Mercy In The Place of Justice

And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of
skins and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)

Mercy triumphs over judgement. (James 2:13b)

Yes, both Adam and Eve dropped the ball, big time! But, instead of ending their lives and closing the chapter early for humanity right at that moment, God graciously provided a means to cover their nakedness, their sin and their shame.  This came at a cost….the life of another. The Lord created tunics from animal skins to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness. The tunics were far more appropriate than the less than adequate fig leaves they sowed
together for themselves. In place of our first parent’s pathetic attempt to cover their shame, God provided the means for them to be covered at no cost to them, but at a great cost to another. From the very beginning we are given the pattern of how God will redeem fallen humanity.

Mercy was granted when blood was spilt; no doubt foreshadowing what will one day take place near the beginning of the 1st century on a cruel, unforgiving Roman cross. The tunics the Lord gave them served as a reminder to Adam and Eve that life was sacrificed in order for them to be spared from what they truly deserved; the full fury of God’s judgement. Some Old Testament scholars believe that the practice of offering sacrifices to God was likely passed down from Adam since then (as implied in the dramatic account involving the offerings of his sons Cain & Abel in Genesis 4:3-5) to serve as a reminder of what God graciously did to spare humanity from annihilation.

However, as much as it reminded them of the past it would also serve as a reminder of what He will do one day in the future, when this temporary solution will be replaced by a more permanent one. This particular sacrifice will be different from all the others.
Rather than being for a single person, family, ethnic group, or nation, this
sacrifice will be for all of humanity. In this significant, historical sacrificial act, it won’t be the blood of an animal that will be spilt, but the blood of the Son of God Himself. The cross has forever become the symbol of God’s love for us; a reminder of how He allowed His incredible mercy to spare us from His divine justice.

So What?…….

Our first parents’ attempt to cover themselves with fig leaves to hide their shame is a perfect picture of how we today continue to attempt to resolve our deeper problem of sin through religious moralism.

We think that by following a list religious traditions, duties and obligations, or simply by being good, we can acquire God’s favour, blessing and even divine pardon. But Scripture is clear that this is not the case at all! God’s favour has been granted to us, not by what we do, but what He has already done for us through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). As God provided tunics to be a superior covering for our first parents, He has covered us with His robe of righteousness that is vastly superior to any robe we can weave for ourselves through our own religious moralism. We did nothing to deserve God’s goodness and have done everything to deserve His divine justice. But God is
merciful. He demonstrated that to our first parents, He revealed it to all the intriguing personalities we find throughout Scripture, and He continues to show us His mercy each day. Let’s remember the words of Psalm 145:8-9,

“The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation.”