God had said the day they ate of the forbidden fruit they would die. But notice this:
Genesis 3:21 ESV And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
The ramifications of this first sacrificial act by God are many, but here are a few things we learn:
God chose to put to death a substitute in their place; probably a lamb, bull or a goat. Then He clothed them in the skin of the animal. God loved His people and showed them mercy.
Adam and Eve’s own attempts to cover themselves were not adequate. God, Himself had to make the clothing; God had to do what was necessary to make them fit for His presence. Later Scripture would say “not by works of righteousness we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us…” (Titus 3:5 NKJV).
In putting to death an animal, God restored fellowship between Himself and His people. When He looked at them clothed in the sacrifice He made, God remembered that death and the shedding of blood had happened making His people fit for His presence. Their relationship was restored. This was the purpose of the sacrifice.
Imagine the scene for a moment: Adam and Eve had sinned, were guilty, and knew their punishment meant death. They were afraid, had gone into hiding, and were working hard to cover up their nakedness.
And then God came. They probably knew that their lame excuses, their blame-shifting, their attempts to cover up their wrong wouldn’t work with God. They had sinned against light and knowledge. They had purposely disobeyed. They had ruined it all. In fear, they waited for God to find them and take their lives. And come He did.
But He did not come to kill them, but rather to clothe them!
The first thing man did after sin was to run from God, to hide from Him; but the first thing God did was to come toward Adam and Eve, to restore them. In love, He diverted His wrath to an innocent substitute.
Did they watch as God raised the lamb’s neck and slit it open, draining the life’s blood from the animal? Did they watch the life flow out, knowing that should have been their punishment?
Now picture this most intimate scene:
The living God, having removed the skins of the animal, drew His children close to Him, and placed those skins on them, one by one. What awe! What wonder! Did they feel His love in what was happening as He drew them near? Did they experience a washing, a cleansing from sin as the sacrifice covered them?
And this first story points to the main story!
God looked down on a disobedient world; a world that looked at evil but saw beauty, and partook of it. A world now trapped in sin; a self-absorbed world, a guilty world headed for death — people who had ruined it all. And God had compassion. In wrath, He did not forget mercy (Habakkuk 3:2).
Unlike in the account of Adam and Eve, where God slew a sacrifice in their place, now, in the main story, God Himself becomes the sacrifice! When John the Baptist saw Jesus for the first time he said, “Look, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29 NIV). The King of heaven became the Lamb of God! And He did so to take our punishment!
Isaiah 53:4-6 (NIV) Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Question 5. Please write out verse 5 above, but change the words “our”, “us”, and “we”, to “my”, “me” and “I.”
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Question 6. According to Isaiah 53:5 above, what did Jesus’ punishment do for you?