This verse comes right after Eve was made from Adam's rib. They were new, holy, and hadn't eaten the forbidden fruit yet. They walked in the garden with God, seemingly on a regular basis. They were companions with God.
They were not only physically naked at this time, but they were spiritually and emotionally naked as well. They had no shame. Why would they? They had everything in the world that they could want and they had done nothing wrong in the sight of God.
Enter the serpent (aka the devil).
We know how it goes: the serpent tempts the woman with the forbidden fruit, she eats it, and feeds it to her husband (shame, shame). First sin, right?
Is the first sin when Eve takes the fruit and eats it or even before that? I think the first sin was when Eve decided to listen to someone (the serpent) instead of God. The moment we turn our backs to what God has been telling us, we are just asking for trouble.
The chapter continues: "At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees" (Gen 3:7-8 NLT).
Suddenly they felt shame? Just physical shame or emotional and spiritual shame as well? I would guess it was a combination of all three. At first, they were completely naked in front of God. They had no shame. But after sinning, they felt so heavy with shame that they needed to hide from God. They wanted to hide their physical bodies as well as their spiritual beings that had been flawed.
At what point in a relationship do you feel good about standing in front of someone completely naked? No matter how confident you are in your appearance, there is a sense of vulnerability that comes with completely (lights on) revealing yourself to someone. It is physical as well as spiritual. It is saying, "I trust you with all of my flaws and scars and brokenness. I want you to see it all."
That is the relationship we need to have with God. It would never have been possible without the death of Jesus Christ. His death tells us that we are made clean in God's sight. Jesus has completely remade us into beautiful creatures that are completely flawless. We are back to being Adam and Eve before the first sin. When they felt absolutely no shame in their nakedness.
No scar or flaw or brokenness could make God turn His eyes away from us when we are naked in front of Him. The key to having a new and open relationship with Him is wanting to get naked in front of Him. And feeling no shame.
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