However, the N’Word we seek to address is far more diabolical and controversial; it’s exceedingly more penetrating and severe, and transcends the sphere of nationality, ethnicity, race, creed, and color. For our purposes in this chapter the “N’ Word” does not refer to this historically derogatory word used during slavery days to describe blacks on slave plantations. The N’Word we seek to address speaks to the physical, psychological and spiritual disease plaguing the whole of mankind. The N’Word we seek to address in this chapter is the same word Adam chose to describe himself to the one who created him; “naked.” Naked is the new “N’Word.” Naked is the generic placeholder for the anemic condition of mankind, which has brought us to the brink of our own self-destruction. Naked is the new N’Word, because it rightfully describes the emptiness and the void that was felt after Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s commandment. Naked is the new N’Word, because with it comes a whole host of psychological, emotional and even spiritual problems that have existed ever since the skin of the forbidden fruit was broken. Naked is the new N’Word, not because it indirectly addresses mankind’s physical nakedness, as much as it directly addresses the sin that encompasses all forms of physical, psychological and even spiritual nakedness including; pornography, fornication, exhibitionism, homosexuality, lesbianism, transexualism and the list goes on and on. The emphasis is on the “sin” that is the over-arching epidemic of mankind that became manifested through Adam and Eve’s physical, psychological and spiritual nakedness.
Naked is the N’Word, because there seems to be no better word to describe how “open” and "exposed"
mankind was after its monumental fall from grace. Man is a trichotomy of body, soul and spirit. Michael McAvoy author of the “Doctrine of Trichotomy of Man: A Biblical Analysis writes,
“The body is the tool used to experience and engage in this natural / physical world. The soul is the seat of emotions, reason, also directly associated with the mind, and personality. The spirit is the life, the power source of man and the home of conscience and will.”
These three components of mankind therefore make us a multi-faceted, multi-dimensional being. These three components of mankind; body, soul and spirit are directly associated with the manifestations of the word “naked” as it relates to the physical, psychological and spiritual condition of our human existence. This association between man’s trichotomy and the manifestation of nakedness speaks to the magnitude of the impact that Adam and Eve’s disobedience had on the entire psyche of our species. The consequence of this singular moment reverberated throughout the course of time and space, and every man, woman, boy and child born from the loins of Adam and Eve were contaminated physically, psychologically and spiritually. Man’s corresponding trichotomy is proof of the overall impact of Adam and Eve’s sin, of which we plan to discuss in greater detail within the pages of this very chapter. Every aspect of man’s being was affected by what took place in the beginning, an impact that cannot be overlooked, or undervalued. The question we must ask ourselves is how can an event this significant take place in the beginning and it not have some type of ripple effect throughout eternity? This was a life altering event that drastically affected the make up of the world that God had just created.
In The Beginning God…
The Bible says in Genesis that when God was ready to create mankind, He did so from the dust of the earth. He fashioned and shaped our being from the fragile clay of the earth He separated from the waters; a couple of verses earlier, and breathe into man the breath of life and man became a living soul. It was from the breath of life that man’s vital organs begin to function; it was this breath of life that man’s mind began to operate and function; and it was this breath of life that activated the celestial part of man which is his soul. All of this was done with God simply breathing on the clay He fashioned and shaped by his own accord. What is assumed; and rightfully so, is after man was initially created by God he was naked in the traditional sense of the term, which is He had no clothes on or nothing was there to cover his physical body. Without anything covering Adam’s physical body he was considered to be “naked.” It’s interesting that the first man was created this way. One would assume that after the first man was created then God would have given him the desire to cover himself. Why wouldn’t that have been a reasonable expectation? After all being “naked” is not always comfortable. Being naked requires confidence. Being naked often leads to being noticed. You cannot be inconspicuous and be “naked.” The two do not go well together. And, this is probably so because being clothed is a part of our institutionalization as “human beings.” It is a part of the social contract we’ve ascribe to one another to conduct ourselves with decency and decorum. This institutionalization is also a by- product of the sin that engulfed mankind as a result of Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the garden of Eden, and it has contributed greatly to the constructs of today’s society. Even though we have “nudist” as well as “exhibitionist” in this community who enjoy their own skin enough to be exposed in public and even to the point of getting paid for baring it all, the general rule in society is that clothing is a necessary part of proper social etiquette. But, before Adam and Eve sinned in the garden clothing was not a mandate, in fact it was not even heard of. The bible says of Adam and Eve in vs 25 of chapter 2 that there were naked and not ashamed. This is a literal translation of what they were in the garden, physically naked and were not ashamed of their “nakedness.” Why were they not ashamed? They were not ashamed, because God was their covering. God was their physical, psychological and spiritual covering. When God created man; before the fall, He was their covering. which