What are you going to wear in Heaven?

by Kenneth J. Hicks, Th.D.

Genesis 2:25 "And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed."

Genesis 3:6-7 "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to made one wise, she took forth its fruit and ate and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. (7)Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings."

Job 1:21 And he said. "Naked I came from my mother's womb. And naked I shall return there."

Ecclesiastes 5:15 "As he had come naked from his mother's womb, so will he return as he came."

Zephaniah 3:11 "In that day you will feel no shame because of all your deeds By which you have rebelled against Me; For then I will remove from your midst Your proud, exulting ones, And you will never again be haughty On My holy mountain."

Revelation 3:5 "He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels."

Revelation 3:18 "I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see."

Revelation 16:15 "Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments, lest he walk about naked and men see his shame."

Revelation 19:8 "And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints."

Revelation 19:14 "And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses."

From the above verses we can see that God created man and woman and they were not ashamed being naked. It was not until they sinned that they became aware of their nakedness. God himself prepared a temporary covering of skins, which required the shedding of blood, a symbolic act which pointed to the shedding of Christ blood for the atonement of sin. God later provided the complete sacrificial atonement for sins when Jesus paid the price on the cross.

It is interesting to note that Job (a righteous man) and Solomon (the wisest man to ever live) both acknowledge that man comes into the world and departs from it naked.

As for clothing to be worn in heaven, it would appear that the scripture is limited in that area. Revelations tells us that it is white linen, then defines this as being "the righteous acts of the saints. Zephaniah tells us that in that day we will feel no shame. Which is the way it was in the beginning of creation before the fall. From these references, one could conclude that the need for clothes is not necessary in heaven and may not be worn, because there will be no shame left to conceal.

The references in Revelation the third chapter, indicate that the white garments are for those that overcome. Also the 16th chapter reference reveals the need for garments is to conceal the shame of nakedness. Once we are sanctified, there will be no more shame: It is interesting to note that the reference in Revelation 19:8 indicates that the resurrected body purifies the garment, while in Jude 23 we read that the earthly (carnal) body pollutes the garment. NOTE: This word used for garment in the Greek is "khee-tone" found no other place in the bible. It means, "A tunic or shirt worn to many times without being washed, Dirty, Smelly, Rotten." (Jude 23 references Zechariah 3:3-4. God can't stand clothes made filthy by the flesh.)

Remembering that in 2 Kings 2:13, "Elijah left behind his clock when he was taken. He went to "visit" heaven naked.

Our conclusion to this short study is that we shall abide in the hereafter without the need for clothing. A return to the dispensation time of innocence, without a sinful nature, we will not have the need to "cover" our sinfulness.

How does this effect our nudity now? That is a subject matter which needs to be given further study. But it should be noted that there is no condemnation or condoning for nudity in the bible. Those references to clothes are not to the covering of the body, but rather to the covering of our sinfulness. Whether a Christian should participate in nudism or not would be a subject which would be covered under the same principles that Paul expressed in Romans 14:12-21.

Naturalist or nudist, as are practiced in these times, are not done for a sexual or lustful purpose. On the contrary, it is done for the social and healthfulness associated with the nude body. Considering this, it would seem that social nudism would not be a sinful matter. Only if it were used for lustful reasons would it be considered sinful.