From now on, through nearly the next fourteen months, the focus of  our country will be centered on the presidential election process. Time, energy, and resources including financial means will be exhausted in an effort to secure new leadership for our country. Promises are being made, change is on the way, and the old failed way of doing things will supposedly give way to much better conditions. Many have great expectations concerning what type of new administration this soon to be elected president and his cabinet will bring. What will they accomplish? Will they indeed bring prosperity to our country? Will they bring lasting peace?

Our interest, as students of the Bible, however, is in the selection of the new administration spoken of in God’s Word. It, too, requires an election process that is mentioned by the Apostle Peter when he says, “Give diligence to make your calling and election sure.” (2 Pet. 1:10) This election, or more accurately stated as the “selection” by God, is found applied to the nation of Israel in the Old Testament, “Israel mine elect.” (Isa. 45:4) Since natural Israel is a type of spiritual Israel, this election applies to spiritual Israel, or the bride of Christ called during the present Gospel Age. The prophet also points to the Messiah saying, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.”—Isa. 42:1

In the New Testament we find reference to this election, such as, “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering” (Col. 3:12); and “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect?” (Rom. 8:33) These are being selected by God to be “partakers of the heavenly calling.” (Heb. 3:1) They are “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.” (1 Pet. 1:2) It is God who will complete the election process when, through Jesus, God will “send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.”—Mark 13:27

Thus will the work of election in the two harvests—the one closing the Jewish Age, and the other closing the Gospel Age—be concluded. The work of the new administration, which is the blessing of all the families of the earth, has been described as occurring when “the Sun of righteousness [representing Christ]” shall “arise with healing in his wings.” (Mal. 4:2) It will bring joy, peace, and everlasting life to all who wish to live

obediently on a restored, perfect earth. In Isaiah 9:6-9, New International Version, we read, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders. And he shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”

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Abraham is a key figure in Judaism, Christianity and even Islam. He is referenced more than 260 times in the Bible and over 70 times in the New Testament. He was born in the tenth generation from Noah through the lineage of Shem.

Originally named Abram, which means “high father,” he grew up in Ur of the Chaldees. (Gen. 11:28) When he was grown, God told him to travel to Canaan. Abram, Lot and their wives as well as Terah, Abram’s father, did as God commanded. When Abram was 99 years old, God changed his name to Abraham, which means “father of a multitude.” (chap. 17:5,6) At the same time, God promised that Abraham and his wife Sarah would have a son, Isaac.—vss. 15-19

Abraham was a man of many Bible firsts. He was the man first identified in the Scriptures as a prophet (chap. 20:7), although in Jude 14 Enoch (who came before him) is also identified as a prophet. He is also the first man described as a “Hebrew.” (Gen. 14:13) This is appropriate since he is described as the “father of many nations.” (chap. 17:5) Abraham is also described as the first man who put faith in Jehovah. (chap. 15:6) This is affirmed in Romans 4:11 where he is described as “the father of all them that believe.”

Abraham’s deep faith in God was characterized by his obedience throughout his life. He left Ur to move to Canaan. He acquiesced to God’s will when asked to offer Isaac as a “burnt offering.” (Gen. 22:2) His faith was rewarded when God intervened. Abraham pursued a strong enemy to rescued Lot’s family even though they were outnumbered. He willingly paid tithes to Melchizedek when he met Abraham returning from the victory over Lot’s enemies.

During his life, Abraham became a very wealthy man. He had great flocks, much silver and gold, and hundreds of servants. Despite his wealth, he was not materialistic, but he focused on doing God’s will. Abraham forbade idolatry within his household. Because of his faith in God and obedience to God, Abraham was described as a “friend of God.” (James 2:23) Truly, Abraham is a father figure in the Bible and is an example of faith down to our day.

