What is a Naked Man that You are mindful of Him?

"What is man that you are mindful of him?" (Psalm 8:4)

We will all stand naked before God.  Naked I came in the world and naked will I leave the world.  We see raw nakedness throughout the Bible.  Adam and Even were naked in the garden.  Isaiah was naked in the wilderness.  Jesus was stripped naked on the cross.

God desires we have a naked faith that is completely exposed so that God can dethrone the Self.  Everything unrighteous must be stripped bare and left exposed for God to crucify it.  For the cross of Christ to annihilate it.  Nakedness precedes clothing.

We are to take off the clothes of the world much like Lazarus who died but Jesus raised him back from the dead.  Lazarus was bound and all tied up and dead inside.  Jesus set him free as he wants to set you free.  There can be no more hiding, no more cover-ups, no wearing the enemy's uniform anymore.  No wonder the Devil knows what buttons to push in our lives if we are wearing his clothes.  The Devil wants to steal our joy and rob you of your inheritance.

We are also like Esau who opted for instant gratification and sold his birthright for worthless things that ruin us in the end.  It is only when we are fully naked and exposed that Christ can unveil Himself to us.  When Christ is unveiled then his beauty which was hidden now becomes revealed.  The question of man in Psalm 8:4 is really about Christ and the new man that Christ wants us all to become.

But there are other scriptures that speak about being mindful.  Matthew 16:23 says we end up following Satan just like Peter did when we are more mindful of the things of the world rather than the things of God.  Hebrews 2: 5-8 quotes Psalm 8:4-6 and then goes onto say that the only way man or you is made perfect is through suffering (v.10).  The only way to grow in Christlikeness is to enter into suffering just like Jesus did.  It is in suffering we are most exposed, vulnerable, and where our faith is stripped bare and naked.

For when we are completely naked before God with raw faith, miracles can happen.  What was difficult may seem easy.  What seemed like an impossibility becomes possible with God.  Your filthy dirty rags of self-righteousness does not even cover your private parts.  You are only left with shame and humiliation when you try to cover and clothe yourself.  But all that is changed when God clothes us in Christ's righteousness.  For we can not even see ourselves anymore but only the grace and beauty of our Risen King.