More Than Medicine
More Than Medicine
DWDP: Gen. 3-10 The Shame of Sin
What happens when we stand exposed before a holy God? Adam's terrified response in Genesis 3:10 reveals a universal human condition - the shame and fear that comes from recognizing our spiritual nakedness.
Drawing from his unique perspective as both physician and theologian, Dr. Robert Jackson masterfully weaves together biblical wisdom with fascinating medical case studies. Through three distinct patients - a woman with dementia who feels no shame in her nakedness, a man with OCD who cannot control his compulsive exposure, and a dancer whose conscience has been dulled by years of deliberate choices - we gain profound insights into the nature of shame, conscience, and our relationship with God.
At its heart, this episode tackles the uncomfortable truth that we cannot hide from God any more than Adam could behind fig leaves and garden trees. The fear Adam experienced wasn't simply embarrassment about physical nakedness, but the terrifying realization of standing corrupted before perfect righteousness. As Dr. Jackson powerfully states, "Sinners, in their shame, always fear the presence and voice of holy God."
Yet this message offers hope beyond conviction. While our own righteousness amounts to nothing but "filthy rags," Christ provides the perfect covering we desperately need. The God who came looking for Adam like "a loving parent seeking a wayward child" still seeks us today. Will our shame drive us toward confession and repentance, or hiding and hardening our hearts? The invitation to exchange our inadequate fig leaves for Christ's perfect righteousness awaits your response.
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Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is more than enough for the ills that plague our culture and our country. Hosted by author and physician, Dr Robert Jackson.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Papa, can you tell me a story? Do you really want me to tell you a story? Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Welcome to Devotions with Dr Papa. Gather around, grab your Bibles and let's look into the written Word, which reveals to us the living Word, which is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Now today we're at Genesis, chapter 3 and verse 10, which says he said speaking of God, he said no, I'm sorry. Speaking of Adam. Adam said I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself. Now here's the context Adam and Eve had sinned. They had made for themselves fig leaves to cover themselves. Then they heard the Lord God walking in the garden and they were frightened. Because of this. God called out to the man and said to him where are you? And in verse 10, adam answered and said I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Now I want to start by portraying three different scenarios. These are medical scenarios and these are three separate patients of mine. First is a patient that I took care of on the behavioral health floor, otherwise known as the psych ward, at the regional hospital, where I worked, and I was a consultant for the psychiatrist there for about 14 years. And on one occasion I was called to take care of a patient who had a dementia of some sort and she was not that old, she was probably in her late 50s. But I go into the room to evaluate her and the patient is completely unclothed. There's no linen on the bed, and when I go in and introduce myself I ask her I said, ma'am, do you want to put on some clothes? And she emphatically said no. And I said would you like me to get you some clothes? And she said that won't be necessary. So I conducted my medical interview, review of systems and physical exam, and then, when I'm finished, she immediately just stands up and walks out of the room completely unclothed, walks down the hall and then, within a few seconds, two female nurses hurry her right back into the room and explaining to her that she cannot walk around the hall completely unclothed, and she's obviously perplexed. She cannot understand why she has to wear clothes and in fact that was the reason why she was brought into the hospital by her family, because she's been walking around in their home completely unclothed and in fact had left the house and walked through the neighborhood unclothed. So you see, this is creating distress for the family, but the patient was not distressed at all.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Now the next scenario is a patient I had who was an obsessive compulsive disorder patient. Now he was in trouble with the law because he couldn't control his compulsions and he was exposing himself compulsively to female students at a local university. So his lawyer asked that a medical doctor evaluate him. So I evaluated him and it turns out that he had been dealing with panic attacks, excessive anxiety and obsessive-compulsive ideation all of his adult life. He told me that he had once run through a pothole in the road and he was convinced that he had run over and killed a man and he had gone back to that place dozens and dozens of times just to reassure himself that he hadn't run over and killed a man and that he no longer drove an automobile because of this persistent irrational idea and that his family had to drive him everywhere he went. He couldn't keep a job because of his panic attacks that would overwhelm him and he would break out in a sweat and tremble all over and the panic attacks ruled over his life. He had racing thoughts at bedtime that kept him up most of the night and he had these compulsions that would make him buy things that he didn't need and hoard things in his home, and it made him also expose himself physically and he couldn't control these compulsions. So I listened to his story and I put him on a $10 a month prescription of Prozac, told him to come back in three weeks and when he came back he was exuberant, he was elated and he said doctor, for the first time in my life, I feel like I've been liberated. He said I don't have the racing thoughts, I feel like I've been liberated. He said I don't have the racing thoughts, I don't have the panic attacks, I don't have the compulsions. He said I don't have the irrational fears. He said all of those things are at least 70% gone. We adjusted his medicine, gave him a little higher dose, saw him back in three more weeks and he told me he was more than 90% improved and he felt like a brand new man.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Now you see, this man was going to go to prison for what was interpreted as being a pervert, a sinful perversion, and really what he had was uncontrolled obsessions, anxiety and panic attacks. And I wrote a letter to the judge and told him said this man doesn't need to be in prison, he needs to be on medication and I'm not saying he shouldn't be on probation for a long time, but he doesn't need to be in prison. Now compare that to the third patient. She came to my office. I asked her what she did and she told me that she was a pole dancer in a local men's club. I said well, how long have you been doing that? She said 15 years. And I said it doesn't bother you to expose yourself to strange men. She said oh, doc, I've been doing this for so long, it doesn't bother me a bit. She said oh, doc, I've been doing this for so long, it doesn't bother me a bit. Now this woman exposed herself physically the same as my second patient, but she did it for money. And you see, she had a seared conscience. Her conscience was insensitive to sin and I want you to keep all three of these in mind as we go through today's lesson.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Now go back to Genesis 3 and verse 10 and let me read it to you again. Adam said I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. So I hid myself. The fear of God. Is that a good thing or is that a bad thing? In this passage, adam is afraid of God, but he's afraid of God because of his sin. He's afraid because of his shame and he attempts to hide himself and cover his nakedness with fig leaves. Interestingly, god doesn't ignore Adam or reject him or turn his back on him. He doesn't reject him in disgust, but rather comes looking for him like a loving parent looking for a wayward child. Mark it down, dear listener Sinners, in their shame, always fear the presence and the voice of holy God.
