Sermon Study Guide: Whom Shall I Fear Part 2

This is the second message in our series, “Whom Shall I Fear: Dealing Biblically with Codependency, Rejection, and the Fear of Man.” This week's message deals with shame; its origins and the Gospel way of dealing with it. The subject of shame is very popular today being the focus of many books and articles. But it often is dealt with in the culture by focusing on the importance of boosting people's “self-esteem.” For decades now, American educators have believed that heaping massive amounts of self-esteem upon students will improve their ability to learn. It is now evident after several decades of this experiment that American students are no better off, but worse.



The real question is, “Why is there such a focus on self-esteem in the culture today?” From a biblical perspective the answer is that people feel inadequate and deficient because they really are inadequate and deficient. The story of our first parents fall in the Garden of Eden instructs us in how sin entered this world through the first trespass and with it shame as a result of sin. Moses tells us in Genesis 2:25 that our first parents were naked before the fall and were not ashamed. Of all the things that he could have told us, he focuses on the fact that everything was originally in the light in the Garden, without fear, insecurity, or reprisal. In simplest terms, there was no shame.



But all that changed after the fall. Men and women now felt fear, not only from God's gaze but from one another. That look was terrifying so they attempted to hide themselves by sewing fig leaves on their bodies. And human beings have been doing that since the beginning of time—hiding their shame behind their own self-generated fig leaves. It may be money, possessions, social status, or religion, but they are all attempts at hiding our shame behind a cover. It is all done with the intent of hiding our true selves.



But in the Garden, God introduces the Gospel as the remedy for man's sin and shame. The first thing necessary is to strip off Adam and Eve's fig leaves which they were hiding behind. In Scripture, this is called repentance—facing up to our true condition by being brought in the light. Then, He clothes the first couple with garments that He provides, the skins of animals. This is what God does for guilty sinners through the Gospel—He clothes them in garments of righteousness provided for them through the perfect work of his Son so that He covers our innate shame. The only way to be righteous is through perfect obedience—either our own or else through the perfect obedience of another. This is the only way to deal with our innate shame as a result of our sin.