Adam and Eve sinned and lost their innocence, and suddenly realized that they were naked. To cover their shame and disgrace they tried to hide their own sin by tying together fig leaves. Many folks today try to “do enough” to cover their sin. Just as the works of Adam and Eve were not enough to satisfy God’s requirement that blood be shed as atonement for sin, neither will our works suffice. Genesis 3:21 says that God made them tunics of skin. The first sin required the first sacrifice of blood by God in order to cover that sin. This taking of animals skins to cover the sin of Adam and Eve was a hint of what was to be revealed to Moses in Egypt.
In Exodus 12 God instructed Moses to tell the Israelites about the Passover Lamb and gave him the particulars of just how they were to use the blood, it gives us a clear picture of what God was doing. The blood placed on the door posts and lintels of a house would identify those inside as God’s people, not by their works, but by the blood of a sacrificial lamb. He was setting them apart from the Egyptians, giving them an identity that was bought and paid for by the blood of an innocent lamb. When the Angel of Death came in the night he “passed over” the houses of the obedient, but entered the houses of the disobedient. The Israelites who were obedient to God’s commands were spared, not by their works but by the blood of an innocent animal sacrificed for their salvation. Again, a substitution of innocent blood to cover the sins of mankind. Starting to sound familiar?
Matthew 27: 31 Jesus was crucified during the Passover celebration, a final sacrifice of innocent blood for the sins of mankind. That’s why there is such horrific punishment for un-forgiven sin, because of the innocence of Jesus Christ, the sacrificial lamb Who was slain for our forgiveness. We make a mockery of what God has offered at such great cost when we refuse to honor His Son Jesus as the crucified Savior. I believe that there are few sins greater than refusing to honor Jesus through Holy Communion.
Genesis 3:21 God provided the blood sacrifice.
Exodus 12: God ordained the blood sacrifice.
The Son of God became the
blood sacrifice.
