Sacrifice and Redemption


Sacrifice and Redemption
20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
22 Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—”
23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

 The first foreshadowing of the sacrifice of the Savior comes as God deals with the mess that Adam and Eve have created through their disobedience. Now the nakedness causes them great shame so God killed one of His newly created animals to make clothing for them. Blood has been shed. At least their physical nakedness is covered. Since then, we have created all kinds of coverings for our emotional and spiritual pain. Drugs, food, alcohol, sex, shopping - name your poison. Then God acts with perfect grace and mercy as He ejects them forever from the Garden of Eden.

 At first blush that removal from the Garden seems harsh. But it was done with mercy for the Tree of Life was in the Garden and had they eaten from that Tree after the fall, they would have lived forever in their sinful state. Imagine living for thousands of years with the albatross of sin to carry. God loved His children enough to allow their flesh to die. We struggle with death, for we were not created to die but to live forever in that sinful flesh would be even worse.

 Here, in the very beginning, we find that God is first and foremost merciful and gracious. Yes, Adam and Eve pay the consequences for their sin, but the Savior is on the way and He brings forgiveness to all believers.

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