GARMENTS of GRACE

 

February 19, 2024

Genesis 3:21

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

The story of Adam and Eve is an important place to start in our Snapshots of Grace series. The Adam and Eve story illustrates for us the human condition and God’s answer to that condition. Genesis 2 ends with these words, 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

You know this story, don’t you? Adam and Eve, placed in the garden of Eden, had everything going for them. As we read Genesis 3, what emerges is that the world that God created for them was perfect, their relationship with God was intimate and joyful. I mean think of it, God walking in the garden of his own creation in the cool of the day, visiting with Adam and Eve. What closeness!! Imagine a world like that.

But. Then. Sin. How? The summary in Genesis 3 tells us that they did not believe God. When the serpent told them that he had a better plan than what God had said, that God was holding them back, that the “forbidden fruit” would not mean death, but knowledge of good and evil. Eat, go ahead for when you do “you will be like God.” They listened to the lie.

They ate the fruit. They moved from “the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” to “ the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.” They clothed themselves and hid from God, afraid. They doubted God’s goodwill toward them, and chose to disobey the creator. The consequences of their decision was that of estrangement from God. Fear, shame, disobedience, violence and the ugliness and all unpleasant things were introduced into the world all at once. Keep reading Genesis and within a few verses we will encounter jealousy and murder and a broken family life.

What is God’s response to a world like that? Before we answer that perhaps I should ask what is your response when someone treats you dishonorably? God’s answer is grace, but costly grace that included death. Blood was shed so that Adam and Eve could be covered. We read, “the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” Animal skins, “death-for-covering” was the reality in that moment. Grace!! While the consequences for Adam and Eve were enormous, being driven out of the garden, God’s act of covering them was a beautiful snapshot of grace. God is love, and here in Genesis 3, only 3 chapters into the story of God and his creation we encounter Grace. I wonder if this in someway is a partial view or preview, the foreshadowing of what Jesus Christ would do for us all on the cross. Grace. Costly grace. Thanks be to God.

We sing a song in worship that says, “I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross”, maybe today we can ask God to teach us and show us how much his grace for us cost. The song writer continues after reflecting on the costly grace of God to say,

Here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that You're my God

Amen

*Scripture reading: Genesis 3:1-24