After God created a perfect world in six days and "saw all that he had made, and it was very good" (Genesis 1:31), "on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done" (Genesis 2:2-3). God committed creation into the hands of the first man and woman (Adam and Eve). God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground" (Genesis 1:28). But, there was Lucifer (also known as Satan or the Devil) who was looking forward to messing up God's plans. The first landlords of the earth, Adam and Eve failed God because they paid heed to the voice of the devil, and their disobedience led all humanity on a downhill. The wages of sin is death and in Genesis 3, God listed a couple of punishments for the man, the woman and the serpent (Satan). For thousands of years, humanity's downhill dragged thousands and millions into the bosom of hell. But, God had a plan of restoration.
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! )John 1:29 NKJV)
The first message of salvation was preached in the Garden of Eden. God's plan to save humanity from this downhill was pronounced in the Garden: "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel" (Genesis 3:15). Adam and Eve were clothed by God because sin exposed their nakedness. With the first animal sacrifice, "The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21). God's perfect plan to crush the head of Satan was not a plan of war, it was a plan of death. The only way for humanity to be restored was through atonement and a sinless human being was needed to pay for the price of Adam and Eve's carelessness. No one in humanity was found worthy because all humanity came from the sinful Adam. God did not make an alternative plan, because even before the creation of the world, God had all things laid out. Even before Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8 KJV) and revealed through creation awaited for the time of redemption. As John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him to be baptized, John said, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29 KJV). The price for humanity's downhill was the sinless atonement of the Son of God.
From the Garden of Eden until the death of Jesus, animal blood was required to pay for sins. These sacrifices were done religiously and yet, humanity's sins were not atoned permanently. Thus, as the religious leaders campaigned for Jesus to be crucified, they did not know that Jesus' mandate was to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). The only way to fulfill this mandate was for Jesus to take the place of the sacrificial lamb. Jesus' mandate entailed His death and resurrection. As the Roman soldiers hanged Jesus on the cross and nailed him so steadfastly, the blood from Jesus (all over his body) travelled in time to the Garden of Eden down to the future. Jesus' perfect blood paid for our sins and restored humanity to God.
The condemnation in Genesis was paid for by Calvary's pain. The God who said, "Where are you" to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3: 9) forsook His only begotten Son even when the Son cried out, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” (My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? ( Matthew 27: 46). God did that so the Son, destined to pay for the sin of humanity, died as the perfect lamb to ransom the souls of humanity. Heaven's Prince was killed by the humans He created so that through His death and resurrection, He will restore humanity from the fallen state to be made the bride of the Lamb. Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
It cost God His only begotten Son to ransom humanity from sin, death and eternal doom. It should therefore cost you a lifetime of living to please God. Christianity is a lifestyle. People should not struggle to see Christ in you. Light cannot be hidden!
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