In our study of God's Remedy for Man's Ruin, we have seen it defined from the Word of God as the sovereign grace and mercy of the triune God -- each Person of the Holy Trinity being intimately involved and active in the salvation of lost sinners chosen from among Adam's fallen and condemned race. So far, our attention has been directed primarily to the work of GOD THE FATHER, who conceived, planned, and predestined the great work of man's redemption before the foundation of the world.
Now in this section, our focus shifts primarily to the work of GOD THE SON, the Second Person of the triune God, and how He fulfills in TIME that which God the Father planned and predestined in ETERNITY regarding Himself, and His great work of redemption. We will see from the Word of God that the sovereign grace and mercy of God finds its ultimate expression and revelation in a PERSON. That Person is God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Living Word, of Whom it is said, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). Since He is "God manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16), the perfect God-Man, He is truly The Grace of God Personified, meaning that He personally brought God's wonderful grace down to poor needy sinners such as you and I. As we have already seen in Part One, our condition is desperate, and our needs are great. A great and mighty Saviour is desperately needed, and praise and thanksgiving be unto our sovereign God, a great and mighty Saviour has been provided! (Psalm 89:19; Isaiah 19:20; Titus 2:13)
In this section, our approach to this subject will be two-fold: (1) We will first look at Old Testament Pictures, Promises, and Prophecies of the coming Redeemer, and how God saved sinners before Christ actually came into the world nearly 2,000 years ago; (2) Then we will study in greater detail the tremendous New Testament Revelation of the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible consists of 66 books, written over a period of approximately 1,600 years, by 40 different human authors -- yet its amazing unity demonstrates beyond any doubt that God Himself is its true author, according to 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 1:1-2, and 1 Peter 1:19-21. The central theme of this wonderful Book of God from Genesis to Revelation is blood redemption in Christ, and its central figure is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And, as we are about to see, how wonderfully does the Lord Jesus fill "the volume of the Book" of the Old Testament (Hebrews 10:7)!
1. The Key to Understanding the Old Testament
After His resurrection, our blessed Lord taught His disciples this precious truth, and gave them the key to understanding the Old Testament Scriptures, as recorded in Luke 24:25-26:
"Then He said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?"
Following these words, verse 27 tells us, "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." Later, just before He ascended into Heaven to the right hand of the Father, the crucified, risen Lord Jesus spoke these words to His disciples:
"These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things." (Luke 24:44-48)
My friend, these verses give us the key to understanding the Old Testament! Notice that it was necessary for the Lord Jesus to open their understanding before His disciples could truly see Him and His substitutionary blood atonement as the grand central theme of the Old Testament. With this key available to us, may our Lord also now be gracious unto us, and open our understanding, so that we too might understand the Old Testament Scriptures. With the Spirit of God to enlighten us, and the full light of the New Testament to guide us, we can easily recognize the portraits, promises, and prophecies of our blessed Lord in the Old Testament.
Blood redemption in Christ pervades the Scriptures as salt the waters of the sea, and therefore it is utterly impossible to fully exhaust the subject. Our goal in this book is to set forth just some of the best and most obvious examples of blood redemption in Christ in the Old Testament. Though all we can do here is merely "dip our toes" into the vast expanse of the ocean of the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament, I would encourage the reader to diligently pursue a study of this blessed subject for himself.
In Colossians 2:17, Paul refers to the Old Testament ordinances, including the entire Levitical system of sacrifice and worship expressed in the Law of Moses as "...a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." This verse teaches us that the Old Testament is a book containing many shadows, types, pictures, and prophecies of the Person and work of Christ the Redeemer who was yet to come. And just as God's triune nature is progressively revealed in the Scriptures, so too blood redemption in Christ is a progressive revelation. In the early chapters of Genesis the portraits of Christ are recognizable, though somewhat dim, but as we move through the Old Testament, it progressively becomes more and more distinct -- until we reach, for example, the book of Isaiah, which some have called "the Gospel according to Isaiah," because it contains such clear, unmistakable references to the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. The Grace of blood Redemption
in Christ Revealed
in the Garden of Eden
Adam's fall in the Garden of Eden plunged himself and the entire human race contained in his loins into ruin, darkness, and despair, with absolutely no hope within ourselves of recovery. But man's extremity becomes God's opportunity! Our first parents had no sooner sinned, become guilty, and attempted to hide from the presence of God, than God Himself in His infinite condescension and mercy, became the Seeker. The bare justice of God would have brought eternal destruction upon them immediately -- it was all they deserved. But God came forth to seek them out, speaking these words, "Adam, where art thou?" As someone has said, "It is the call of Divine Justice, which cannot overlook sin; it is the call of Divine Sorrow, which grieves over the sinner; and it is the call of Divine Love, which offers redemption to the sinner."
