Skin - God's First Covering for Sin

I know last week's post was long, complicated, and had some thoughts that are up for debate so I want to thank those of you who stood strong and read it anyway.  For those that got about four sentences into it then bailed out, "No worries."  With that in mind I'm going to cut you all a little slack and keep this a bit shorter but hopefully no less important.

I was reading Genesis the other day and then listening to a Christian talk show a couple days later when I realized that there was a statement in the third chapter of Genesis that I had glossed over and never gave much thought.  I want to share it with you then I want to show you how the Gospel (The Good News of Jesus Christ) is repeated over and over and over from Genesis (The first of the 66 books of the Bible) to Revelation (The last book of the Bible).

Here is the statement (Genesis 3:21):

"The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them."

You may recall that in the beginning of Genesis 3 Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which caused them to be separated from God.  It was the first sin and the first time man was no longer pure and walking in harmony with God.  For the first time Adam and Eve felt ashamed and saw their nakedness.  But as I recalled, they had sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves when they realized they were naked so why in the world did God make them "garments of skin"?

Here is the revelation!  As far as we can tell the very first physical death that occured in the Garden of Eden came at the hands of God.  It was the first sacrifice.  God provided for Adam and Eve a covering of skin, animal skin.  An innocent animal (maybe a lamb?) sacrificed to cover the shame and nakedness of the guilty.  The attempt of Adam and Eve to cover themselves must have been inadequate and the seriousness of the sin and the magnitude of its consequences so severe that God determined its solution necessitated the shedding of blood.  Wow!  So now I'll just give you a few scriptures as you journey from Genesis to Revelation that show God's plan of redemption (healing the broken relationship between man and God) is consistent all the way through.

Genesis 22:9-14 (God provides a substitute sacrifice for Abraham)

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.  Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.  But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.

  "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

  Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.  So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide.

Genesis 7:7 (God provides a means of safety from his wrath against sin)

And Noah and his sons and his wife and his son's wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood.

Exodus 12:23 (The blood of a lamb protects the Israelites from the wrath of God)

When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

John 19:17-18 (Jesus "the Lamb of God" sacrificed for the sins of man)

Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (the innocent dying for the guilty)
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God.

Revelation 19:11-13 (Jesus returns to make all things new)

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.

God's beautiful plan to restore us to himself is consistent from the beginning to the end and today I am going to reflect on the incredible gift that Jesus gave me.  Himself.  Undeserved for sure but that is the meaning of grace.  We can't sew on our own fig leaves!  It's God's doing.  So, if you haven't experienced forgiveness then I invite you also to reach out and receive it from the one who died for you!

Peace, David