DWDP: Gen. 3-10 The Shame of Sin

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What happens when we stand exposed before a holy God? Adam's terrified response in Genesis 3:10 reveals a universal human condition - the shame and fear that comes from recognizing our spiritual nakedness.

Drawing from his unique perspective as both physician and theologian, Dr. Robert Jackson masterfully weaves together biblical wisdom with fascinating medical case studies. Through three distinct patients - a woman with dementia who feels no shame in her nakedness, a man with OCD who cannot control his compulsive exposure, and a dancer whose conscience has been dulled by years of deliberate choices - we gain profound insights into the nature of shame, conscience, and our relationship with God.

At its heart, this episode tackles the uncomfortable truth that we cannot hide from God any more than Adam could behind fig leaves and garden trees. The fear Adam experienced wasn't simply embarrassment about physical nakedness, but the terrifying realization of standing corrupted before perfect righteousness. As Dr. Jackson powerfully states, "Sinners, in their shame, always fear the presence and voice of holy God."

Yet this message offers hope beyond conviction. While our own righteousness amounts to nothing but "filthy rags," Christ provides the perfect covering we desperately need. The God who came looking for Adam like "a loving parent seeking a wayward child" still seeks us today. Will our shame drive us toward confession and repentance, or hiding and hardening our hearts? The invitation to exchange our inadequate fig leaves for Christ's perfect righteousness awaits your response.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is more
than enough for the ills thatplague our culture and our
country.
Hosted by author and physician,Dr Robert Jackson.

Dr. Robert Jackson (00:16):
Papa, can you tell me a story?
Do you really want me to tellyou a story?
Well, you go, get your brotherand your sisters and I will tell
you a story.
Well, you go, get your brotherand your sisters and I will tell
you a story.
Welcome to Devotions with DrPapa.
Gather around, grab your Biblesand let's look into the written
Word, which reveals to us theliving Word, which is our Lord

(00:40):
Jesus Christ.
Now today we're at Genesis,chapter 3 and verse 10, which
says he said speaking of God, hesaid no, I'm sorry.
Speaking of Adam.
Adam said I heard the sound ofyou in the garden and I was
afraid because I was naked, so Ihid myself.

(01:04):
Now here's the context Adam andEve had sinned.
They had made for themselvesfig leaves to cover themselves.
Then they heard the Lord Godwalking in the garden and they
were frightened.
Because of this.
God called out to the man andsaid to him where are you?

(01:25):
And in verse 10, adam answeredand said I heard the sound of
you in the garden and I wasafraid because I was naked, so I
hid myself.
Now I want to start byportraying three different
scenarios.
These are medical scenarios andthese are three separate

(01:48):
patients of mine.
First is a patient that I tookcare of on the behavioral health
floor, otherwise known as thepsych ward, at the regional
hospital, where I worked, and Iwas a consultant for the
psychiatrist there for about 14years.
And on one occasion I wascalled to take care of a patient

(02:11):
who had a dementia of some sortand she was not that old, she
was probably in her late 50s.
But I go into the room toevaluate her and the patient is
completely unclothed.
There's no linen on the bed,and when I go in and introduce
myself I ask her I said, ma'am,do you want to put on some

(02:33):
clothes?
And she emphatically said no.
And I said would you like me toget you some clothes?
And she said that won't benecessary.
So I conducted my medicalinterview, review of systems and
physical exam, and then, whenI'm finished, she immediately
just stands up and walks out ofthe room completely unclothed,

(02:56):
walks down the hall and then,within a few seconds, two female
nurses hurry her right backinto the room and explaining to
her that she cannot walk aroundthe hall completely unclothed,
and she's obviously perplexed.
She cannot understand why shehas to wear clothes and in fact

(03:20):
that was the reason why she wasbrought into the hospital by her
family, because she's beenwalking around in their home
completely unclothed and in facthad left the house and walked
through the neighborhoodunclothed.
So you see, this is creatingdistress for the family, but the
patient was not distressed atall.

(03:43):
Now the next scenario is apatient I had who was an
obsessive compulsive disorderpatient.
Now he was in trouble with thelaw because he couldn't control
his compulsions and he wasexposing himself compulsively to
female students at a localuniversity.
So his lawyer asked that amedical doctor evaluate him.

