Without the shedding of blood, there is no covering of sins.
It's a brutal fact.
Think about this: have you ever wondered why we wear clothes?
We read in Genesis that when God made Adam and Eve they were naked. But sin came into the world, and sin distorts everything. Sin distorts nakedness. Immediately Adam and Eve knew they were naked, and they tried to make coverings out of fig leaves. God came to their rescue, providing garments by killing an innocent animal. This was the first blood sacrifice; it was a covering for their sin. (Ken Ham, Answers in Genesis)
How unfair was that? An innocent animal had to die because of Adam's sin. Prior to that, Adam and Eve walked naked before God because they had never sinned and therefore had no shame about anything. Their relationship with God was perfect and they enjoyed perfect communion with Him. They trusted Him completely.
But once they believed the lie instead of the Truth (which is God, because He is truth and there is no lie in Him) the trust was broken.
And now they had betrayed Him. All because they chose to believe a lie about Him, despite the fact that God had done nothing but good for them.
And they knew it. Which is why they felt shame. It was not just because they were physically naked. They were spiritually naked before Him, and they knew that God knew they had sinned. And they felt shame for doing the dishonorable.
If you love God, you will know what I'm talking about. You will, like me, sin against Him and then hide behind spiritual "fig leaves". You may stop talking to Him and pretend He isn't there. You may even get angry at Him. You may try to distance yourself by getting involved in various distractions.
All of that is temporary, just like Adam and Eve's fig leaves.
The permanent covering for our sin is Jesus, the perfect blood sacrifice.
How unfair was that? An innocent man dying to cover our sins!
But only a perfect blood sacrifice could cover every single sin ever committed. It had to be Jesus, who had never sinned. Even His enemies never accused Him of committing a single sin (except for the sin of blasphemy when He made Himself equal with God).
And He was equal with God. Which is why nothing but the precious blood of Jesus covers all sins, including yours and mine.
I'm glad that God was not fair!
It's a brutal fact.
Think about this: have you ever wondered why we wear clothes?
We read in Genesis that when God made Adam and Eve they were naked. But sin came into the world, and sin distorts everything. Sin distorts nakedness. Immediately Adam and Eve knew they were naked, and they tried to make coverings out of fig leaves. God came to their rescue, providing garments by killing an innocent animal. This was the first blood sacrifice; it was a covering for their sin. (Ken Ham, Answers in Genesis)
How unfair was that? An innocent animal had to die because of Adam's sin. Prior to that, Adam and Eve walked naked before God because they had never sinned and therefore had no shame about anything. Their relationship with God was perfect and they enjoyed perfect communion with Him. They trusted Him completely.
But once they believed the lie instead of the Truth (which is God, because He is truth and there is no lie in Him) the trust was broken.
And now they had betrayed Him. All because they chose to believe a lie about Him, despite the fact that God had done nothing but good for them.
And they knew it. Which is why they felt shame. It was not just because they were physically naked. They were spiritually naked before Him, and they knew that God knew they had sinned. And they felt shame for doing the dishonorable.
If you love God, you will know what I'm talking about. You will, like me, sin against Him and then hide behind spiritual "fig leaves". You may stop talking to Him and pretend He isn't there. You may even get angry at Him. You may try to distance yourself by getting involved in various distractions.
All of that is temporary, just like Adam and Eve's fig leaves.
The permanent covering for our sin is Jesus, the perfect blood sacrifice.
How unfair was that? An innocent man dying to cover our sins!
But only a perfect blood sacrifice could cover every single sin ever committed. It had to be Jesus, who had never sinned. Even His enemies never accused Him of committing a single sin (except for the sin of blasphemy when He made Himself equal with God).
And He was equal with God. Which is why nothing but the precious blood of Jesus covers all sins, including yours and mine.
I'm glad that God was not fair!