Daily Reading: Gen 3-5 & Luke 2
Scripture: Gen 2:25, 3:7 & 3:21 (Focus on 3:21)
Observation:
In Genesis 2:25 God had finished creating Adam and Eve and it mentions that they were both naked and were not ashamed. Then after Adam and Eve sinned in Chapter 3 it says in verse 7 that their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked. Apparently they were now ashamed. They were completely naked and open for scrutiny for the disobedience they had committed and they felt guilty and ashamed.
However in 3:21 it says "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them." The penalty for sin was death, because once you remove yourself from God's wisdom, God's Loving direction, you are effectively saying I no longer need you God. I can do it on my own without you. Essentially that is what the serpent was saying, that they would become like God. In other words, they would not need God any longer because they would be Gods. So, when we say we have no need of God or His council, we are saying that we no longer need the Life Giver, the Life Sustainer. God created and sustains all Life for He is Life. That is why the penalty was death, because you can not live outside of the Life giver/sustainer on your own. Not because God is a tyrant and wants us to live His way or else He will kill you. No, it is us who chooses death by trying to live outside of the true source of Life. However, verse 3:21 shows that God showed mercy on them, because God is Love, and allowed them to live by providing a substitute death on their behalf. God showed them that someone would have to die in their place, for them to be able to live. The first death on Earth took place that day, how horrify that must've been not knowing death up to that point, and he used those innocent animal's skins to cloth them and cover their nakedness, their shame, their guilt. God does not want us to die, He wants us to live and live to the fullest that is why he provides a way out, a way back into the presence of the Life Giver and Sustainer. Verse 3:21 shows the actions of a Loving God who cares tenderly for his people.
Application:
I need to remember that God is a God of Love, not a tyrant, not a dictator, but a God willing to put it all on the line to help me understand that his ways are best. I need to remember to watch and pray every moment of every day, to heed God's council as it is in my best interest for a full and happy life. I need to cling to God's words as they are Life to my wayward soul, providing a way for me to discern subtle errors that could lead me astray. Ultimately it will lead me to a life in harmony with the laws upon which the universe operates. Laws that provide for the happiness of everyone together as it focuses on loving God and loving each other by putting them first above ourselves. And it will lead me to a Loving God, a Loving Savior, willing to die in my place so that I might have life and life more abundantly.
Prayer:
Lord, please help me to fall in love with you as much as you love me. Help me to lean on you, depending on, feeding on every word that proceeds out of your mouth. Help me to hold your words dear to my heart so that they become a part of my life, words that I live by. Thank you for your abundant love, mercy, and grace and for the righteous life you cover me with so that I might have right to live in the presence of the Life Giver. In Jesus name, Amen!
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