(04:12):
So I evaluated him and it turnsout that he had been dealing
with panic attacks, excessiveanxiety and obsessive-compulsive
ideation all of his adult life.
He told me that he had once runthrough a pothole in the road
and he was convinced that he hadrun over and killed a man and

(04:36):
he had gone back to that placedozens and dozens of times just
to reassure himself that hehadn't run over and killed a man
and that he no longer drove anautomobile because of this
persistent irrational idea andthat his family had to drive him
everywhere he went.

(04:56):
He couldn't keep a job becauseof his panic attacks that would
overwhelm him and he would breakout in a sweat and tremble all
over and the panic attacks ruledover his life.
He had racing thoughts atbedtime that kept him up most of
the night and he had thesecompulsions that would make him

(05:18):
buy things that he didn't needand hoard things in his home,
and it made him also exposehimself physically and he
couldn't control thesecompulsions.
So I listened to his story andI put him on a $10 a month
prescription of Prozac, told himto come back in three weeks and

(05:39):
when he came back he wasexuberant, he was elated and he
said doctor, for the first timein my life, I feel like I've
been liberated.
He said I don't have the racingthoughts, I feel like I've been
liberated.
He said I don't have the racingthoughts, I don't have the
panic attacks, I don't have thecompulsions.
He said I don't have theirrational fears.
He said all of those things areat least 70% gone.

(06:05):
We adjusted his medicine, gavehim a little higher dose, saw
him back in three more weeks andhe told me he was more than 90%
improved and he felt like abrand new man.
Now you see, this man was goingto go to prison for what was
interpreted as being a pervert,a sinful perversion, and really

(06:28):
what he had was uncontrolledobsessions, anxiety and panic
attacks.
And I wrote a letter to thejudge and told him said this man
doesn't need to be in prison,he needs to be on medication and
I'm not saying he shouldn't beon probation for a long time,
but he doesn't need to be inprison.
Now compare that to the thirdpatient.

(06:50):
She came to my office.
I asked her what she did andshe told me that she was a pole
dancer in a local men's club.
I said well, how long have youbeen doing that?
She said 15 years.
And I said it doesn't botheryou to expose yourself to
strange men.
She said oh, doc, I've beendoing this for so long, it
doesn't bother me a bit.
She said oh, doc, I've beendoing this for so long, it
doesn't bother me a bit.

(07:12):
Now this woman exposed herselfphysically the same as my second
patient, but she did it formoney.
And you see, she had a searedconscience.
Her conscience was insensitiveto sin and I want you to keep
all three of these in mind as wego through today's lesson.

(07:39):
Now go back to Genesis 3 andverse 10 and let me read it to
you again.
Adam said I heard the sound ofyou in the garden and I was
afraid because I was naked.
So I hid myself.
The fear of God.
Is that a good thing or is thata bad thing?
In this passage, adam is afraidof God, but he's afraid of God

(08:07):
because of his sin.
He's afraid because of hisshame and he attempts to hide
himself and cover his nakednesswith fig leaves.
Interestingly, god doesn'tignore Adam or reject him or
turn his back on him.
He doesn't reject him indisgust, but rather comes

(08:28):
looking for him like a lovingparent looking for a wayward
child.
Mark it down, dear listenerSinners, in their shame, always
fear the presence and the voiceof holy God.

(08:49):
The Bible tells us that the fearof God is the beginning of
wisdom, and the fear of Godcauses men to forsake iniquity.
Here's the question Will theirshame drive them to confession
and repentance, in other words,towards God, or to hiding and

(09:10):
blaming others, or hardeningtheir hearts and drive them away
from God?
You see, it's an individualdecision.
Both Adam and Eve blamedsomeone else.
Eve blamed the serpent, andthen Adam blamed Eve, and there
was no immediate humility orconfession of sin.

(09:32):
And let me tell you this Manyof you know from previous
podcasts that I have two specialneeds sons, thomas and John
Richard.
Inevitably at our evening meal,one of them will belch and
immediately point at the otherone, casting blame.

