Introduction
The Fall was still fresh and God had just finished delaring the curses that should fall upon Adam, Eve, and the cunning serpent. But the narrative of the Fall didn't end with just curses. There was something beautiful, a work of pure grace, that every believer and hopeless sinner need to see here.
When the first blood was spilled
21 Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. Genesis 3:21 NKJV
The first spillage of blood happened in the Garden of Eden. The blood of a chosen animal was spilled so that divine justice might be satisfied. No, it was neither Adam's nor Eve's blood that was shed for their own sin. For how could it be when it was already tainted with sin, was once pure but now utterly blemished? So, what God's justice demanded, He also provided.
So, what God's justice demanded, He also provided.
In His love, God was willing to choose an innocent animal to be the sacrifice. Being just, God's justice necessitates that the blood of the chosen animal must be shed - the first drop of blood to ever touch the face of the earth. In an act of pure grace, the LORD God made tunics out of the sacrificial animal's skin which He used to clothe Adam and Eve for they were naked with their hearts filled with shame and fear.
This is the Gospel
This is exactly how the gospel goes. It is absolutely what the gospel is all about. The gospel tells us that:
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 NKJV
"While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" - exactly the same as that of Adam and Eve's case. Their Fall was still fresh, curses were just pronounced, they were still trembling in fear and hiding in shame. Yes, while they were still sinners or while they had just sinned, the chosen animal was sacrificed and died for them.
This is why the Lord Jesus Christ came. He Himself said,
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
Matthew 20:28 NKJV
John the Baptist pointed people to Him exclaiming,
Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
John 1:29 NKJV
Christ is the Sacrifice for our sins
Just like the chosen animal that was sacrificed on behalf of Adam and Eve, Christ is our Passover Lamb who was sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7). So, God passed over the sin of Adam that he didn't instantly die not because He was tolerant of his sin or that He abandoned His justice. On the contrary, His justice was served when that animal's blood was spilled. In the same way, God, in His forbearance or longsuffering, had passed over the sins which were previously committed for a day would come that all those sins would be punished upon the body of His Son Jesus - the spotless, Passover Lamb. Paul wrote,
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committe
Romans 3:23-25 NKJV
The chosen animal in the Garden of Eden was set forth to be the atoning sacrifice for Adam's sin. In the same manner, God put forward His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be the propitiation of atoning sacrifice for all our sins. Peter tells us,
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit
1 Peter 3:18 NKJV
Just like how the innocent animal died for the sake of Adam, Jesus died, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. Now, being in Christ, He is our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30) - not only that we are clothed with His righteousness but that by being in Him, He is our very righteousness.
Conclusion
Yes, the Fall is a painful reality. But always remember that everything that God allows and does is right and good. As dark as the Fall is, don't forget that in that very same narrative we will find one glorious hope upon which every soul should be anchored. Even from the beginning, the LORD God already planned our salvation. This calls us to trust Him and to hold fast the confession of our faith that Christ is our Passover Lamb who was sacrificed for us.
