The Sacrifice

Genesis 2:25, 3:7,10, 21

The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

"I heard You in the Garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

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

Before sin entered this picture, the first couple were completely oblivious to the fact that they were naked, they didn't even notice, it made no difference in their relationship.

Then, with sin, shame also entered this picture, and Adam was afraid; when before he walked with God "in the cool of the day" as a usual practice, open and free. Now, aware of his nakedness, he was afraid and hid. Even though they had tried to cover themselves ( the first "religion"), they still considered themselves naked, and hid. They were not clothed until God made them garments of skin--something had to die so they could be clothed.

Whenever I try to cover up what I have done, I know that I'm still exposed, and I feel the shame of not measuring up.

So  God let them know that something had to die for them to be clothed, then later God gave the Israelites the sacrifices, for the sacrificial animals to take the peoples' sins and die in their place; which showed how Jesus, as God's sacrificial Lamb, would take upon Himself the very sin-nature of every person born from Adam, purchasing the whole world (so now He is appointed Judge of all) and satisfying the debt we owe, I owe, for the sin, and for all the sins that result from it. God provided the remedy for our sin--in clothing Adam and Eve, providing the ram for Abraham (in Genesis 22:8, 13) in place of his son Isaac, giving the sacrificial system, and finally, His own Son, my Lord Jesus, the Christ, to pay the debt in full for me.

And for you, dear reader, too, if you recognize that you deserve the death Jesus died, and He took your place on that Cross. That's putting your trust in Him and letting Him be your Savior, by dying the death you deserve, so you could have His life, that you don't deserve, either. God's mercy is not giving us the punishment we deserve, and His grace is giving us His eternal Life, by putting His own Spirit inside us to live in our spirits. Now He can forgive us, and bless us with every blessing out of His abundance in Glory.