Genesis 3:21
It is very easy to read into this verse and lay the Christian gospel message over the top of it. An animal was clearly sacrificed to provide garments of skin to cover Adam and Eve's nakedness. Nakedness has already been associated with shame earlier in the passage and therefore the covering provided is there as a partial remedy to the consequences of sin. It is not a perfect remedy because the curse of death and toil has been pronounced. As early as Genesis chapter 3 we can begin to see the imagery that would point to the sacrifice that Christ would make thousands of years later.
For those who are not prepared to consider the prophetic interpretation of this verse, there is still plenty of truth to extract. Firstly we are presented with a God who responds proactively to our falleness. Back in verse 7 Adam and Eve had tried to make their own covering. Man's attempt to cover their own shame was futile. However God was able to provide a covering and he graciously reached out and clothed man's shame. It is in God's nature to involve himself in our mess. This verse should cause us to celebrate the goodness and kindness of God. He did not abandon us, even though we had chosen to abandon him.
posted by James at 2/07/2006 07:38:00 AM
1 Comments:
yeah isn't it amazing. It reminds me very much of this quote i have read recently. Its talking about the conflict between God's holy wrath at sin and His holy love towards sinners.
"Apparently they were in irreconcilable strife with one another. The holy love was unwilling to let man go. Notwithstanding all his sin, it could not give him up. He must be redeemed. The holy wrath could not surrender its demands. The law had been dispised. God had been dishonoured. God's right must be upheld. There could be no thought of releasing the sinner as long as the law was not satisfied. The terrible effect of sin in heaven on God must be counteracted; the guilt of sin must be removed; otherwise the sinner could not be delivered. The only solution possible was reconciliation"
The Power of the blood of Jesus. Andrew Murray
And of course, praise God for sending His Son, to reconcile us back to Himself by His own blood! I love that imagery that though God was the offended party, in His love He couldn't let us go, and so He found (or had planned) a way of saving us and for His righetousness and justice to be upheld, and so He takes the initiative in salvation by providing the Lamb! Praise God that He is a just God and a Saviour!
9:37 PM
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