God tested Abraham as to his faith while also picturing the sacrifice of His own Son. Isaac was Abraham’s loved and long-promised son through Sarah even as Jesus is God’s beloved and only begotten Son. Abraham was to offer his son in sacrifice. He had split the wood for the fire but took no animal with him for the burnt offering. Naturally, Isaac would ask his father, “Where is the burnt offering?” Abraham replied that God would provide the burnt offering. So it is, God provided Jesus as our burnt offering, just as in the account God provided a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Isaac carried the wood, picturing Jesus carrying the cross. Abraham bound Isaac and placed him on the wood. His son did not resist even though he was a young man by this time. His sacrifice was voluntary just as was Jesus’.

Abraham would have killed his son had God not sent an angel to stop him. However, God did not prevent the death of His own Son for it was necessary for man’s redemption. Abraham called the place “The-Lord-Will-Provide.” (vs. 14, New King James Version) God did provide His own Son to die on the cross.

Abraham’s faith as exercised in obedience was rewarded by God. He was promised by God’s oath that his descendants would be as the stars of heaven and as the sand of the seashore—a large number but also of a heavenly nature (stars) and of an earthly nature (sand). This oathwas a reassurance of the promise that through Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed.—Gen. 12:3

The seed pictured by Isaac is Christ Jesus. Paul writes that if we be Christ’s then we also are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. (Gal. 3:16,26-29) For those who hope to be of the heavenly nature, God’s oath is a strong encouragement. (Heb. 6:13-18) Those who have not the heavenly hope will have opportunity in the Millennium to become part of Abraham’s earthly seed. “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

When Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden for disobeying God’s Word, all of mankind, Adam’s progeny, from that moment on was cursed with sin and death. But all was not lost. God had a plan for the redemption of the human race, and the Scriptures say that he planned it even before the foundation of this world.—1 Pet. 1:20

However, during the period of sin and death, the world became very corrupt and full of sin and evilness continually. Angels came down and married women creating a hybrid race of giants. Genesis 6:6,7 says, “It repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; forit repenteth me that I have made them.” We see in verse 8, though, that a man named Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. We read that Noah and his family were saved by obeying God in building an Ark to protect them from the flood. We read in 2 Peter 3:6, the “world that then was” and every living thing was destroyed by that flood. When the flood waters receded, Noah and his family left the ark, and from this time a new age began, the Patriarchal Age.

Why was it called this? The word patriarch literally means “chief father,” or head of a family. The patriarchs were favored ones that the Lord God dealt with individually to bring about his plans and purposes. As for Noah and his family, they became the second progenitors to multiply and replenish the Earth.—Gen 9:1,19

Along with Noah, other patriachs include Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These three are recognized as the forefathers of the nation of Israel. Jacob’s death brought an end to this Patriarchal Age.

It was a very unique period of history when the Creator of this universe not only dealt with these individuals but made a covenant and an oath to Abraham to make of him a great nation (Israel), and through him and his “seed” bless all the families of the earth. Abraham’s seed would be both spiritual, “stars of heaven” or Christ and his church, and earthly, “sand of theseashore” or Israel and all mankind. (Gen. 22:18) What a wonderful Heavenly Father!

Every day the TV, radio, newspapers and the Internet remind us that we live in what the Bible calls “this present evil world” (Gal. 1:4). This world has resulted from Adam’s disobedience and the resulting penalty of “dying thou shalt die” which has condemned mankind to a lifetime of imperfection, sin, suffering and finally, death (Gen. 2:17 KJV margin). Because of Adam’s disobedience, man has become a fallen, imperfect creature driven in a large part by selfishness, greed and other unholy motivations.

The evil practiced by man rose rapidly following Adam’s disobedience until it reached a peak in the days of Noah. As a result, God destroyed all mankind except Noah and his family in the flood (Gen. 6:1-8:22). Evil then grew rapidly again until the tower of Babel where God confounded man’s language to limit his ability to band together in evil schemes (Gen. 11:1-9).

