Only One of These Leads to God
“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skin, and did clothe them” (Genesis 3:21).
Adam and Eve had sinned against the Lord. In so doing, they realized they were naked and clothed themselves with fig leaves. When they heard the Voice of the Lord walking in the Garden, they hid. They eagerly welcomed the Lord in the past, but now due to their guilt in sinning against the Lord, they hid from His Presence. The Lord, in covering them with animal skins, was showing them that the “fig leaves” were insufficient, and without the shedding of innocent blood, which was a type of Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary, there would be no remission of sins. The animal skins covered their sin, but the payment of the sin debt for all sin awaited Calvary. And finally, with the Lord covering them Himself; He was showing them that Salvation was completely of the Lord.
“And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground…Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord…And Abel, also brought of the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering He had no respect” (Genesis 4:2-5).
Abel understood and obeyed all that the Lord had shown our first parents. He offered up a lamb as sacrifice and it was accepted by the Lord. Cain, however, offered up the fruit of his labor and the Lord rejected it. The Lord Jesus came as the “Lamb of God “ and offered up His life to pay the sin debt owed to God. Salvation comes only through faith in Christ and His sacrificial death at Calvary. Salvation is all of the Lord. Our part is to come by faith in the Salvation The Lord has provided.
Religion, which is practiced by many today, is man’s efforts to please God by what he does. Cain shows us an example of that by his offering up to God the fruit of his labor. Cain and Abel represent the two ways that men have approached God from that time to this. It is either by faith (relationship) or by works (religion). The Lord paid a high price for our Salvation and it is an insult of the highest order to think that we could add anything to what He accomplished for us on the Cross.
So, we see that from the very beginning, the Lord was showing Adam and Eve, and all those who would come after them, what He required and how He would bring mankind back to right relationship with Him. We are saved by faith in His Finished Work and we are to walk out our lives by faith in His Finished Work. It is not faith plus works. It is completely by faith in God’s Provision. We can add absolutely nothing to the Lord’s perfect plan?
We are called to do good works, and certainly, the Christian disciples (e.g. Bible reading, praying, church attendance, fasting, etc) are important, but our faith must not be in these as we walk out our life. The Apostle Paul said it best, in the following verse, when he rebuked the Galatians for starting by faith and attempting to live by the works of the flesh:
“Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit are you now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3).
As mentioned, the Galatians were saved by faith but were now tempted to live their lives by the flesh. This would not work for them and will not work for us. The object of our faith daily must be Christ and Him Crucified which will allow the Holy Spirit to work mightily in our lives (Romans 8:2). As we saw with Adam and Eve, the Lord clothed them Himself, and did it with “coats of skin.” We are clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ and we are to remember that Salvation is all of the Lord as we walk out this life by faith in His Provision.
“For therein (Christ Crucified) is the Righteousness of God revealed (Salvation is all of God) from faith to faith.: as it is written, The just shall live (daily) by faith (in Christ and Him Crucified)” (Romans 1:17 commentary mine).
Always Remember,
God Loves You!
Find podcasts of this article, and all the articles on this website on the “Here I Am Lord” podcast on Spotify for Podcasters, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Pocket Casts, and RadioPublic. Also, Here I Am, Lord is on Telegram.
Follow to receive email notifications regarding future articles
Here I Am Lord – Tom Quinn Ministries – tqministries.com 2023
Here I Am, Lord - - tqministries.com 