The question then naturally arises, "Did God save Adam and Eve, and if so, how did He do it?" I believe that it is clear that He did save them by His grace, and there two indications of how He did it, recorded in Genesis chapter three.
In Genesis 3:14-19, we read the account of God pronouncing righteous judgment upon Adam and Eve, and upon the Devil who tempted them by using the serpent as his tool, or mouthpiece. In verses 14-15, we find an amazing promise from God of a coming Redeemer, and a prophecy of how He shall be victorious over Satan:
"And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
Thou it might appear on the surface that God is addressing only the serpent, surely more than a reference to the literal serpent is meant here! A curse was indeed pronounced upon the snake, but verse 15 has a far deeper significance. As we have already seen, the serpent was only the tool or instrument used by the unseen supernatural being called Satan in the temptation and fall of our first parents. Therefore, in the light of New Testament revelation, we may understand verse 15 as both a pronouncement to Satan of his own future defeat and doom, and a promise to Adam and Eve of a coming Deliverer, the Seed of the woman, who shall crush Satan's head.
This ancient prophecy was wonderfully fulfilled nearly 2,000 years ago, according to Galatians 4:4-5:
"But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."
The Lord Jesus Christ, born of a Jewish virgin in Bethlehem of Judea, is the promised "Seed of the Woman" of Genesis 3:15, the Deliverer sent forth from God Who was to bruise the head of "that old Serpent, called the Devil, and Satan" (Revelation 12:9). According to 1 John 3:8,
"For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the Devil."
This bruising, or crushing, of Satan's head means that both he and his evil works, his kingdom of darkness upon earth and his power over mankind, is to be destroyed by the power of the Deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ. This destruction of Satan and his evil works is in two stages.
The first stage has already taken place when our Lord was crucified on Calvary's cross. It was there that Satan thought he had gained the victory over Christ, having "bruised His heel" by instigating "his seed" (John 8:38-44) to murder the Son of God, Who was "wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities," according to Isaiah 53:5. But in reality, it was at the cross that Christ gained the victory over Satan, according to His own words, spoken just prior to accomplishing His substitutionary atonement in behalf of his elect, "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the Prince of this world be cast out" (John 16:11). In Colossians 2:15, the Apostle Paul wrote these words concerning His bloody sacrifice on the cross, "Having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it [the cross]."
The second stage, Satan's final and complete destruction, is yet future, and will take place when Revelation 20:10 is fulfilled, "And the Devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." In the meantime, believers can enjoy daily victory over Satan in their experience by reliance upon the power of God and His Gospel, and by putting on the whole armor of God (Romans 1:16; Ephesians 6:10-18). The Apostle Paul seems to have both the temporal and the ultimate fulfilment of Genesis 3:15 in mind when he makes this statement in the closing chapter of his Epistle to the Romans, "And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen" (Romans 16:20).
How did Adam and Eve respond to this prophecy and promise of the coming Deliverer? We believe they responded in faith and were saved, evidenced by what we are told in Genesis 3:20-21. Verse 20 reads, "And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living." By naming his wife Eve, the mother of all living, it appears that Adam believed God's promise of the coming Deliverer, who was to be the "Seed of the woman," which would crush Satan's head.
The above interpretation of verse 20 seems to be confirmed by God's action which immediately followed, as recorded in verse 21: "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them." This will become apparent as we now study this verse, and bring the full light of the New Testament to bear upon it.
Even as we read of God's holy judgment upon the sin of Adam and Eve in this tragic chapter of the Bible, we also see in the above verse the grace of God manifested toward the guilty pair (Romans 6:20). The wonderful grace of blood redemption in the Lord Jesus Christ is unmistakably prefigured and foreshadowed in God's provision of coats of skins as clothing for Adam and Eve. Since they did not have the full revelation of New Testament truth as we have it today, our first parents probably did not fully understand all the implications of this provision, but it is certain that they did receive it by faith as an act of grace and mercy toward them from God, Who might just as easily have visited them with immediate death and eternal punishment in Hell.
