Adam and Eve were naked and were not ashamed of this fact.

But it is a shame to be naked!

And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. (Genesis 9:22)

And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) (Exodus 32:25)

For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord. (II Chronicles 28:19)

Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man. (Isaiah 47:3)

. . . that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; . . . . (Revelation 3:18)

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil did not cause Adam and Eve to be in a shameful condition. They already were in a shameful state but they did not realize it. The moment Adam and Eve began to see as God sees they realized they were naked. They were ashamed and hid themselves from the Presence of God.

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. (Genesis 3:7)

The sin of Adam and Eve was not that they were naked. The sin of Adam and Eve was that they disobeyed God.

For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (Romans 5:19)

Did God intend that they one day would eat of the knowledge of good and evil? Certainly! God would not put a tree in the garden that man was not supposed to eat? What sense does this make? The knowledge of good and evil is part of the image of God and we are called to be in that image.

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, . . . . (Genesis 3:6)

The knowledge of good and evil is for the purpose of bringing us into eternal life. But being exposed to the commandment too soon brings death to us because it makes us conscious of our sin and we are not able to maintain our fellowship with God. It is our fellowship with God that is eternal life. Before we become aware of our sinful nature we have a clear conscience before God, just as Adam and Eve had a clear conscience before they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil!

And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. (Romans 7:10)

What was the problem? The problem was that Adam and Eve became conscious of their shameful condition before God but no provision had been made for restored fellowship with God.

The moment we sin today we can come boldly to the throne of grace, receive forgiveness and cleansing, and continue on our way in fellowship with God. But Adam and Eve had no such cleansing fountain to wash in. Instead they attempted to clothe themselves with fig leaves, a type of the dead works of religious man.

To be continued.