“The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21, NASB).
When and why did God make “garments of skin for Adam and” Eve? After they had eaten the forbidden fruit: “But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die” (God speaking, Genesis 2:17).
So let’s see: Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate “from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” God had warned them that, if they did, “you will surely die.” But they didn’t die, did they? They were still standing right there in the Garden. Hang onto that thought and we’ll get back to it.
What did happen immediately? “They knew that they were naked” (Genesis 3:7b). So what did they do? “They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings” (Genesis 3:7c). What do we see in these two portions of Genesis 3:7? That: (A) Adam and Eve’s innocence died the moment they disobeyed God; and (B) what they came up with to cover themselves was inadequate.
When a person disobeys the teachings of God, he or she sins. We can call it messing up, making a mistake or doing your own thing, but whatever you call it, it’s still plain ol’ sin. And First John 4:8 and 16 remind us that “God is love.” Sin is the very opposite of love. Why? Because to sin is to disobey, to turn away from, to HATE the very goodness of God and His teachings.
The Lord explains in Ezekiel 14:7 that “When [a person] separates himself from Me (NIV), he “fall[s] into sin” (NLT). You can’t ignore God’s warnings without suffering the consequences.
Adam and Eve didn’t drop dead when they ate the forbidden fruit, but their innocence immediately was lost. Not only that, but their eternal lives were lost.
And there was only One Way to fix that problem. There’s a lot more meat in this passage, so hang with me and we’ll cover some more of this tomorrow. Meanwhile, let me ask you: do you know without a shadow of a doubt where you’ll spend eternity? Have you asked anyone else that question?
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