No More Shame
- Strength For Life
- Apr 15
- 4 min read
When Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, his relationship with God fundamentally changed. The Bible tells us very little about the nature of God’s and Adam’s interaction before sin, but it is easy to see that it was not the same after sin. “They heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8). Wearing his hastily constructed loincloth, Adam described his thoughts. “I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:9). Yes, Adam was afraid, but there is more to his behavior than simply fear. After all, he would go on to blame his sin on his wife, clearly trying to discard his objective guilt. Remember also that Adam’s first act was to sew makeshift clothing to cover himself. The word that best describes the totality of Adam’s behavior is shame. Adam was ashamed to be on full display in God’s holy garden, and in God’s holy presence.
We learn something important about shame from this encounter. Shame is the instinctive outward expression of inward guilt. No one told Adam to hide, cover himself, and shift blame; he automatically behaved as a man ashamed of his actions. Similarly, when we feel shame, it is because we believe we have violated the standards of an authority. There are numerous examples of shame in the Bible, and many of them are instances of social shame. There are some examples, however, that address shame toward God. In Job 8:22, Bildad says of the Lord, “They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.” This verse is an excellent word picture of Adam’s crisis upon disobeying God. While he was seeking to cover his physical nakedness, Adam was also trying to disguise the shame that clung to him like a wet cloak. Shame is the kind of clothing that a guilty man cannot take off. While people cannot see the shame physically, they can see how the behavior of a man burdened by his guilt gradually changes.
Job’s question in in the next verse is one that Christians should never forget. “I know it is so of a truth,” he says. “But how should man be just with God?” If shame is a consequence of guilt, then how can a sinner escape either one? Before your mind jumps to the obvious New Testament answer, consider first how even believers experience shame. They may be burdened by the memory of their pre-salvation or post-salvation sins. They may be living with unconfessed sin. They may hide their profession of Christ to avoid the disapproval and hatred of the culture. They may assume responsibility for a wayward child or family member. In each case there is guilt producing the immune response of shame.
Now that we recognize the problem, let’s look at what we know is the solution: the cross. There, Jesus propitiated the wrath of God and made atonement for sinners. However, both on trial and on the cross, Jesus experienced the shame of a criminal’s death. Just like Adam was found naked in his sin, the Lord Jesus was stripped of His clothes to be crucified. Just like Adam experienced shame immediately after disobeying God, Jesus experienced the external shame reserved for law breakers. Isaiah 50:6 prophesies of the Christ: “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting.” Hebrews 12:2 particularly notes that Jesus anticipated the shame of the cross. Crucifixion was intended to be a humiliating way to die, and Jesus anticipated that humiliation in places like Mark 10:34: “And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.”
The point is that the shame of the cross was not incidental. It was an important part of the Messiah’s substitutionary atonement. Shame is unavoidable in God’s world. As Bildad was quoted earlier to say, it is those who oppose God who rightfully deserve to be ashamed. Jesus, the Son of God, most definitely did not deserve to experience shame. But to be charged with our guilt, He also had to suffer the shame we deserved.
The shame of our sin does not define Jesus today. Hebrews 12:2 says that “for the joy that was set before Him [he] endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Shame and death were necessary for our Captain to obtain salvation for us. However, Jesus is now exalted, never to suffer shame and death again. As men and women who have been placed into Christ, we also do not have the same relationship with shame. While it is necessary for an unbeliever to be ashamed of their sin, once that man is saved he no longer should experience shame to the same degree. Forgiven sins are sins for which a believer is no longer guilty before God. While there is often temporal regret, and often temporal shame as part of the process of being reconciled to man, that shame should not become chronic. Instead, God’s people should be joyful because they know they are free from guilt before the Father. The world will try to use shame as a tool to intimidate believers into standing down. We should not be ignorant of evil’s devices. However, that external pressure should make us confident, not hesitant. After all, we are right with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Since we have the covering of His righteousness, we have no need to hide. Instead, we have every reason to be bold.
The above article was written by Jonathan Kyser. He is a pastoral assistant at NorthStone Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL. To offer him your feedback, comment below or email us at strengthforlife461@gmail.com.
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