Why Is My Life Such A Mess? Series

Look at the next sign of grace – verse 21: “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” God killed two animals to cover up the guilt, shame, and sin of Adam and Eve. Life had to be killed for them to be covered. GOD SUPPLIES A PROVISION FOR OUR SIN SO WE CAN LIVE IN GRACE. While we can cover our bodies we can never cover our souls. The Old Testament repeatedly makes it very clear that for there to be forgiveness, cleansing blood must be shed and life sacrificed. When someone sinned, he was required to bring a lamb without blemish to the priest at the temple. They would then perform a ritual, during which the blood of the lamb was sprinkled on the altar to make up for – atone for – his sin.

Jesus Christ was the sacrifice – the Lamb – who shed his blood so we can be cleansed. John the Baptist, who had been preaching to prepare people for the coming of Jesus, saw Jesus walking towards him, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Why Jesus? Why not Muhammad or Buddha? Paul wrote (2 Cor. 5:21): “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” It’s Jesus’ personal mission to protect his flock from the advancing enemy of sin.

So Jesus clothes us – He protects us – He covers us. I understand that if you go over to Scotland, or anywhere there are lots of sheep, sooner or later you're going to see a very unusual sight. You'll see a little lamb running around the field, and you'll notice this lamb has what looks like an extra fleece tied around its back. In fact, you'll see there are little holes in the fleece for its four legs and usually a hole for its head. If you see a little lamb like that, it means its mother has died. And without the protection and nourishment of a mother, any orphaned lamb will die. If you take the orphaned lamb and try to introduce it to another mother, the new mother will butt it away. She won't recognize the lamb's scent and will know the new baby is not one of her own lambs. But thankfully, most flocks are large enough that there is a ewe that has recently lost a lamb. The shepherd will skin the dead lamb and make its fleece into a covering for the orphaned lamb, then he'll take the orphaned lamb to the mother whose baby just died. Now, when she sniffs the orphaned lamb, she will smell the fleece of her own lamb. Instead of butting the lamb away, she will accept it as one of her own. In a similar way, we have become acceptable to God by being clothed with the blood – the forgiveness – of Christ. JESUS PROTECTS US – HE COVERS US.

Peter wrote (1 Pt. 3:18), “Christ…never sinned, but he died for sinners that he might bring us safely home to God.” Sin can touch us, but not claim us. It can detour us but not keep us from home. As David wrote (Ps. 32:1-2 NLT): “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!”