Chapter 3 Naked Without Shame

Bridging the Gap  Introduction  Original Sin – first human offense against God  Original Man (human) – period of human experience before their first sin  After that a new world filled with selfishness, suffering, shame, lust, and death  2 nd creation account – gives them dominion over all of creation  Original Solitude – Adam’s first experience with the animals

 Adam realized he did not have a suitable companion  He was fundamentally different  Alone in the visible world as a person  He had a Spiritualized Body that was unique in the world and longed for a true companion  Naked Without Shame  And so God created a partner for him – Eve (not Steve)  Everything was still pure  Adam and Eve experienced sexual desire in a totally pure way  There was no confusion between love and lust

 When Adam saw her body, he experienced his call to love her  Sexual desire was a desire to love in the image of God – gift of self (self donation) to another person  Original Nakedness of Adam and Eve was a peaceful state because there was no struggle to love – natural to be naked and to love not lust after each other  Combined with Original Innocence allowed them to be Naked Without Shame

 Nuptial Meaning of the Body  Their naked bodies revealed their call to make a gift of themselves to each other  Saw that their bodies “fit” together- the completed each other  A communion that is sacred  Unite in a bodily way – HAVE SEX  Original Unity – initial experience of perfect unity between man and woman  Complete integration of the body and soul and sexual desire sprang from authentic love  “Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh”

 Original Happiness – participation in the God- given sacrament of marriage  4 descriptions of God’s love  Free – freely given to us  Total- complete, gives all of Himself to us – withholds nothing  Faithful – never abandons us or stops loving us  Fruitful- brings us to life – new life  Family of love  God’s image and likeness  “Be fruitful and multiply”  Enjoy sexual intercourse  Gift gift to the other  Share in giving life

 The Big Lie  Serpent tricked Eve into thinking she was missing out on something  That God wasn’t trustworthy and loving Father  She fell for the lie and so did Adam  He wanted them to believe that God was holding out on them- didn’t want them to be happy  Following God would lead to sadness not joy  Lack of trust in God- wanted to decide for themselves what was right or wrong  Serve own wills not God’s  Relativism-A modern heresy that says that truth and morality are not absolute and can be defined by individuals  We often doubt the goodness of God and would rather fulfill our desires- to decide what is right  Grasp at what feels like love

 Sins of  Pride and disobedience  Formed a rupture between body and spirit  Historical Man – from that moment on even into today  Naked Without Shame  Why are humans the only animals to experience shame?  Prudish religious rules?  Then why non-Christian nations

 Dislike for one’s body?  Many people have hatred of their bodies – cutting, eating disorders, steroids  6 pack abs  Size 0  Body is bad and should be covered?  First bikini  Michelangelo paintings  BUT in the beginning Adam and Eve had no problem seeing the goodness in their bodies  With the fall of man came lust  Some people deal with it by being shameless – numbed their conscience

Living it out  Helps through temptation  Iron sharpens iron  Friends you choose  Avoid near occasions of sin- persons, places or things that can easily lead you into sin  And, course – PRAY  Remember God’s Promise  God is faithful and will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength – will provide the way to escape

 Helps in time of temptation  Do something different  Pray aloud or in quiet  Devil is not afraid of you but of the presence of God within us – let God work