Guilt
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Genesis 3:7 - “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”
The spiritual eyes of Adam and Eve were opened and they realized that their sin resulted in guilt. For the first time they experienced shame, embarrassment, disgrace, fear of punishment, sorrow, confusion, and lack of confidence. They had lost the light of God’s purity and innocence, and they were exposed to the judgment of God.
They tried to avoid this by sewing fig leaves together and covering themselves. Today we try to cover our sin by getting involved in religious activities and doing good works. Like the Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14), we think that if we do more good things than bad ones we can make up for our sin. And if our sins are not as serious as those of someone else, or fewer in number, then God will accept us.
“And he said, I heard a voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Gen. 3:10).
Adam and Eve then tried hiding from God. We do this by trying to avoid God, the Bible, and preaching and teaching against sin. Our society and a large part of the church is doing everything it can to get rid of or water down God’s truth so that people are not offended by, feel comfortable in, or overlook their sin. There is no telling how many people are using alcohol, drugs, medications, food, and religion to escape “the sorrow of this world” (II Cor. 7:10).
We try to tell ourselves that we are inherently good instead of a sinner, and all we have to do is let the good in us come out. All we have to do is improve ourselves by trying a little harder, or changing a few bad habits. But nothing we can do can change our sin nature and our heart.
“And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, what is this that you have done? And the woman said the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat” (Gen. 3:12-13).
Finally, Adam and Eve tried to blame God, the other person, and the Devil, and we do the same thing. We attempt to blame God for making us the way we are, which would make Him unfair. That might carry some weight if we were only responsible for the sin of Adam and Eve, but we are also responsible for our own sins that we have freely chosen to commit. We try to blame our circumstances and other people so that it is not our fault. We claim to be a victim and therefore not responsible. We also attempt to redefine our sins as diseases or other things beyond our control.
“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them” (Gen. 3:21).
God has provided a solution for sin and the resulting guilt. He killed an innocent animal and made coats of skins to clothe them. This is a picture of the eternal life God has given us through the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross (Rom. 6:23). But even though the full price for forgiveness was paid on the Cross, each person must receive it for himself. When this is done, the guilt of sin is replaced with the peace with God.
If you realize you are a sinner and need to get saved, or if you have unrepented sin in your life, please pray this prayer and believe it from your heart:
Dear Lord Jesus, I realize that I have sinned.
Please forgive me based on the fact that you died for my sins on the Cross.
I ask you to come into my life as my Saviour and Lord, and help me to live for you.
Amen.
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