Still, since that time, evil has continued to grow as the human family has grown. The powerful continue to oppress and take advantage of the weak. Nations, tribes and religious groups continue to fight competing nations, tribes, and religious groups, all in the name of supremacy. Human history has become a saga of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man.

With the increase of knowledge associated with our Lord’s return, evil has increased greatly resulting in world wars, genocide and ethnic cleansing on a huge scale and an enormous gulf between the wealth and privilege of the rich and the poverty and despair of the countless poor (Dan. 12:4). For the past 70 years, man has possessed the potential for destroying himself and the world sits on the brink of annihilation. Jesus prophesied regarding our day, “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved” (Matt. 24:22 NASB).

God had foreseen this development of evil and has both allowed it and overruled it to teach all of His intelligent creation, both men and angels, the ugly result of sin – misery, unhappiness and destruction. God has always had evil under control as the Psalmist writes: “The wrath of man shall praise thee [God]: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain” (Psa. 76:10).

This permission of evil is only half of the lesson God intends to teach his children – “the knowledge of … evil” (Gen. 2:17). God’s plan of salvation also plans to teach mankind “the knowledge of good” through his son’s earthly kingdom. This second phase of God’s plan awaits the completion of the church, Christ’s bride, who then will be joined with her Lord and judge both men and angels (1 Cor. 6:2-3).

The intensity of the trouble today and other signs, such as the re-gathering of the nation of Israel, indicate that we are in the final days of this trouble and this present evil world (Matt. 24:30-33). The trouble will culminate in the attack of Gog and his allies upon Israel and mankind’s descent into the chaos of Armageddon (Ezek. 38,39; Rev. 16:16-21).

God will rescue Israel by defeating the hoard of Gog’s attackers through His miraculous intervention which will reveal himself both to Israel and to all mankind. The trouble

of Armageddon will bring every man’s hand against his neighbor and lead to the complete destruction of all man’s institutions – financial, religious, social and political (Zech. 14:13; 2 Pet. 3:10,11). Everything that man has created with his selfish spirit and fallen wisdom will be removed so that Christ’s kingdom can take its place.

The Apostle Paul describes this trouble saying, “‘YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN.’  This expression, ‘Yet once more,’ denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain” (Heb. 12:26,27 NASB).

Under Christ’s kingdom, Satan will be bound, the “stones” of evil influence will be removed and mankind will be taught good (Rev. 20:1-3; Isa. 62:10). In Christ’s kingdom, the Lord’s judgments will be in the earth and the people will learn righteousness (Isa. 26:9). Death and hell will give up the dead that are in them and all who have ever lived will have the opportunity to eat “from the tree of the knowledge of good” (Rev. 20:13; Gen. 2:17).

All mankind will have the opportunity to profit from that knowledge and gain everlasting life by obedience to that knowledge. “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds” (Rev. 20:12 NASB). Christ will judge mankind according to their deeds in that kingdom.

Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats reveals how that judgment will take place (Matt. 25:31-46). Those who learn the lesson of good and demonstrate that knowledge by helping one another through love, will gain everlasting life as part of the sheep class (Matt. 25:34-40). Those who do not learn the lesson of good and thus, fail to help others due to a lack of love, will be destroyed forever as part of the goat class (Matt. 25:41-45).

How thankful we should be for God’s provision to teach all mankind good through His son’s kingdom. This will give each an opportunity to learn the lesson of righteousness and thereby, gain everlasting life.

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Following Adam and Eve’s disobedience, sin abounded.  Iniquity came to the full after 1,656 years of man’s existence on the earth. “GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. … And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them” (Gen. 6:5,7).

However, one man found grace in the eyes of the Lord, Noah (Gen. 6:8).  He was a preacher of righteousness and he had three sons (2 Pet. 2:5; Gen. 6:10). God commanded Noah to build an Ark for the purpose of bringing the animals of each kind, Noah, his wife and his sons and their wives through the flood safely while the rest of the wicked perished in the flood (Gen. 6:13-14).