Dr. Robert Jackson:The Bible tells us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and the fear of God causes men to forsake iniquity. Here's the question Will their shame drive them to confession and repentance, in other words, towards God, or to hiding and blaming others, or hardening their hearts and drive them away from God? You see, it's an individual decision. Both Adam and Eve blamed someone else. Eve blamed the serpent, and then Adam blamed Eve, and there was no immediate humility or confession of sin. And let me tell you this Many of you know from previous podcasts that I have two special needs sons, thomas and John Richard.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Inevitably at our evening meal, one of them will belch and immediately point at the other one, casting blame. And then that other one will point at my wife. Now you have to understand that my wife is the epitome of etiquette, who would rather have her throat slashed than to belch at the dinner table. Have her throat slashed than to belch at the dinner table. And when my boys cast blame at her, she becomes immediately offended and indignant. And then my boys break into peals of laughter. Now listen, collectively, my two special needs boys don't have the cumulative IQ of one of my chickens. So how do they know? How do they know that casting blame on my wife will cause her to be so indignant? Well, I don't know, but of course I have to join in all of the laughter. Well, now listen. Casting blame can be fun, but I'll tell you what else. It's dangerous. It's dangerous business in the presence of Holy God, as Adam and Eve were soon to find out.
Dr. Robert Jackson:This verse in chapter 3 and verse 10 tells us why. And the reason why is that Adam was afraid. Adam answered because I was naked. What in the world. Did he mean by that? Well, I'll tell you. What he meant was that Adam suddenly realized that, in the presence of perfect righteousness, he was corrupted, he was defiled, he was polluted. His sin had left him exposed and vulnerable, with no place to hide from the all-seeing eye of God.
Dr. Robert Jackson:The wisdom writer in Proverbs asks who can say I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin. The psalmist asks who can stand in his holy place, psalms 24. The men of Beth Shemesh, when they accidentally touched the ark and one of them died, they said who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God? Indeed, who can stand in the presence of holy God? Certainly, adam could not, because of unconfessed sin. So what did he do? He hid in the trees of the garden.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Now, dear listener, neither can you or I. Why? Because the scripture tells us that there is none righteous. No, not one. There's none who understands, there's none who seeks for God. All have turned aside together. They have become useless. There's none who does good. There's not even one, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. You see, we are all naked and exposed and vulnerable before the judge of all the earth. Before him, who is the absolute standard of righteousness, righteousness. Nor can we hide from the from from him, whose eyes roam to and fro throughout the earth seeking, whose heart is fully devoted to him. We cannot hide from god any more than adam could, nor can we cover our sin with man-made coverings, as did Adam and Eve. So what do we do? As we discussed last week, we have to put on the righteousness of Christ as our only hope. Dear listener, forsake your own righteousness, which is nothing more than filthy rags, your own righteousness, which is nothing more than filthy rags, and cry out to God and confess your sin, Repent of sin, and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your only Savior and the true King of your heart, and claim the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ as your only hope.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Now go back to the very beginning, and I told you about three folks. One was a woman with dementia, she, and she was unconcerned about her nakedness because of a mental illness. The next man had obsessive, compulsive ideation and he couldn't control his desire to expose himself because of a psychiatric disorder. And then the third person had a seared conscience. Now, the reason I tell you these is because I want you to understand that the shame of nakedness is not a convention of modern civilization, but the shame of nakedness is a consequence of sin. Now, there are some folks who expose themselves because they have mental disorders themselves, because they have mental disorders, but then there are those who forsake the norms of our society because of a seared conscience, because of constant giving in to sin, as did my third patient who was a dancer in a men's club.
Dr. Robert Jackson:You see, the shame of nakedness is because of sin, and the only place where that boundary can be properly let go is within the confines of holy matrimony. And I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that in the Bible, nakedness is always looked at as shameful, except for in the garden. Before sin. In heaven, the saints will be wearing fine linen clothes and our Lord, jesus Christ, is portrayed as wearing a robe that covers him all the way down to his feet. Nakedness is always a shameful thing. Now, next week, we're going to talk further about Adam and Eve's sin and the consequences of their sin, and you need to stay tuned because the scripture gives us lots of instruction about the consequences of the sin in the garden and how it affected generations to come and how it affects you and me even today. If you like what you hear, I pray that you would follow, like, share or download, tell your family and friends and we'll be back again next week and until then, may the Lord bless you real good.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to this edition of More Than Medicine. For more information about the Jackson Family Ministry, dr Jackson's books, or to schedule a speaking engagement, go to their Facebook page, instagram or their webpage at jacksonfamilyministrycom. This podcast is produced by Bob Slone Audio Production at bobslone. com.
