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11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:11 (ESV)
21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. Genesis 3:21 (ESV)
“Moreover, that God “made” (ʿāśâ) these garments stands in striking relief to the seventh day, when God ceased from all that he had “made” (ʿāśâ) (2:2–3). “Made” routinely describes God’s creative work, occurring eleven times in 1:1–2:4. God has “made” the woman (2:18) and the animals of the fields (3:1) as acts of creation, but now his action in behalf of the couple is salvific in character. The God of the garden as Creator and Savior mirrors the God of tabernacle sacrifice, whom Israel had come to recognize by the voice of Moses and the prophets.” (1)
Oh the guilt and shame that came as a result of the first sin. What weight this must have been upon our first parents. Driving them to seek relief through insufficient coverings and causing them to cower in fear in presence of the God with whom they once had perfect fellowship.
But, the Maker of all things made new coverings for them, presumably requiring the sacrifice of animals in the midst of the temple-like garden, pointing to the sacrifices in the tabernacle and ultimately the atoning sacrifice of Christ Himself. As He made all things before resting on the seventh day, God made a sufficient covering for sin.
How foolish then to think that we contribute anything to our salvation. This would be as unwise as thinking we created the heavens and the earth. That we spoke light, land, oceans, plants, day and night, stars, and all living creatures into existence. That we fashioned man from the dust of the earth and brought forth woman from him. Surely, we would never claim these things.
Even faith, by which salvation is applied to us is a gift from God, His creation, and the means by which the salvation he made is applied to us. It is all of His making! What confidence and joy this should bring to us. What praise this should elicit from our mouths to our Creator and Savior. What good works should flow from us as a result of so great a salvation made by God. What rest this should bring to us from our work.
1. K. A. Mathews, Genesis 1-11:26, vol. 1A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 255.
In Christ,
Pastor Rich
