It was precisely because we Christians did not do what Christ commanded that these evils are present and commonly accepted in our world. We refused to evangelise and we refused to show compassion and we refused to resist evil in our own lives, and so the world about us moved steadily toward destruction. If you really want to address the wickedness of society, change the heart of your neighbour. Otherwise, you are tacitly giving evidence that you are comfortable with the way things are, or at the least you are content to leave them alone.

We will often try to conceal our shame by adopting the view that time cancels sin. We see this in the way we talk about some wrong done during childhood or some nearly equally distant period in our past. We will even act as though this were of no present concern. At times we will even laugh about our wrong. Does God laugh? Is God unconcerned? Because we are creatures of time we sometimes forget that God dwells in eternity and is not bounded by time as we are. Thus, though we may remember the wrong itself we forget the hurt that wrong inflicted on others. God, however, dwelling in eternity sees our sin as an abomination before Him. Time does not eradicate our sin. The only thing which will remove our sin is the blood of Christ the Lord which purifies us from every sin [1 John 1:7].

We also attempt to conceal our shame through thinking there is safety in numbers. We imagine that if everyone fails the exam, then the exam must have been too hard. Christianity insists that all people are bad, and we reason that if this is true then badness must be excusable. In human terms it may be possible that the exam was too hard or the standard was too high. We are talking about God, however, and there can be no excuse for our failure before Him. “Everyone does it” will not suffice to excuse our sin.[3]

There was a day that a blush was considered healthy. It was a sign that the individual was modest and recognised when a breech of social custom had occurred or realised when a wrong was advanced. Today, blushing is so rare that it is considered a sign of serious wrong. Christians should blush in the presence of sin because they realise there is no cover for deliberate sin and because they are embarrassed for the sinner. Let it never be said among us that they do not even know how to blush. Let us confess that we do need atonement for sin, a covering; but let us look to God to provide that atonement through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the Righteous One … is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world [1 John 2:1,2].

Fear — Having sinned, Adam and Eve were fearful and their fear of God gave way to flight from God. They heard the sound of the Lord God and they hid among the trees of the garden. But how does one hide from God?

Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me,”

even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day,

for darkness is as light to you.

[Psalm 139:7-12]

This is a pathetic picture of Adam and Eve. They became aware of their spiritual and their physical nakedness and they found that nakedness intolerable. Immediately they began to try to make some sort of covering from whatever was at hand. They work feverishly and perhaps even took some pride in their efforts. We can almost imagine Adam saying, “Not bad for a first attempt.” They think that perhaps they will get rid of the painful effects of their rebellion—the guilt and the shame.

But they had forgotten about God. Like a child who has broken the antique vase in the living room they hear the voice of the Father and without thinking they scurry into hiding. Running into the shrubbery, losing in the process perhaps even the clothing they had just fashioned, they attempt to hide from God. And there they stand, clinging to each other, their hearts beating wildly, fearful for their very lives. They hope He will not find them, but they know that He will.

This is a picture of each of us when we try to run from God. We should run to God, but like Adam and Eve we find ourselves running from God. God has not changed, but we have. God has not threatened us, but we know that our sins threaten to consume us. God has not wronged us, but we have wronged God. We have sinned against Him. We have treated Him as though He was an enemy, and so we run from Him.

Now you understand Paul’s meaning when he says there is no one who seeks God [Romans 3:10]. It is not that God is not there. It is not that God cannot be found. God has clearly revealed Himself in nature and He has given us a complete revelation of Himself in His written Word. An individual is guilty of awful sin when they say that God cannot be found. God is present and He can be found, but we do not seek Him. We fear to come to Him because we know that we will be exposed in His presence, and so we attempt to hide ourselves just as Adam and Eve tried to hide themselves from God.

God’s voice still cries our, Where are you? He calls through the Bible, but though a Bible can be found in virtually every Canadian home few people read the Book. Even among those who call themselves by the Name of God, few have ever read the Bible through in its entirety. God calls through the preaching of His Word, and though churches are multiplied throughout our land, the services of preaching are poorly attended. We have so many excuses—busy schedules, inadequate preaching, hypocrisy among believers—but the real reason people do not wish to come to the preaching services is that the voice of God confronts them asking, Where are you? Such people are uncomfortable in their sin and fearful of exposure. Thus it is evident that we all share in the sin of our first parents.

What shall be done? We cannot undo what is done, but we can allow God to do what is necessary to deal with our sin and its consequences. We can seek His forgiveness that our feelings of guilt may be removed. We can seek His covering of our sin so that we no longer need to experience shame before Him. We can receive His love so that we no longer fear to stand before Him. The effects of sin are dealt with as we come to God through Christ the Lord. He addresses our fear by giving us a Spirit of confidence as He receives us as His dearly loved children. He clothes us with the righteousness of Christ and we shall never against be ashamed. He takes our guilt on Himself and gives us the confidence of His love. This is the knowledge we need and the knowledge He gives— not the carnal knowledge of good and evil, but the spiritual knowledge which is taught by His Spirit to all who come to Him in faith. Amen.

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[1] Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 1, Genesis to Deuteronomy (New York: Fleming H. Revell, n.d.), pp. 25,26

[2] Editorial, Gay-rights groups don’t want equal treatment, National Post, March 11, 2000 [Page URL: http://www.nationalpost.com/commentary.asp?f+000311/230003

[3] The foregoing examples were suggested by and discussed by C. S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain, Geoffrey Bles, London, Ó 1940, pp. 47-50