In His provision of the skins of animals as clothing for Adam and Eve, God preached to them the Gospel of salvation by His free grace, through blood redemption in Christ -- not in words spoken, but graphically demonstrated by type and symbol. When God Himself took those sacrificial animals, probably lambs, and killed them before the very eyes of Adam and Eve, made garments from the bloody skins, and then personally wrapped them around their naked bodies, He was teaching them the Divine principle of salvation by grace and blood redemption which had already been established and predestined in the mind and purpose of God before the foundation of the world (2 Timothy 1:9-10; 1 Peter 1:18-20) -- and from which there can be no deviation. In this one act of grace and mercy by God toward our first parents, he laid down, by implication, 3 requirements which must be met before a sacrifice can be acceptable to Him as an atonement for sin:
1. An acceptable sacrifice for atonement of sin must be provided by God Himself. The skins of the slain animals were a gift from God, not anything produced by the works or efforts of Adam and Eve. How beautifully does this portray the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Love Gift to a lost world, as set forth in the New Testament -- "For God so loved the world that HE GAVE His only begotten Son..." (John 3:16). And John the Baptist gave this testimony concerning the Lord Jesus in John 1:29, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!"
Adam and Eve did absolutely nothing to regain the favor of God; the only sacrifice which God will accept is the One which He Himself provides, which is His work and His free gift of grace. They did not even have to put these coats of skins on themselves, for even this was done for them by God, who "clothed them." A covering provided by God for the nakedness of our first parents at the expense and death of another immediately points us to that matchless "Robe of Righteousness," the spotless righteousness of the crucified, risen Lord Jesus Christ, which is imputed to every repenting sinner who trusts in Him! (Isaiah 61:10; 45:24; Jeremiah 23:6; Romans 3:21-22; 5:19; Philippians 3:8-9; 1 Corinthians 1:30).
2. An acceptable sacrifice unto God for atonement of sin must be by the death of an innocent Substitute. The animals which God killed to provide the coats of skins had no part in Adam's sin. The sacrifice involved the death of an innocent substitutionary victim. Again, this is a type or picture of Christ crucified, of whim it is said in 1 Peter 3:18, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God..." Our Lord's death on the cross of Calvary was a substitutionary atonement for our sins, the innocent taking the place of the guilty, according to 2 Corinthians 5:21, "For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." The Apostle Paul stresses this precious truth so clearly in Romans 5:10, "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
3. An acceptable sacrifice unto God for the atonement of sin must be by the shedding of blood. Although the shedding of blood is not specifically mentioned in Genesis 3:21, it is implied, for God could not procure the skin of an animal without first putting it to death and shedding its blood. This principle of substitutionary blood atonement, or blood redemption, is clearly stated in the New Testament in Hebrews 9:22, "...and without the shedding of blood is no remission" of sin. Therefore, when God killed the animals and shed their blood in the Garden of Eden in order to provide the coats of skins for Adam and Eve, He was teaching them by type and symbol the great eternal truth of substitutionary atonement in the Lord Jesus Christ, the coming "Seed of the woman" -- which is the central truth of the Holy Scriptures (Romans 3:24-26; 5:6-11; Ephesians 1:7; Revelation 5:9).
And so, my friend, it is clear from this example that God is teaching man at the very outset in the Garden of Eden, immediately after the Fall, that there is only one acceptable sacrifice for sin which He will receive. It must meet all three of the requirements listed above. From this point on, we can easily trace by type, picture, promise, and prophecy the doctrine of substitutionary atonement by blood throughout the Old Testament, until it is actually fulfilled and accomplished by the blood-shedding of God's own dear Son, as He voluntarily sacrificed His own life for us as our Substitute on Calvary's cross -- thereby satisfying the offended justice of God in our behalf. The shadows, types, and pictures of Christ in the Old Testament then fade away in the full light of New Testament revelation, when in the fulness of time, the One to whim they all pointed appeared upon the scene, personally fulfilling each one (Galatians 4:4-5; Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 9:26; 10:1-14).
3. Abel's "More Excellent Sacrifice"
Adam and Eve had two children born in those early days after the Fall, two sons which they named Cain and Abel. As these two boys grew up together into young manhood, they had evidently been instructed by Adam concerning the promise of a coming Deliverer, the "Seed of the woman," and God's provision of the coats of skins. Though it is not specifically stated, we believe that God made it very clear to the first family by the above example what He required as an acceptable atoning sacrifice for sin. This will become more evident as the story of Cain and Abel unfolds, and as we focus New Testament light upon it.
With the above facts in mind, let us now read the Biblical record of how these two young men offered sacrifices to God, found in Genesis 4:3-7:
"And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him."
Immediately following in verses 8-17 is the chilling narrative of the first murder in the human family -- Cain angrily killing his brother Abel while they were together in the field, rather than obeying God's requirement for sacrifice -- and the curse which God put upon him as punishment.
Before going any further, let us now read the New Testament commentary on these two brothers, and their respective offerings:
"By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh." (Hebrews 11:4)
"For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." (1 John 3:11-12)
In the light of these New Testament passages, let us now carefully study each brother, the sacrifices they offered, and God's response.