Prior to the flood, there had been no rain. Instead, a watery canopy encircled the earth in the upper atmosphere and caused the earth to be watered by a mist. It was this canopy that broke and thus, caused the rain and the flood of waters that covered the earth.  It was a natural phenomenon that occurred in God’s due time.  By this flood, God determined to stop the extension of evil from the face of the earth.  It rained for 40 days and nights and the flood waters came upon the earth. No flesh survived save those in the ark.

When the waters subsided, Noah opened the doors and released the animals.  A fresh start began for life to blossom again upon the earth.  What a wonderful vision of the restitution of all things.  As the waters covered the world in Noah’s day, the waters of trouble cover the earth today. After the shaking, breaking and washing away of this present evil world takes place via Armageddon, the Lord will bless His creation with a renewed earth and He will remember their sins no more.

God has promised, the earth abideth forever (Eccl. 1:4). He signified this promise in the heavens with a rainbow which reminds us of God’s promise to never destroy the earth again with a flood (Gen. 9:11-15).

Following Adam and Eve’s disobedience, man “began to multiply on the face of the earth” (Gen. 6:1). As earth’s population grew, some of the angelic “sons of God” saw that the daughters of men were beautiful.  No doubt being instructed by the great Adversary, Satan, these angels materialized on the earth. By all outward manifestation, they seemed to be human beings—men of striking appearance. It was not long before they began to take wives among the “daughters of men,” following which children were born (vs. 2).

Since the mothers of these children were human beings, and the fathers were spirit, or angelic, beings, the resulting offspring were a hybrid race. They were neither human nor angelic, and were not the creation of God. The Bible describes them as “giants in the earth; … mighty men” (vs. 4). The Hebrew word here translated giants is “Nephilim.” As a hybrid race, they were incapable of producing offspring, yet they were evidently very powerful, and capable of wreaking much havoc and evil upon the earth.

Because of the Nephilim’s evil influence upon mankind, “GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (vs. 5). As a result, God brought the “world that then was” to an end with the flood—saving only faithful Noah and his family (2 Pet. 3:6).

What happened to the hybrid Nephilim, and to the angels who materialized in an earthly form to produce them? The Nephilim were destroyed in the flood, going out of existence forever. Not being of pure Adamic stock, they could have no part in the “ransom for all” provided by the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5,6). The ransom was for Adam and his progeny—mankind. The Nephilim, however, were the progeny of angelic, spirit beings, to which the terms of the ransom do not apply.

As for the angels who materialized as humans, the Scriptures state that the “Angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, [God] has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day” of Christ’s kingdom (Jude 6 NASB). They await the final judgement of Christ and his church (1 Cor. 6:3).

Every year in December as the world celebrates Christmas, they repeat the words of Isaiah 9:6: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” While the world appreciates the promise and applies it to Jesus, they grasp neither the depth nor the enormity of what was given or what it will accomplish.

John 3:16 tells us what was given: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just as God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac (Gen. 22:1-18), God gave His only begotten Son Jesus to take Adam’s place under the penalty of death. God did not spare His only son (Rom. 8:32). Instead, He demonstrated what true, unselfish love was as John expressed it in 1 John 4:9 (NASB): “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.”

Jesus, in his pre-human existence was the only direct creation of God. Called the “Word” in John 1:1-3, he was in the beginning with God as a “master workman” using the Creator’s power and direction to create the heavens and the earth (Prov. 8:22-31 NASB). “All things came into being through Him [Jesus], and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:3 NASB). As the apostle Paul explains it, God and His son together created all things, both spiritual and terrestrial. “There is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him” (1 Cor. 8:6 NASB).

When sin entered the world and a perfect human being was required to redeem Adam and all his descendants, our Lord volunteered to be made flesh and suffer the penalty of death. “But emptied Himself [Jesus], taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:7-8 NASB). Jesus humbled himself twice, first being made flesh giving up the spiritual for the earthly and then humbled himself again, dying on the cross.

