Thursday, May 24, 2012

2 Corinthians 5:3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked (ESV)

    We know that at one point in time man was naked yet did not realize his nakedness. Sin had not yet corrupted the view of Gods creation. Once Adam and Eve were naked and not ashamed, “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” (Gen 2:25). But once sin entered into the earth, “the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.” (Gen 3:7). I do believe being that we were created naked, and it was a natural thing, of our nature, that our souls remember what it was like to be naked. Unashamed of the way God has created us. But when sin entered into the earth, I believe nakedness was to holy and pure of a thing to be in the presence of sin.
    Being that we long for that nakedness, for our intended way of living, we search to fill that void. The nakedness of the human body is something that was intended to be pure, but now it has become corrupted. We want that nakedness, but yet we don’t know how to handle it. The purity of it has no place amongst the corrupt flesh that we now live in. We were created to be eternal, but the flesh is now rotting. We are ashamed of our rotting flesh, confused, thinking that revealing our bodies for others to see will bring us satisfaction. But nakedness was not meant for self-glorification, for what place would self glorification have among a creation that was intended to bring God glory. “Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made” (Isa 43:7).
    We have taken the nature, the beauty of God and his creation, and turned a pure and beautiful sight into a snare that binds many to the brokenness of the flesh. We idol the nakedness of one another, but this is not what God intended for us to do. “For all that is in the world-the desires of the flesh and of the eyes and pride in possessions-is not from the Father but is from the world” (1 John 2:16). We have began to possess our nakedness, taking what was intended to be about the Creator and made it about the creation. When we think that we possess the ability to freely do with our body as we please, this is not a right that we have been given. We have been given the freedom but that does not mean that it is right. “ ‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor” (1 Cor. 10:23-24). Being that we are scared by sin, the fall and the corruption within, we can not handle the nakedness of one another while yet being sanctified.
    So we should take into consideration the natural desire we have for the nakedness of another, mixed with our current corrupt state, and the lusts of the flesh within. Our nature tells us its ok but yet our flesh can not handle it rightly, so we are at war within. A daily battle we must face to keep the flesh starved and still live with the natural desire. So we know the best thing to do is to clothe our flesh in a modest way. That might not cause another to stumble. When you share this nakedness for the rest of the world to see, it’s a disgrace. Our nakedness on this earth at this point has only one intended place, and that is to be in our marriage, shared with our God given wife or husband. Where we can then control our natural desires in a way that brings glory to God, even amongst a sinful generation. “Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well. Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets? Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you. Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love. Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress? For a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his paths. The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin” (Prov 5:15-22).

And for the one who exercises nakedness outside of marriage shall share in the humiliation of Babylon, “Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, o daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no more be called tender and delicate. Take the millstones and grind flour, put off your veil, strip off your robe, uncover your legs, pass through the rivers. Your nakedness shall be uncovered, and your disgrace shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will spare no one” (Isa 47:1-3).

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