@ Etude - Fear and Shame

@Etude-Fear and Shame

He said, “ I heard the sound of You walking in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.

Genesis 3 v 10

The primal emotions of fear and shame, it appears , are interconnected. The first couple hid themselves from the presence of God. After that for the rest of history God hid Himself from man, emerging only to reveal Himself through Moses and the prophets and for a complete revelation in Jesus Christ. The first man and woman were afraid as they realized they had done wrong. The fear of offending God drove them into hiding. None of the things that satan promised them happened- that they would have knowledge like God, to know the difference between good and evil. But the new fallen nature made them both afraid and ashamed. They became aware of their nakedness and were ashamed. New knowledge made them weaker and more vulnerable than before.

Consciousness of sin keeps man from entering boldly into the presence of God. Nothing man can do can free us from such guilt and shame. Even if we live like the best of men and do the best of deeds, we still feel ashamed, guilty, wanting. We are freed from such consciousness of our spiritual inadequacy and unworthiness by the shed blood of Jesus, the full and complete payment for our justification and redemption. Though we are still conscious of our nakedness before God, the clothes of salvation provided in Christ cover us, our sinful nature, our thoughts, deeds and actions. We can once again commune, relate, communicate with God daily, continually and eternally. The sound of the walk of God echoed in His word no longer drives us in fear out of His presence. We are restored to the fullness of the glory that God created us to be. He bridges the gap or the hamartia or shortcoming by His grace. We do not struggle to be fulfilled for we are already fulfilled in Christ and fully filled by the Holy Spirit.

The fear instilled in man by his single act of disobedience is the parent of a myriad other fears that have developed in the human mind. The shame of being unworthy is the parent of a myriad other sorrows and ailments of mankind. The Word is called a double –edged spiritual sword as it deals on one edge with all our fears- fear of death, fear of punishment, fear of curses, fear of diseases, fear of failure, fear of scarcity and so on and on the other edge with all sorts of shame- guilt, inferiority complex, low esteem, depression and so on. We need not shy away from the presence of God but we can delve into His presence whenever and wherever at will. God does not hide Himself from us but stays with us as Immanuel.