Because of his faithfulness unto death, “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11 NASB). God performed this exaltation “when He [God] raised Him [Jesus] from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:20 NASB).

Paul also speaks of this exaltation in Hebrews 5:8-10 (Phillips): “Son [Jesus] though

he was, he had to prove the meaning of obedience through all that he suffered. Then, when he had been proved the perfect Son, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who should obey him, being now recognised by God himself as High Priest ‘after the order of Melchizedek.’”

As a high priest (and king) after the order of Melchizedek, the risen Jesus has been given all power in heaven and earth (Matt. 28:18) and then fulfills through his earthly kingdom, the four titles prophetically mentioned in Isaiah 9:6. He will be a “wonderful counselor” or teacher, teaching the human family righteousness (Isa. 26:9). He will be “a light to the Gentiles; To open blind eyes and … make darkness light before them [mankind], and crooked things straight” (Isa. 42:6,7,16).  He will be a mighty God using his power to bind Satan for 1,000 years so that he can deceive the nations no more (Rev. 20:2-3), dashing the nations into pieces to establish his earthly kingdom (Psa. 2:9)  and then permitting nothing to hurt nor destroy in his earthly kingdom (Isa. 11:9). He will be an everlasting Father calling forth all of mankind from the grave (John 5:28-29) and giving everyone an opportunity to walk up the way of holiness to become righteous and receive everlasting life here upon the earth (Isa. 35:8-10; Isa. 62:10).  He will heal mankind of all their diseases (Isa. 35:5,6).  “No inhabitant will say, ‘I am sick’; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity” (Isa. 30:24).  Finally, he will become the Prince of Peace by bringing mankind back into peace with God through the blood of his cross (Eph. 2:13-17). He will speak peace to the nations and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks (Isa. 2:4).

The only begotten Son Jesus was made flesh and then gave up his human life in sacrifice so that he might re-gather the rebellious, human sons of God (Adam and his descendants) back into harmony with God. “For it was the Father’s good pleasure … through Him [Jesus] to reconcile all things to Himself [God], having made peace through the blood of His [Jesus] cross; through Him [Jesus], I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven” (Col. 1:19-20 NASB).

Genesis is a book of beginnings: the beginning of the heavens and the earth, of plant and animal life, and as in the case of our lesson, human life. We know from the Bible that there were six creative days which ended when “on the seventh day God ended his work, … and he rested” (Gen. 2:2). The creation of man occurred toward the close of the sixth creative day. In this wonderful book as we see demonstrations of God’s power and wisdom, we come to this most important event recorded in Genesis 1:26: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, … and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

The creation account continues in Genesis 2:7, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” In the marginal translation of Genesis 1:30, the expression “living soul,” is applied to the lower forms of earthly creatures. The expression does not mean an immortal soul, but simply means a living creature. We know that man was a perfect creation of God (1 Cor. 15:45,47). God also knew that it was “not good that the man should be alone” (Gen. 2:18). So God created Eve to be Adam’s “help meet” (Gen. 2:20). God’s method of accomplishing this was unique.  He used a portion of Adam’s own body (rib) to form Eve. This was done for the special purpose of propagating of the human race, and for companionship (Gen. 2:21-24).

Since we know that everything that God created was perfect, it follows that he would place “our first parents” in a perfect home. “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden: and there he put the man whom he had formed” (Gen. 2:8).  God desired that they would  “multiply, and fill the earth” (Gen. 1:28 NASB). In these words we can see that although evil was permitted to come upon the human family for a time, one day all evil will be removed and mankind will fill the earth. Then, God’s creation, which He originally pronounced as being good when first created, would be brought back to perfection (Isa. 35:1-10). For God has promised, “the earth abideth forever” (Eccl. 1:4; Psa. 104:5) and “he [God] created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited” (Isa. 45:18).

