Teaching Tuesday: In His Image - Genesis 2:7-9, 15-25

Series: Creation to Covenant - Genesis 1-11
Sermon: Right Relationships - Genesis 2:7-9, 15-25 (1.11.26)
Watch the message HERE. 

“Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” That’s how the second chapter of Genesis concludes, after telling us how God created the first man and first woman and made them for each other. Before sinning against God, before hiding from God, before the shame of their choice to rebel forced God to banish them from their garden paradise, Adam and Eve were fully spiritually, emotionally, and physically, exposed before God and each other - just as life and relationships were designed to be.

Most scholars agree that Genesis 2:25 is not primarily about sexuality. Nakedness here symbolizes complete openness and vulnerability. To feel “no shame” means Adam and Eve experienced no fear of being exploited or judged, no need to hide or protect themselves, and no anxiety about how the other would respond. Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann describes this as a state of unbroken trust- nothing to conceal, nothing to defend.

Wouldn’t that be nice? This kind of relational openness is how God intended humans to be together. The first couple stood before God, before one another, and within creation without masks or defenses. They were fully known and fully loved. God made human beings for that kind of right relationship.

Our theme in Sunday’s sermon was that God created us for right relationship - with him, with each other, and with the world he made.

First, we were made for right relationship with God. In the garden, God walks with his people. There is no distance, no guilt, no need to perform or pretend. Adam and Eve don’t strive for God’s approval; they live fully confident that they already have it. Genesis 2 reminds us that intimacy with God is not something we earn—it is something we were created to enjoy. Even now, God’s desire is not mere obedience, but closeness. He invites us to come honestly, trusting that we are seen and loved.

Second, we were made for right relationship with each other. “No shame” means no fear of rejection, no competition, no blame. Adam and Eve relate in trust and mutual delight. This is God’s vision for human community. Relationships marked by grace, truth, and vulnerability reflect the heart of the Creator. Though sin fractures our relationships, the gospel moves us back toward this garden-shaped way of living: confessing, forgiving, and loving one another deeply.

Finally, we were made for right relationship with the world God made. Humanity is placed within creation to tend it, enjoy it, and care for it. When our relationships are rightly ordered—with God and each other—we also learn to live rightly within the world, not as consumers or conquerors, but as faithful stewards.

Genesis 2:25 shows us what was, and points us toward what God is restoring. As I said on Sunday, the Garden of Eden isn’t just a story about our past, it’s an invitation to our future. In Christ, shame is covered, relationships are healed, and communion with God is re-established.

As you move through today, listen for God’s gentle invitation back to right relationship—to walk with him, love others well, and receive the world as his good gift.

TO KNOW HIM AND MAKE HIM KNOWN!

- Pastor Brady