(09:53):
And then that other one willpoint at my wife.
Now you have to understand thatmy wife is the epitome of
etiquette, who would rather haveher throat slashed than to
belch at the dinner table.
Have her throat slashed than tobelch at the dinner table.
And when my boys cast blame ather, she becomes immediately

(10:16):
offended and indignant.
And then my boys break intopeals of laughter.
Now listen, collectively, mytwo special needs boys don't
have the cumulative IQ of one ofmy chickens.
So how do they know?
How do they know that castingblame on my wife will cause her

(10:40):
to be so indignant?
Well, I don't know, but ofcourse I have to join in all of
the laughter.
Well, now listen.
Casting blame can be fun, butI'll tell you what else.
It's dangerous.
It's dangerous business in thepresence of Holy God, as Adam

(11:14):
and Eve were soon to find out.
This verse in chapter 3 andverse 10 tells us why.
And the reason why is that Adamwas afraid.
Adam answered because I wasnaked.
What in the world.
Did he mean by that?
Well, I'll tell you.
What he meant was that Adamsuddenly realized that, in the
presence of perfectrighteousness, he was corrupted,
he was defiled, he was polluted.

(11:39):
His sin had left him exposedand vulnerable, with no place to
hide from the all-seeing eye ofGod.
The wisdom writer in Proverbsasks who can say I have cleansed
my heart, I am pure from my sin.

(12:01):
The psalmist asks who can standin his holy place, psalms 24.
The men of Beth Shemesh, whenthey accidentally touched the
ark and one of them died, theysaid who can stand in the
presence of the Lord, this holyGod?
Indeed, who can stand in thepresence of holy God?

(12:26):
Certainly, adam could not,because of unconfessed sin.
So what did he do?
He hid in the trees of thegarden.
Now, dear listener, neither canyou or I.
Why?
Because the scripture tells usthat there is none righteous.

(12:47):
No, not one.
There's none who understands,there's none who seeks for God.
All have turned aside together.
They have become useless.
There's none who does good.
There's not even one, for allhave sinned and fall short of

(13:10):
the glory of God.
You see, we are all naked andexposed and vulnerable before
the judge of all the earth.
Before him, who is the absolutestandard of righteousness,

(13:36):
righteousness.
Nor can we hide from the fromfrom him, whose eyes roam to and
fro throughout the earthseeking, whose heart is fully
devoted to him.
We cannot hide from god anymore than adam could, nor can we
cover our sin with man-madecoverings, as did Adam and Eve.
So what do we do?
As we discussed last week, wehave to put on the righteousness

(13:59):
of Christ as our only hope.
Dear listener, forsake your ownrighteousness, which is nothing
more than filthy rags, your ownrighteousness, which is nothing
more than filthy rags, and cryout to God and confess your sin,
Repent of sin, and receive theLord Jesus Christ as your only

(14:20):
Savior and the true King of yourheart, and claim the
righteousness of the Lord JesusChrist as your only hope.
Now go back to the verybeginning, and I told you about
three folks.
One was a woman with dementia,she, and she was unconcerned

(14:43):
about her nakedness because of amental illness.
The next man had obsessive,compulsive ideation and he
couldn't control his desire toexpose himself because of a
psychiatric disorder.
And then the third person had aseared conscience.
Now, the reason I tell youthese is because I want you to

(15:04):
understand that the shame ofnakedness is not a convention of
modern civilization, but theshame of nakedness is a
consequence of sin.
Now, there are some folks whoexpose themselves because they
have mental disorders themselves, because they have mental

(15:29):
disorders, but then there arethose who forsake the norms of
our society because of a searedconscience, because of constant
giving in to sin, as did mythird patient who was a dancer
in a men's club.
You see, the shame of nakednessis because of sin, and the only
place where that boundary can beproperly let go is within the

(15:52):
confines of holy matrimony.
And I want you to know,brothers and sisters, that in
the Bible, nakedness is alwayslooked at as shameful, except
for in the garden.
Before sin.
In heaven, the saints will bewearing fine linen clothes and
our Lord, jesus Christ, isportrayed as wearing a robe that

(16:14):
covers him all the way down tohis feet.
Nakedness is always a shamefulthing.
Now, next week, we're going totalk further about Adam and
Eve's sin and the consequencesof their sin, and you need to
stay tuned because the scripturegives us lots of instruction

(16:37):
about the consequences of thesin in the garden and how it
affected generations to come andhow it affects you and me even
today.
If you like what you hear, Ipray that you would follow, like
, share or download, tell yourfamily and friends and we'll be
back again next week and untilthen, may the Lord bless you

(17:01):
real good.

Speaker 1 (17:03):
Thank you for listening to this edition of
More Than Medicine.
For more information about theJackson Family Ministry, dr
Jackson's books, or to schedulea speaking engagement, go to
their Facebook page, instagramor their webpage at
jacksonfamilyministrycom.
This podcast is produced by BobSlone Audio Production at
bobslone.
com.