God created Adam and Eve on the sixth day of the creation process. They disobeyed God. They felt guilty, ashamed and tried to cover themselves with the garment of fig leaves (Genesis 3:7). This covering of fig-leaves was man’s first attempt at ‘covering over’ the effects of sin. The problem is that these things do not produce a change of heart. God, out of his love planned to give them more substantial covering to indicate that the guilt and the alienation from God was greater than they actually realized. So, God killed an animal and provided a garment of its skin to cover them (Genesis 3:21). This was the sign of covering the sin that God himself was pleased with. To cover the sin, something to be paid off. Actually, the sin of Adam and Eve cost their lives, but out of Love, God substituted the life of an animal and covered the sin from the wrath. My opinion is that this act made them to realize the power of sin. Adam and Eve might have understood that a sacrifice of an animal could cover their sin from God's wrath.
Cain and Abel
Cain and Abel were born to Adam and Eve. In a course of time Cain and Abel brought offerings to God. Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil and Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. God looked with favor on Abel's offering but Cain's offering (Genesis 4: 3-5).
From the above incident, we can understand Abel gave an animal sacrifice, which pleased God than the normal sacrifice (refer to Hebrews 11:4). Actually Cain did want to please God but he was not choosing the best for God which really pleased Him. Abel understood that Sacrifice of an animal pleased God.
Noah's sacrifice
Noah was the 10th generation including Adam. At that time, the sons of God who were fallen angels (Job 1:6, 2:1 and 38:7, Mark 16:5, Genesis 10:1-5), married daughters of men and their children were the giants in the world (Genesis 6: 1-4). The people were so wicked and evil. So, God decided to destroy the people by water. He chose Noah to survive with his family as he was the only righteous man in the eyes of God (Genesis 6: 8,9). Noah survived the flood with his family. After that he gave sacrifice to God (Genesis 8: 20,21) which pleased God.
Abraham's sacrifice
Abraham was the 20th generation including Adam. Abraham lived righteously in the eyes of God. He gave God the sacrifices (Genesis 13:18, 22: 3). God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Issac. By faith Abraham obeyed without saying a word. When he reached to kill his son to sacrifice, God stopped and he appreciated for his faith and obedience. Abraham saw a ram caught by its thorns there. He sacrificed that animal instead of Issac (Genesis 22:13). This remains the great incident in history of the Bible. This is considered that the ram died in the place of Issac just as Christ Jesus died for us.
Issac's sacrifice
Issac, son of Abraham gave sacrifice and worshiped God (Genesis 31: 54)
Jacob's sacrifice
Jacob, who was also called as Israel, the son of Issac gave sacrifices and worshiped God (Genesis 46: 1)
Pass Over
In Joseph's (Son of Jacob) period, the people of Israel went to Egypt and lived. After some generations, the new Pharaoh who did not know about Joseph, came to power. He oppressed Israel with forced labor. He made the life of Israel bitter with hard labor and used them ruthlessly. He ordered to kill the boy babies of Israel (Exodus 1: 1 - 6). Now Moses was born and he grew in Pharaoh's palace. When he was 40, he ran away from Egypt and stayed in the desert for 40 years. After that God sent him to the Pharaoh to ask him to deliver the people (Exodus ch 2 - 4). Pharaoh refused. So God sent 9 plagues to Egypt like Plagues of blood (Exodus 7: 14-22), plague of frogs (Exodus 8:1 – 6), plague of gnats (Exodus 8: 16 – 19), plague of flies (Exodus 8: 20 – 30), plague on live-stocks (Exodus 9: 1 – 7), plague of boils (Exodus 9: 8 – 12), plague of hail (Exodus 9: 22 – 26), plague of locusts (Exodus 10: 13 – 15), plague of darkness (Exodus 10: 21-23), God hardened pharaoh' s heart. He did not let the people of Israel go (Exodus 11:10).
God told that he is gong to send the plague on the first born. He asked the people to take lamb that is one year old male and without no defect for his family, slaughter it in twilight and take its blood and put it on the sides and tops of door-frames of the houses. Israel did the same (Exodus 12: 1 – 28). When the Angel of destruction came to the houses of Israels, he saw the blood of lamb. He passed over those houses without killing the first born. But for the Egyptians there was a death in all the houses. Now Pharaoh let the people go.
The very reason that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh to make the people understand that no plague could deliver them from that bondage. Only the sacrifice of a little lamb and its blood could deliver them from their bondage. Now people understood the very meaning, power and importance of the sacrifice.
Sacrifice as day-to-day custom in an Israelite's life
After the Israel delivered they were led by Moses to Canaan. In Mount Sinai, God gave the commandments to the people (Exodus 20 – 23). The sacrifices had become day-today-life to the people of Israel. They started following those commandments from then onwards. They became a continuous day-to-day activity in their lives. Now every Israelite understood the significance of sacrifice in his/her life. A substitution of a lamb delivered them from bondage.
Jesus, the Sacrificial Lamb
After so many years, when the period of Augustus Caesar, in new testament era, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Judea. Jesus was the sacrificial lamb for all the human kind (John 1: 29, 1:36, Acts 8:32, 1 Corinthians 5:7, 1 Peter 1: 19, Revelation 5:1,6,8,12,13, Revelation 6:1,3,5,7,16, Revelation 7:9,10,15,17, Revelation 12:11, Revelation 13: 8,11, Revelation 14:1,4,10, Revelation 15:3, Revelation 17:14, Revelation 19:7,9, Revelation 21:9,14,22,23,27, Revelation 22:1,3).
Revelation 13:8 says “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.” God has planned our salvation from the creation of the world. Here I gave you a simple overview to understand how God established the salvation process. Hebrews chapter 11 says that Jesus was the substitution for us. Because of his death we live.
What is Salvation?
As Ephesians 2:8,9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Grace is the precious given to the undeserved. We don't deserve that Jesus was born as a human, suffered and died on the cross in our places as a substitute. Faith is believing that Jesus Christ is Lord and only Savior and He died on the cross as a sacrifice to substitute us so that we may be forgiven. We need to believe that by accepting His Lordship in our lives, we become His children and we will live with him forever and ever. Accepting Lordship is submitting ourselves as slaves to God and acknowledging Him as the ruler of our lives. Since grace has been delivered already, our part is to accept Jesus Christ as the Lord and the Savior of our lives.
Our good deeds will never save us. If they could, there would be no need for Jesus to establish this salvation process and give Himself to taste the death. But it is our duty to show our light to the world through our good deeds (James 2: 14 - 26).
I thank Mr. Sam K. John for the insight given in the Bible Seminar, held in Kanniyakumari.