In Genesis 3:21, we are told the Lord God made for Adam and Eve coats of skin. Why did God make them coats of skin since they had already (vs. 7) made themselves garments from fig leaves? Adam and Eve were created perfect, by God, with the ability to live forever.  He put them in the Garden of Eden, with perfect food and they had the ability to discern between right and wrong.  However, God commanded them not to eat the fruit of one particular tree in the Garden, and if they disobeyed, death would be the penalty (Gen. 2:17).

One day Satan convinced Eve by telling her the first lie that she would not die, but become wiser, if she ate of that tree.  After taking a bite of the forbidden fruit, she gave it to Adam, and, he also ate of it, willingly disobeying God’s command (1 Tim. 2:14).    Immediately, their eyes were opened, and they realized that they were naked.

They were used to communion and fellowship with God in the “cool of the day.”  What were they to do now?  With fear and shame, they dreaded to meet God.  Their righteous position with God began to decline, so they decided to sew fig-leaf garments to maintain virtue and self-respect before their Creator.  In the “cool of the day,” the voice of God called to them, and they hid themselves among the trees — the natural impulse of guilt.

In place of the fig-leaf garments, God made them “coats of skin,” which required the shedding of blood and death. This suggested that a future covering for man’s guilt would provided by the death of a Redeemer.  God’s law of Justice required a perfect human man to redeem Adam (Ex. 21:23).  When Adam transgressed God’s command, he lost his perfection, and became a sinner. Thus, all of  Adam’s descendants, who were born after the fall, were born in sin (Psa. 51:5) and because of their imperfection, none of them could redeem Adam (Psa. 49:7).

Therefore, God so loved the human family, that He gave His only begotten son to redeem Adam and all mankind (John 3:16; 1 Cor. 15:21-22).   Jesus was born a perfect human being, (Matt. 3:17) and in due time, gave himself a ransom, and died for all mankind (1 Tim 2:5,6; 1 Cor. 15:3; Eph. 1:7).

In Genesis 3:21, we are told the Lord God made for Adam and Eve coats of skin. Why did God make them coats of skin since they had already (vs. 7) made themselves garments from fig leaves? Adam and Eve were created perfect, by God, with the ability to live forever.  He put them in the Garden of Eden, with perfect food and they had the ability to discern between right and wrong.  However, God commanded them not to eat the fruit of one particular tree in the Garden, and if they disobeyed, death would be the penalty (Gen. 2:17).

One day Satan convinced Eve by telling her the first lie that she would not die, but become wiser, if she ate of that tree.  After taking a bite of the forbidden fruit, she gave it to Adam, and, he also ate of it, willingly disobeying God’s command (1 Tim. 2:14).    Immediately, their eyes were opened, and they realized that they were naked.

They were used to communion and fellowship with God in the “cool of the day.”  What were they to do now?  With fear and shame, they dreaded to meet God.  Their righteous position with God began to decline, so they decided to sew fig-leaf garments to maintain virtue and self-respect before their Creator.  In the “cool of the day,” the voice of God called to them, and they hid themselves among the trees — the natural impulse of guilt.

In place of the fig-leaf garments, God made them “coats of skin,” which required the shedding of blood and death. This suggested that a future covering for man’s guilt would provided by the death of a Redeemer.  God’s law of Justice required a perfect human man to redeem Adam (Ex. 21:23).  When Adam transgressed God’s command, he lost his perfection, and became a sinner. Thus, all of  Adam’s descendants, who were born after the fall, were born in sin (Psa. 51:5) and because of their imperfection, none of them could redeem Adam (Psa. 49:7).

Therefore, God so loved the human family, that He gave His only begotten son to redeem Adam and all mankind (John 3:16; 1 Cor. 15:21-22).   Jesus was born a perfect human being, (Matt. 3:17) and in due time, gave himself a ransom, and died for all mankind (1 Tim 2:5,6; 1 Cor. 15:3; Eph. 1:7).