NAKEDNESS – by Paul M Hanssen
When God created man and woman, He created them in a state of perfection. Adam’s body was formed from the dust of the ground but the dust did not give his body life. Adam’s life came from the breath that God breathed into his nostrils. The breathing of the breath of God into the body that He had formed from the dust placed within the lifeless form a soul and a spirit. At that moment, man became a living soul.
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)
It was the breath of life that caused man to live. The word breath in Hebrew is nesh-aw-maw. This word means soul, spirit, wind, vital breath, and inspiration. God’s breath is not the same as man’s breath. God is Spirit and God is a consuming fire. (John 4:24, Hebrews 12:29) It is no wonder, therefore, that the Hebrew word used for breathed (naw-fakh) actually means to kindle a fire. When God breathed into man His holy, divine, eternal, breath, He literally breathed into man a living fire. Man became a walking, living blaze of spiritual divine flames. Had you been privileged to have seen man and woman in their original perfect state, you would have beheld two humans who were glowing with the flames of the glory breath of God. The spirit of fire that was breathed into them glowed so brightly that it shined through and from them.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: (Genesis 1:26)
The word ‘image’ means resemblance. Whereas the word ‘likeness’ means form, shape and fashion. Man’s shape and fashion, his form, or his body, carried the resemblance of God. God is fire; God is Spirit; and man, in his perfect state, displayed the resemblance of God that covered His form. He was clothed with the fire that burned in His being.
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:25)
Adam and Eve were naked as far as any earthly, natural covering was concerned. The reason that they had no shame was because the glory of God’s fiery resemblance, God’s image, clothed them. The image and likeness of God neither carries nor displays shame.
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. (Genesis 3:7)
Once they fell into sin, they were ashamed at their nakedness. It is not because they saw for the first time that they were not wearing clothes, it is rather that they realized the depravity and true nakedness of a human body that is not clothed in God’s glory. They became aware of the likeness of God that was void of the fiery resemblance. This shame drove them to hide when they heard God approaching.
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. (Genesis 3:10)
Up until this point, man and God had enjoyed a harmonious relationship. God and man talked and walked together; spirit with Spirit; fire with fire; the image and likeness of God in fellowship with man who was in the image and likeness of God. There was no shame because man was covered in God’s resemblance. But once rebellion against God’s will took ahold of mankind the resemblance faded away.
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. (Genesis 2:17)
God warned man that he would suffer the consequence of ‘death’ the day he would disobey His command. The wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23) The day that man chose to disobey God’s will, the spirit and soul of man died. Obviously, man did not die a physical death that day, but he died a spiritual death. Death is separation from God. Man lost the resemblance. His image, or his body, was no longer covered. Their eyes were opened to see their naked form. This brought shame!
God hates nakedness! There is nothing in His Word that condones nakedness. Upon the fall of man, God made coats of skin to clothe and cover them.
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)
The word coats means to cover, a robe, and a garment. To be clothed means to wrap around entirely, to array, and put on a garment. God did not mean for man to walk around naked. God never intended for man’s naked form to be exposed. The exposure of the form, the body, was a result of the condition of the human spirit. The greater the death of the spirit, or the separation of man’s spirit from God, the greater the nakedness of man’s body will be.
We live in a world where nakedness has become and is becoming more accepted. The nakedness of human beings has been ‘normalized’ thanks to Hollywood. Movies and TV series portray more and more nakedness which exposes the condition of the human spirit in these last days. Human ‘rights’ movements are fighting for the right of people to display themselves in public as they wish. The cancel culture movements are fighting to ‘cancel’ traditional Biblical values and morals that have been commanded by God. The fashion industry is working hard to display and expose the bodies of man and woman. What used to be considered ‘under clothes’ is now accepted as something to wear in public. It won’t be long and it will become a human right to walk around just as you want and display your naked form for all to see. This is the result of the condition of man’s spirit.
The greater the death of man’s soul and spirit, the greater the nakedness and exposure of his body. Nakedness is the result of the condition of the inner being of man. Anybody whose spirit is alive with the fiery breath of God’s glory will not be able to walk around whilst exposing the shape of his or her body; IMPOSSIBLE! The more alive, on fire, ablaze, and alert your spirit is the more you will want to cover your body. God considers public nakedness as a shame. Our bodies are made for God and for the one whom God joins us to in marriage union. Our bodies are a temple house for the glory presence of God and are not to be treated as a ‘lust trough’ for filthy eyes to feast upon.
The Laodicean Church Age pictures to us the Church of the Last Days. We are living in the last days, the days before the coming of the Lord. The name Laodicea means ‘the rights of the people’. Human rights now dictate government policies. Laws are fashioned for the purpose of condoning whatever man wants. God’s Law no longer matters. All that matters in society today is man’s rights. This is Laodicea.
It was to the Laodicean Church that God spoke of nakedness, not once but twice.
…and knowest not that thou are…naked (Revelation 3:17)
I counsel thee to buy of me… white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear (Revelation 3:18)
The Spirit of God did not speak of idolatry or paganism to Laodicea. He did not speak to them concerning the loss of their first love. He did not rebuke them for tolerating the spirit of Jezebel and of Balaam, or the Nicolaitans. He did not speak to them of the synagogue of Satan or of Satan’s throne. All of these matters had been dealt with in the other churches. No, Laodicea was, among other things, rebuked for their nakedness. They were the naked church!
Even though the nakedness that God rebuked within the Laodicean church was spiritual nakedness, it was nonetheless reflected in their bodies. The outward man is a mirror reflection of the inward man. The end is like the beginning. Within the End-Time Church, we are back to where it all started; back to The Garden; back to God’s call for the spirit of man to become ablaze with the fiery breath of God and for man to cover his nakedness and protect the temple wherein His presence resides!
When Jesus died on Calvary’s Cross, He was stripped naked. He took upon Himself the sin and shame of man’s fallen, naked, and deprived condition. By exposing your body and its form, you are slapping the Savior in His face and mocking His sacrifice on the Cross. By exposing your nakedness, you are making a bold statement that His sacrifice was not sufficient. May God’s people wake up; may our spirits become alive with the fiery breath of God; and may we, as His people, as His house, and as His living temple, display His likeness adorned in an appropriate manner, as those whose profess Godliness. (1 Timothy 2:9-10)
-Paul M Hanssen