God’s Sacrifice
Genesis 2:15-17
The tragic story of man’s disobedience is told in Genesis chapter three. Adam and Eve were warned out of the loving heart of the LORD God not to partake of the forbidden fruit (Genesis 2:15-17). Immediately after they disobeyed God’s command they both realized their guilt (3:6-8). Adam and Eve tried to cover their guilt and shame from God, but they chose a poor cover up (v. 7).
God in grace provided skins to cover Adam and Eve (v. 21). “And the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.”
God killed the animals to provide the skins. The animals were God’s gift, and not the work of man. The LORD furnished the skins to cover Adam and Eve. They did nothing, absolutely nothing to satisfactorily cover themselves. The only sacrifice God will accept will be His work and His gift. God did it all! That is the way grace operates.
Adam and Eve must have looked on with horror when God killed the animals and used their skins to cover the naked pair. Sin is a terrible thing and always results in death for the sinner. They must have been surprised when they did not die immediately (Gen. 2:17; Ezek. 18:20; Rom. 6:23). However, God in grace demonstrated that it was possible for an innocent victim to die in the place of the guilty party.
The animal would be an innocent substitute. It was an innocent victim. God could not obtain the skins of the substitute without putting it to death and shedding its blood.
Throughout the Scriptures garments are symbols of righteousness, either God’s all sufficient righteousness or man’s self-made righteousness (cf. Isa. 61:10; 64:6; Job 29:14).
The Hebrew word for “garments” or coats of skins signifies a complete covering from head to foot. The same word is used for the high priestly rob, which covered the whole body. Adam’s leaf covering was sufficient only to cover his loins, but God’s provision was sufficient to cover his whole body.
It should be noted the Hebrew word for “atonement” means covering. Their physical covering was bought at the price of the death of some animals, and symbolized the need for a sacrifice to cover the sinner.
The coats of skin with which the LORD clothed Adam and Eve represented righteousness provided by Him so they could stand in His holy presence. The skin God provided to cloth Adam and Eve perpetually reminded them of God’s provision. Moreover, these coats of skin are a type of what God provided for us in the imputation of His righteousness through Jesus Christ. Behind those garments that God made for Adam and Eve is sacrifice and death. No doubt, God had given instructions of some kind about sacrifice. We do not have any exact word regarding this instruction, however, from the context of chapters three and four in comparison with the book of Hebrews I think it is quite logical to accept there is an incipient idea of the sacrifices which will follow in the Hebrew Scriptures. Since a life had to be sacrificed before Adam and Eve could have been clothed with “coats of skin,” there was a substitutionary death. God must always provide adequate covering for man to stand before Him clothed in righteousness. Only in Christ is man ever properly clothed. We look back upon these Scriptures from the perspective of progressive revelation of God with the realization that it was not the blood of the slain animals that took away the sins of Adam and Eve. The deaths of animal sacrifices do not attain forgiveness. The killing of these animals and their coverings of skin pointed to the death of Jesus, the Lamb of God. These animal deaths looked forward to the only death that could possibly cleanse from sin which is the death of Jesus. The only blood that can cleanse from sin is His precious blood.
In the fullness of time, God provided His own perfect sacrifice to cover our sins and provide us His righteousness (Rom. 3:2-26). As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are clothed with His perfect righteousness. How tragic that we go around trusting in inadequate coverings for our sins, when only the perfect all sufficient sacrifice of Jesus Christ will do.
Jesus had to die in order for us to be clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which was symbolized by the skins. "And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Hebrews 9:22, NASB 1995). "The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming to him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’" (John 1:29, NASB 1995) "He [God] made Him [Jesus Christ] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21, NASB 1995).