directly compensates for the three 3 different facets of man’s trichotomy; body, soul and spirit. This was the primary reason why Adam and Eve were physically naked and not ashamed because they were physically, psychologically and spiritually covered by God. It is these three aspects of this term “naked” that this chapter seeks to deal with, inasmuch as the Bible suggests; at least, by the use of the term that it means more than what we are typically familiar with. You can even infer based upon the ramifications and the outcome of Adam and Eve disobedience that there was far more at stake than just their physical conditions. The consequence of their disobedience was separation from God; their Creator, which definitely had strong psychological and more importantly spiritual implications attached to it. Adam and Eve hiding themselves could have very well been interpreted as them hiding themselves because of their physical nakedness, but why were they hiding their nakedness from God now when earlier the bible says that were naked and were not ashamed. What was the real reason behind their sudden change in their perception of themselves? To better understand this we must first examine the constructs of Adam and Eve’s relationship with God prior to their disobedience, which will shed some light on these three areas of nakedness and how they factored into their perception of themselves and most importantly their Creator. As we examine the 3 aspects of mankind’s nakedness, we will first look at what God intended or expected of His creation post Adam and Eve’s disobedience and then examine the impact sin had on mankind; physically, psychologically and most importantly spiritually.
The Impact of God’s Physical Covering
Physical nakedness is the first translation and probably the most familiar, and one that we have been pre-disposed to for obvious reasons. When the term “naked” is used first in Genesis, it is in the literal sense or “without clothing.” God created man “naked” because one could infer there was no real need for clothing in the beginning. Although God created man from the dust of the earth, quite differently than any of the other of His creations, He chose to leave man naked or “without clothes” so that He could behold the beauty of His creation. We have to believe that there was a unique aestheticism and beauty with which mankind was fashioned and shaped by God. There is no scripture to support a haphazard or rushed approach to God’s creation of man, in fact, everything in God’s Word tell us that there was a painstaking and methodical approach to the way we were created by God. When we look at the human body and how it is constructed, there is apparent harmony and organization, which is characteristic of the God who created us. Indeed, the harmony and organization with which mankind reflects also serves to dispel scientific theories and hypothesis that suggests that the world was not created by God, but rather was a product of a “Big Bang” or some kind of evolutionary process. If any of this were true, the products of these scientific events would share in some of their disorientated and chaotic character traits. Conversely, what is significant about everything that God created in the first 2 chapters of Genesis, He declared of everything that He created that “it was good.” There was no ambiguity or uncertainty that was associated with any of God’s thoughts towards His creation. God made it very clear of what His thoughts were towards everything that He created. This was so, because it was His Words that were the source of His creation in the first place. And, just as His Words were clear with everything in the world He created, His thoughts of everything He created were just as clear as well. He could not afford to be vague or ambiguous when it came to what He created, nor could He afford to be vague or ambiguous when it came to His thoughts of what He created as well. In fact, His Word and His thoughts are one in the same. This concept is reflected in God’s use of the pronoun “us” when He set out to create the world. Inasmuch as it was His Word and His Thoughts combined that were utilized to create the world in which we live. God’s Word can be characterized as His literal “spoken word” and His thoughts are considered to be the “mind of God.” God’s mind and His “spoken word” were directly in-sync with one another, which meant He spoke what He thought and He thought what He spoke. Yet, there are some competing theories and philosophies out there of what God really meant when He used the pronoun “us” in the beginning, some of which include; a Trinitarian collection of gods, which collaborated together to create the world. God-the Father, God-the Son, and God-the Holy Ghost, all made up the board of gods that deliberated collectively on how the world was to be created and organized. However, the proper interpretation of God’s Word reveals to us that there are not three separate deities that sit equally together, but rather ONE God who embodies 3 manifestations of Himself; who at various times in History were manifested to ultimately redeem mankind back to Himself. In no way was God schizophrenic in His approach to creating the world, and as we will see later on in this book in no way did God produce anything other than what He originally intended for this world to be. God’s creation of the world divinely reflected both a “harmony” and a “oneness” that was as much apart of His character as His deity-itself. Therefore the use of this terminology in the Word of God was to exemplify a unity and harmony within which the world that was created. It’s important to consider; as we continue examining the physical aspect of mankind’s “nakedness” pre Adam and Eve’s disobedience, God’s declaration of what He created post mankind’s fall. Inasmuch as it seems to be a great disparity between what God’s thoughts were, and what our thoughts were of ourselves. The Word of God tells us in Genesis the 1st chapter that man was the last project of God’s creation, and implicit within this chapter and verse is God’s expectations of His most prized possession.
