I first posted this over 4 years ago here: http://forum.bible-discussion.com/showthread.php?11122-Naked-in-heaven
I'm going to float this theory I've been working on for some time but haven't gotten any feedback yet. I propose that in heaven we are unclothed or rather, as Adam and Eve were, clothed in dignity.
Before we get to that, we need to have an understanding of what heaven is. Certain artists have done a great disservice by portraying us in heaven as white robed cherubs playing harps on clouds. Nothing could be further from the truth. Oh, and by the way....boring! Scripture paints heaven as a very physical place. In fact it might even seem a little familiar to us because it will be Earth renovated, redeemed, and glorified or better stated in Romans 8:
20For the creation was subjected to futility,
not willingly, but because of Him who
subjected it in hope; 21 because the
creation itself also will be delivered from the
bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God. 22 For we
know that the whole creation groans and
labors with birth pangs together until now.
Or 2 Peter 3
13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise,
look for new heavens and a new earth in which
righteousness dwells.
And perhaps the most convicting evidence of the nature of our existence in heaven is Jesus himself who is incarnated, not as a temporary "earth suit", but as a permanent and intimate union with His creation. We know that "in Him (Jesus) dwells the fullness of the godhead bodily" (Col 2:9) And we know that he still bears the scars that won our redemption as "He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn" (Rev 1:7) If we are to be conformed to the body of Christ (Phil 3:21) then our existence will be very physical in heaven. God loves creation and would have it no other way.
But what about all this naked business?
To answer a question with a question I'll ask, why do we wear clothes? I'll give you 3 reasons.
1. To protect us from the harshness of the elements
2. To elevate ourselves, one above the other
3. We are ashamed of our bodies and have become "naked" since the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened (or rather closed)
None of those reasons will exist in the next life! Perhaps the most profound evidence is found in Gen 1:31, "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." One could study GOOD a little further and understand it to mean perfect, impeccable, and lacking in nothing. This concept of our scamping around nekkid may be hurtful to our imagination, but perhaps it's because our minds have been shadowed by the fall. When Adam says he hid himself because he was naked, God's next question is telling. "Who told you that you were naked?" It wasn't that God wasn't aware of this new reality, but rather that He was grieving it. God then makes clothes out of animal skin not because He agreed with Adam, but to protect them from harshness of what lay ahead of them. No more paradise.
Christian art alludes to this day as well with portraits, statues, and paintings in the Sistine Chapel of people with a wardrobe malfunction. Perhaps this is a meeting of the mind between man and God as God reminisces about how it was, how it should be, how it will be again. Perhaps parents, occasionally seeing their little ones run around in birthday suits, see the connection between nakedness and the utmost of innocence in toddlers and it causes them to look ahead to a better time and a better place.
I have no strong convictions on any of this, but I want to get some thoughts.
In Christ's most Sacred Heart.
I'm going to float this theory I've been working on for some time but haven't gotten any feedback yet. I propose that in heaven we are unclothed or rather, as Adam and Eve were, clothed in dignity.
Before we get to that, we need to have an understanding of what heaven is. Certain artists have done a great disservice by portraying us in heaven as white robed cherubs playing harps on clouds. Nothing could be further from the truth. Oh, and by the way....boring! Scripture paints heaven as a very physical place. In fact it might even seem a little familiar to us because it will be Earth renovated, redeemed, and glorified or better stated in Romans 8:
20For the creation was subjected to futility,
not willingly, but because of Him who
subjected it in hope; 21 because the
creation itself also will be delivered from the
bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God. 22 For we
know that the whole creation groans and
labors with birth pangs together until now.
Or 2 Peter 3
13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise,
look for new heavens and a new earth in which
righteousness dwells.
And perhaps the most convicting evidence of the nature of our existence in heaven is Jesus himself who is incarnated, not as a temporary "earth suit", but as a permanent and intimate union with His creation. We know that "in Him (Jesus) dwells the fullness of the godhead bodily" (Col 2:9) And we know that he still bears the scars that won our redemption as "He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn" (Rev 1:7) If we are to be conformed to the body of Christ (Phil 3:21) then our existence will be very physical in heaven. God loves creation and would have it no other way.
But what about all this naked business?
To answer a question with a question I'll ask, why do we wear clothes? I'll give you 3 reasons.
1. To protect us from the harshness of the elements
2. To elevate ourselves, one above the other
3. We are ashamed of our bodies and have become "naked" since the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened (or rather closed)
None of those reasons will exist in the next life! Perhaps the most profound evidence is found in Gen 1:31, "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." One could study GOOD a little further and understand it to mean perfect, impeccable, and lacking in nothing. This concept of our scamping around nekkid may be hurtful to our imagination, but perhaps it's because our minds have been shadowed by the fall. When Adam says he hid himself because he was naked, God's next question is telling. "Who told you that you were naked?" It wasn't that God wasn't aware of this new reality, but rather that He was grieving it. God then makes clothes out of animal skin not because He agreed with Adam, but to protect them from harshness of what lay ahead of them. No more paradise.
Christian art alludes to this day as well with portraits, statues, and paintings in the Sistine Chapel of people with a wardrobe malfunction. Perhaps this is a meeting of the mind between man and God as God reminisces about how it was, how it should be, how it will be again. Perhaps parents, occasionally seeing their little ones run around in birthday suits, see the connection between nakedness and the utmost of innocence in toddlers and it causes them to look ahead to a better time and a better place.
I have no strong convictions on any of this, but I want to get some thoughts.
In Christ's most Sacred Heart.
