The First Glimpse
“The Lord God made
garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” Genesis
3:21
They stood forlorn—trembling in fear and failure. Fig leaves are a poor camouflage for
sin. The serpent had taunted and
tantalized, “Did God really say, ‘You
must not eat from any tree in the garden,’?
You won’t die...When you eat…you will be like God.” Eve had glanced at the fruit again. It looked good. It would taste great. It might make her a genius. How could she refuse? She couldn’t.
And Adam didn’t.
They tried to cover up what they had done and cover over who
they were. Neither worked. No amount of good could make up for the bad,
for in that moment everything had changed—for the worse. Would it ever be right again? Could it ever be right again?
No more perfect garden.
Adam would now fight the ground as he labored for food. Eve would now groan with pain as she labored
for life. And God would not come to walk
and talk in the cool of the day.
Yet even in their guilt, they were draped with grace as God
protected and provided. Their fig-leaf garments
would rip and tear. Something better was
needed, so “the Lord God made garments of
skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.”
The lamb gasped and breathed his
last.
And God took care of His
children.
The Preview
“The blood will be a
sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass
over you.” Exodus 11:13
“Daddy, why are you in a hurry? Why do you have that hyssop? What will you do with the lamb? Why are we stopping at the door?” The boy’s mouth moved faster than his feet as
he struggled to keep pace with his father’s brisk steps, so the man paused and
knelt beside his son.
“Because of you, my dear one. Because of you.” He pulled the lad close and continued,
“Tonight the Lord will pass through Egypt and strike down the firstborn son in
every family. But He has provided a way for us—for you—to be saved. If He sees
the blood of a lamb, a perfect lamb, covering the doorway, He will pass over
our house, and no one in it will die.”
The little boy quivered and tightly grasped his father’s
hand.
“Have no fear, my son.
Only faith. We will be saved by
the blood.”
The lamb gasped and breathed his last.
And God took care of His children.
The Main Event
“Jesus called out with
a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ When he had said this, he breathed his
last.” Luke 23:46
With a heavy thud, the cross settled into the crude hole. Jesus lurched in pain and gasped for
air. The joyous praise of adoring angels
seemed eons away as His unending glory was cruelly replaced with undeserved
agony. Through the anguish, He could
hear the jeering taunts of pious priests.
“He saved others, but he can’t
save himself!”
They were wrong. And
right. Oh, He could save himself. Never wonder about that. Had He desired, thousands of angels would
have swooped to His rescue. It could
have been an “off the cross and in your face” moment that silenced His accusers
and delighted His followers. But Jesus
couldn’t save Himself and us too. So He
chose us.
“Not my will but Yours
be done,” Jesus had prayed the night before in the garden. The Father’s
will was that we be saved—saved from a forever without Him. We deserve hell; He chooses to give us heaven. We deserve to be kept away; He desires for us
to come near. We are guilty; He is
grace.
But somebody had to pay.
Almighty God cannot give and forgive without justice, or He would not be
God.
He had known about it.
He had planned it. He would do
it. “God
himself will redeem His people from
all their sins.” (Psalm 130:8)
The Lamb gasped and breathed His last.
And God took care of His children.
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