When God created Adam and Eve, He created them in His own image and after His own likeness. He gave them authority over the earth He had created and told them to rule over it, care for it, and be fruitful and increase in number. He placed them in the beautiful Garden of Eden where everything was peaceful and delightful. They had a wonderful place to live, good minds, loving hearts, meaningful things to do, and a great variety of things to eat and enjoy (Genesis 1:26-30; 2:8-9). There were no arguments, no disagreements, and no frustrations. There were no disappointments or failures, no sickness or pain, no sorrow or death, no guilt and no fear. Everything was perfect.
However, God gave Adam one very clear command--a command not to eat the fruit of one specific tree in the Garden. The penalty for breaking that command, God said, would be death (Genesis 2:16-17).
He did not say or even suggest to Adam in any way that He would Himself provide a way for Adam to escape that punishment. The only message He gave to Adam was this: "You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” The command was simple and the punishment for breaking the command was clear: Eat and you will die. At this point there was no promise of grace if Adam failed.
Later, when the serpent came and tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden, Satan aroused in them a desire for something they did not yet have. He assured them that if they ate the forbidden fruit, they would become as God Himself, gaining a personal knowledge of good and evil. As a result, Adam and Eve questioned God's motive for giving them the one negative command and believed the lie of Satan rather than the truth of God. So they ate. (Genesis 3:1-6)
As a result of their disobedience and sin, their once-perfect bodies immediately became subject to suffering and pain and eventually to death. They also died spiritually and became alienated from the God who created, loved, and blessed them. The once-perfect earth began to produce thorns and thistles and God told Adam he would eat its fruit only through painful toil. They became aware of their physical (and spiritual) nakedness and in their guilt and shame they sought to run away and hide from the God who had created them (Genesis 3:8-10). Adam and Eve also were alienated from one another and began to make excuses for their sin (Genesis 3:11-13).
But God did not leave Adam and Eve alone in their guilt and nakedness. In His grace, He took the initiative and went "looking” for them. He could have let them die in their sin without mercy--but He didn't. Just as Jesus in the New Testament was the Good Shepherd who cared for His sheep (John 10:11-14), so the Father immediately sought out Adam and Eve in their lost and confused condition. He didn't excuse what they had done and He didn't minimize the consequences of their sin, but He immediately "found” them and questioned and challenged them about what they had done. They responded with feeble efforts to excuse themselves by putting the blame on someone else. Their pitiful response simply showed the depths to which they had already fallen. But God, in His grace, responded with a word of hope.
Before pronouncing His judgment on Adam and Eve, God pronounced a curse upon the serpent (Satan) who had deceived them. He graciously promised that some day one of Adam's and Eve's descendants would crush the head of the serpent (Satan) and would thus win a victory over sin and death (Genesis 3:15). God also indicated, however, that this victory would come at great cost to the "seed” (descendant) of the woman. At this point, God's promise of GRACE was veiled in language which Adam and Eve could not begin to understand. However, the promise of grace was there, and this promise would never fail.
Because of God's grace, both Adam and Eve knew that there was HOPE for them and all their descendants. Though the results of sin would be terrible and painful (Genesis 3:16-17), death would not be the final word. Some day there would be a glorious victory! That was grace!
God also demonstrated His grace to Adam and Eve in another significant way before He banished them from the Garden of Eden. He made "garments of skin” for them "and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). Earlier Adam and Eve had tried to cover their nakedness by sewing some fig leaves together (Genesis 3:7). These fig leaves represented their own efforts to deal with the results of their sin. But God showed them that He alone could provide for their "spiritual nakedness” by taking a "substitute” and using the skin of a sacrificial animal to provide the covering they needed.
This first "substitute” in Genesis 3:21 pointed ahead to the time when God's own Son would come into the world as the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Though Adam and Eve could not fully understand all this, God demonstrated that people could never atone for their sins through their own effort. The payment for their sin required the death of a perfect Substitute who would die in their place. And God, in His grace, loved the world so much that He gave His own Son to die so that all who believed in Him would not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). (Adapted from SAVED BY GRACE’ By Dr. Ed Roels)
Jesus had died and risen. He is living and will come again to bring believers. He will judge and send non-believers to hell. He is with all believers in the Spirit in this life too. He helps all accepted Him for their Lord and Saviour in this life and will reward them with eternal life.
Hope you have already received Him. If so, help others to receive Him and enjoy His blessings now and eternally.
If you have not yet receive, call Him in prayer. Ask to forgive your sins. Invite Him to become your Lord and Saviour.
Study the Bible daily to know His will for you. And always pray that He help and bless you with all heavenly blessings.
God bless you.
