From the Answers in Genesis website

 

     In 2016, just after the Ark Encounter opened, I was showing Bill Nye, along with his and our Answers in Genesis video teams, through the Ark exhibits. It turned into what we call “The Second Debate” (available on Youtube and Answers TV).

     At one stage I asked Bill Nye (TV’s “The Science Guy”) why humans wear clothes. He replied that there are hot places in the world where people don’t wear clothes. I then told him it was hot that day and would he therefore take his clothes off. To me he looked rather shocked at what I said. I then went on to explain that humans wear clothes, but animals do not. So why is it humans wear clothes? I then used this as a stepping stone to explain the saving gospel message. I told him humans wear clothes because of sin. He said he was skeptical that was so.

     Evolutionists have written papers about when humans supposedly invented clothing. For instance, on April 25, 2023, a paper was published in the Smithsonian Magazine entitled, “When Did Clothing Originate.” The author used the evolution story (yes it’s a fairytale) discussing archaeological evidence based on man’s fallible dating methods to suggest clothing was invented hundreds of thousands of years ago by humans dealing with the cold. In another paper published by “Science Alert” in 2021, the author suggested humans invented clothing 120,000 years ago.

     Secular evolutionists, of course, must explain everything in the light of their atheistic worldview of millions of years and slow and gradual evolution, concluding that, at some point, humans evolved the intelligence to fashion clothes from animal skins and other available materials.

     Now, humans making clothing is not a problem to explain from a biblical worldview. In fact, God’s Word gives us the true account of the origin of clothing going back about 6000 years. And it really does help us explain the gospel as I explained to Bill Nye on that day in 2016.

     The first clothes humans (Adam and Eve) wore were made from fig leaves:  “[The woman] took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths” (Genesis 3:6–7).

     But God gave Adam and Eve different clothes:  “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” (Genesis 3:21)

     Clothing was invented not because we were cold, as evolutionists suggest, but because of sin and shame. Mankind was originally created naked and unashamed, but after their sin, they tried to cover over that sin and shame with fig leaves. But God himself made them clothes when he killed an animal—the first animal death in God’s “very good” creation. These clothes, and the sacrifice and spilled blood of that animal (or animals), covered over their sin and shame.

     God taught Adam and Eve they couldn’t cover their sin. Only God could do that. God did something very special.

     When God made clothes from coats of skins, he was setting up the sacrificial system. He killed animals and clothed Adam and Eve. The first blood sacrifice as a covering for their sin, a picture of what was to come in Jesus Christ, the lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world.

     Now, God’s Word tells us that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” (Hebrews 9:22). Because death was the penalty for sin, there had to be the giving of life (shedding of blood) to pay the penalty for sin. Leviticus 17:11 states, the “life of the flesh is in the blood.” Blood represents life. That’s why God had the Israelites sacrifice animals over and over again, so they would understand this.

     But “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). An animal’s sacrifice can’t take away our sin because humans are not animals. Humans are made in the image of God. A man (Adam) brought sin and death into the world, so a man would need to pay the penalty for sin. All humans are descendants of Adam and Eve. But all humans are sinners.

     A sinner can’t pay the penalty for sin. So God stepped into human history in the person of His Son, to be born of a virgin, the sinless perfect Son of God. He became a man as God, the Godman. He lived a sinless life and died on a cross. But he rose from the dead. That means he has ultimate power, power of death. He suffered the penalty for our sin and paid our debt on that cross. He offers a free gift of salvation to those who will repent of the sin and receive this free gift.

     I shared the above message with Bill Nye and said we wanted to see him receive this free gift. He certainly heard the saving gospel message, though he rejected it. We need to pray for him.

     So, as we think about clothes, we should be thinking about sin and the salvation message. Yes, the reason we wear clothes is all really all about the gospel message and should be a reminder to all of us what God did to save us.

     Also, because sin distorts nakedness, we also need to understand there must be a standard of clothing for each of us. It’s certainly true that men can have a problem with lust (because of the sin nature), and that should be taken note of by women in regard to clothing worn. Also a reminder to the guys to take note of what Job said:       “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” (Job 31:1).

     The origin of clothing is so much more amazing than humans stumbling upon leather one day: it’s a picture of the gospel message, pointing us to the one who would one day take away the sins of the world through his death and resurrection (John 1:29). To receive that free gift of salvation, we must repent and believe (Romans 10:9).

     And as an aside: the origin of clothing is yet another way the evolutionary story and the biblical account of history clash. You can’t harmonize the two! You can’t add millions of years of death before man into Scripture. Christians believing in millions of years undermine the authority of God’s Word and undermine the foundation of the gospel message. Our sin is the cause of death! God didn’t use death for millions of years before man when he created life! The Bible—the history book of the universe written by the eyewitness to creation—is the true account of history, and evolutionary millions of years ideas are just fairytales.

     By the way, secular evolutionists wear clothes. From an atheistic worldview, morality is subjective and ultimately means anyone can do whatever they want, if they can get away with it! I wonder how long it will be before politicians decide clothing is optional? You think they wouldn’t do this? People thought they wouldn’t try to legalize pedophilia either, but now we see moves to do that! Remember, man has a sinful wicked heart and wants to do whatever is right in his own eyes! And the devil wants to implement the opposite of what God has ordained.

     That’s why we need to proclaim the truth of God’s Word and the saving gospel with boldness in this increasingly evil culture.