Sin & Salvation

“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ Then, the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave it to her husband with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.” [1]

The devil got our first parents to compromise their relationship with God. He wanted enmity between humankind and God. When he succeeded, Adam and Eve hid from God. Thankfully, God came looking for Adam and Eve after they sinned. They heard the Lord God walking in the garden. The Lord called them out and asked them to explain what happened. And they did. [2]

The Lord God said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” [3]

The above passage is the first prophecy of Christ in the Bible. Jesus is the Seed that God was referring to. Jesus bruised the serpent’s head when He paid for humanity’s sin on the cross and when He conquered death by rising from the dead on the third day. The heel of Christ was bruised by Satan in the sense that He paid a terrible price to stomp on him. He was whipped and nailed to a tree. Jesus took the punishment that humanity deserved for our sin against God and God’s Word.

The Lord God made tunics of skin and clothed Adam and Eve. This was God’s first sacrifice of life (animal skins) for people. [4]

The Lord also placed cherubim (winged creatures - angels) at the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life. He did not want them to eat of the tree of life and live forever in a state of sinfulness. [5] Cherubim is plural. Most likely, there were two angels. There were two angels facing the Mercy Seat on the cover of the Ark of the Covenant. [6] There were two angels that met Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb when Jesus resurrected from the dead. [7] The Lord Jesus made a way back to paradise for humanity by dying for our sins and resurrecting from the dead for our resurrection. Now, the angels rejoice when sinners repent and believe in Jesus. [8]

God’s plan for us after death is to give to us heavenly bodies so that we can live in communion with Him forever. “As we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.” [9] Praise the Lord for salvation!

[1] Genesis 3:1-7
[2] Genesis 3:8-13
[3] Genesis 3:14-15
[4] Genesis 3:21
[5] Genesis 3:22-24
[6] Exodus 25:18-22
[7] John 20:12
[8] Luke 15:10
[9] 1 Corinthians 15:49