2 March 08
1. Introduction:
· Isaiah 54:4 - “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed, neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame, for you will forget the shame of your youth…..”
· Last week:
1) Man is made in the image of God.
2) Whatever God makes is good.
3) Man was clothed in the Glory of God.
4) Man was designed to be unashamed.
2. The Entrance of Shame:
a) Key Passage: Genesis 3:1-11
b) Sin introduced with it, new emotions = “Shame and Fear”
· Genesis 2:25 - “..they were both naked….the man and his wife and they were not ashamed..”
· Adam and Eve were clothed with the glory / goodness of God and had no sense of shame.
· When Adam and Eve sinned – they broke the boundaries God had set them, they changed.
· Sin separated them from the source of their identity and changed them.
· Genesis 3:7 - “Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew they were naked.
· Knew = 3045 = yada = to be intimately acquainted, experience, deeply conscious.
· They were ashamed of their personal condition.
· Genesis 3:10 - “I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself”.
· Their shame was accompanied by great feelings of fear.
c) The Massage of Shame:
· There is a difference between guilt and shame.
· Guilt: “I have done something wrong” - my behaviour.
· Shame: “There is something wrong with me” - my identity.
· Definition: Shame = emotional pain associated with having done
something wrong and lost the respect of others.
· The Shame Massage:
1) “I am damaged – something is wrong with me!” - no value.
2) “I am different – I am not as good as others!” - different is bad.
3) “I am in danger – I am afraid of being rejected!”
d) The impact of Shame:
· We were not designed for shame and fear – we were designed to be unashamed.
· Adam and Eve were deeply impacted by experiencing shame the consequence of sin.
i) Core Massage: Shame = Damage + Difference + Danger
verse 10 – “I was naked”
- Adam and Eve became ‘self focused’, self centered.
ii) Core Motivation: Fear….verse 10 - “I was afraid”.
- Adam struggled with feeling damaged and different, he was filled with fear.
- Fear of being exposed – fear of being judged – fear of being rejected.
iii) Core Strategy: Hiding…verse 10 - “I hid myself”.
Notice Adam’s response – his strategy for concealing the shame he felt.
a) Cover Up – verse 7 - They made themselves cover up.
- there was a loss of identity => putting on a mask.
- Identity = characteristic by which a person is known.
- Shame is identity thief – “I can’t be myself”
b) Hiding – verse 10 - “…they hid themselves from the presence of God…”
- There was a loss of intimacy – hide = to conceal, withdraw self.
- Intimacy = feeling of being close and belonging together.
c) Blame – verse 12 - “The woman you gave be with me, she gave me…”
- there was a loss of sense of responsibility .
- Responsibility = accountable for something within ones own power.
Shame is a Dominion Thief - “It is someone else’s fault, I am like them”.
· Who told you that you were naked? - Genesis 3:11
· The devil loves to take advantage of our damaged condition to accuse and condemn us. He is the accuser – Revelation 12:10
· The devil loves to shame people because he himself has been stripped of all his rank and privileges as an angel and clothed with shame – Ezekiel 28.
3. Unmasking Shame in your life:
* Anger, esp. injustice * Shame/Put Down other
* Hopelessness * Self focused
* Performance * Constant comparisons
* Self Pity * Fear of relationship
* Control * Consistently focused on negative
* Suicide * Emotionless
* Lost identity - live * No sense of belonging – always on outer.
through others/positions
* Hypersensitive to * Addictions
Criticism
* Arrogance superiority * Withdrawn
* Distrust * Blaming
= Maintain distance – unable to be intimate.
= Transfer the shame onto others.
Jesus touched him and renewed his strength.