I'm naked!

And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed. (Gen 2:25)

Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. (Gen 3:7)

In a very short while Adam and Eve go from having no problem being naked, to needing to cover themselves. Why is this? What about "The Fall" makes nakedness bring shame?

I think generations have assumed it was about sex. Augustine in his *City of God* makes a tentative connection. And in our present sin-soaked culture, it seems obvious shame from nakedness is because of our sexuality.

But I have a suggestion for a different reason our primordial parents were ashamed of their nakedness after their disobedience. Yes, sex is affected by the Fall, but deeper than that, *ALL* of Creation is affected by the Fall. A fracture runs through the whole of the Cosmos, and it runs right through the human frame.

Eve and Adam now see in their own bodies a reminder of their disobedience. Their bodies (and ours) somehow show (well they do wear out, and we die!) the signs left from the Fall. And God says to Adam that he shall return to the ground, becoming again the dust out of which he was made. A ground that has been cursed because of Adam.

Chrysostom says "...They were clad in that glory from above which caused them no shame. But after the breaking of the law, then entered the scene both shame and awareness of their nakedness." This glory was striped from them - indeed from all Creation. And Creation itself stood naked.

But God would not leave it so! A Creation he declared very good, he takes costly steps to redeem!