Genesis 1:27 states; “And, God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth...And God saw everything that he made, and, behold it was very good...”
Verses 26-31 of the 1st chapter of Genesis are typically viewed as God’s thoughts of mankind before we were actually created. The creation of mankind takes place in Genesis chapter 2 vs. 7 is where man is actually formed from the dust of the ground. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed unto his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Here we clearly see that God had some lofty expectations for mankind, and again we see how His thoughts of us directly correspond with the words He spoke upon our creation. Commanding us to have “dominion” and authority over the earth that He created, and establishing an earthly pecking order, that begins and ends with man, is yet another demonstration of what God intended for mankind to be when He created us. The loftiness of God’s expectations directly translated into the aestheticism of which we were created. The psalmist David muses about the marvelous way in which we were created in Psalms 13:14, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are thy works; and my soul knoweth right well.” Essentially David was praising God for the magnificent way in which we were created. God’s love for us was demonstrated in the way He decided to fashion and shaped us. The human anatomy is still the most celebrated, at the same time miraculously mystifying specimen to say the least. Some of the world’s greatest and most prolific artists have captured the human anatomy on canvas as way of recognizing and appreciating the magnificence of its beauty. The collected works of Michelangelo, Van Gogh, Da’Vinci, Digal and many others are tributes to the masterful creativity of our Creator. We are essentially living and breathing “works of art” in God’s eyes; apart of His wondrous collection He-Himself declares is “very good.” We can’t help but marvel at the originality and uniqueness inherent to our design. We are not carbon copies of someone else, in fact in the over 6 Billion people that populate planet earth there is only one of you to be found. If that isn’t enough to confirm your significance, God took upon Himself to use His own image and likeness as the primary blueprint for our design. The quality with which we were created is a clear indication of not just God’s thoughts of us, but God’s expectation for us. He expected greatness from us, He desired only good thing from us, and everything in God’s Word substantiates that fact.
What’s also important to note is what God’s intended use of these heavenly bodies He created for, and how this was plainly expressed when we were created. God commanded man to be “fruitful and multiply and to replenish the earth.” This is a direct reference to copulation or sexual intercourse, which was the primary means of reproduction that God installed within mankind to fulfill one of His commandments for us. Sexual intercourse, as it appears in this particular verse is designed for a specific purpose. The three words God used in this scripture explicitly and implicitly suggest what the meaning of sex was suppose to be from the perspective of our Creator. This commandment was given pre-Adam and Eve’s act of disobedience, so everything that was associated with this commandment directly coincided with God’s declaration of "it" was "good.” Sex, in the eyes of the Creator was viewed as “good,” inasmuch as it fulfilled each of His expressed objectives, to be fruitful, to multiply and to replenish the earth. We can also infer based upon the emphasis God put on the multiple copulation of mankind, that there was indeed some enjoyment and pleasure to be felt embedded within this experience that was directly put there by God. You mean God wanted us to enjoy having sex? Yes, of course He did! Remember everything that God commanded pre-man’s fall was declared to be good, so there was nothing evil or sinister to compare it to at that time. Therefore the prude that God is thought to be post mankind’s fall should be done away with, because “goodness” was the over-arching theme of every one of God’s thoughts as well as His actions before mankind’s fall. God essentially wanted man to enjoy the earth that He created, He wanted mankind to make earth their home and to take ownership of it as well. Thus, we can clearly see that this well a well thought out and methodical plan that God put in place before it was completely distorted by sin.
To read this chapter in its entirity click here. Remember you can also purchase this book in hard copy and E-book form from Amazon.com and the iBookstore.
Be Blessed,
Michael S. Nimmons
President / CEO
Michael Nimmons Ministries, Inc.
www.MichaelNimmons.com
@PSTRNIMMONSTV
@OfficialMNistry
