Sin entered the human race through the fall of man recorded in Genesis 3. After the fall, Adam and Eve attempted to cover their shame and hid from God out of fear.
Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day , and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden (Genesis 3:7-10).
The action of Adam and Eve above is what every human being does when we sin. Of course, the effect of the fall passed on to Adam’s posterity—the human race. In sin, we attempt to cover up and hide from God thus causing a separation between us and God. The biblical verdict is true: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
The Westminster Shorter Catechism defines sin as “any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God. Sin has also been defined as missing of the mark — harmatia. In the Christian context, it is a missing of the mark of God’s law. And as have already been mentioned, we have all missed the mark of God’s law because of sin. This sin has separated us from God and our fellowship is broken.
Now despite the separation brought upon the human race by sin, God out of His mercy made a way through which sinners can draw close to him. A sacrifice and payment for the penalty of sin were provided by God in the person of Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16). This sacrifice and payment for the penalty of sin provided by God can be seen right from the beginning.
And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them (Genesis 3:21).
Works and Faith
Comparing Genesis 3:21 with Genesis 3:7 where Adam and Eve covered themselves with fig leaves; we see a clear contrast between human effort—works— in dealing with sin and God’s acceptable way of dealing with sin–faith. Adam and Eve covered themselves with fig leaves in their attempt to cover their nakedness—shame from sin. However for God to replace their covering of fig leaves with garments of skin shows the weakness in their efforts. God has provided a way by which sinners will be saved. It is the way of faith in Christ Jesus. Best as our human efforts may be, they cannot match up to God’s standard of righteousness. The testimony of Scripture is that “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).
The Blood Of Christ
The garments of skin provided by God to cover the couple obviously, though will come from a slain animal. Blood will be shed. And it is in this shedding of blood that the sins of sinners are forgiven. Here then is the symbolism of the sacrifice of Christ for salvation.
It is appropriate that those bearing the guilt of sin should cover themselves. God HImself demonstrated this when he killed animals to use their skins as a covering for the fallen couple. This was a graphic object lesson showing that only God can provide a suitable covering for sin, and that the shedding of blood is a necessary part of the process (Heb. 9:22). The first physical deaths should have been the man and his, but it was an animal— a shadow of the reality that God would someday kill a substitute to redeem sinners¹
The Righteousness of Christ
The righteous covering of Christ is plainly evident in the garments of skin God used to cover Adam and Eve. As sinners separated from God, nothing we do outside of Christ is acceptable to God. Indeed our every deed is tainted by sin. The prophet Isaiah describes all our righteous acts as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). We can do good and we do carry out good deeds that outwardly may conform to the law of God. But even this is tainted by evil motives.
Can we please God at all we may ask? The answer is yes. We can please God because he has provided a way through faith in Christ (Heb. 11:6). Just as God covered the nakedness of Adam and Eve, God covers our sin when we come to faith in Christ. Christ is our righteousness, the lamb slain from whom the shame of our sin is covered. In Genesis 3:21, we see a symbolic picture of what Paul spoke of in (2 Corinthians 5:21).
For our sake he made him to be sin r who knew no sin, so that in him we might become s the righteousness of God.
The basis on which any of us can relate with God is by the righteousness of Christ through faith. We draw close to God not in fig leaves of human effort but in “garments of skin” which represents Christ’s righteousness.
Notes
- John MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Commentary (Nashville: Tennesse, Thomas Nelson, 2005) 18
Grace and Truth 