Have You Been Using Fig Leaves?

by Rev. Eric McGrath

    The story of the fall in the Garden of Eden is pretty well known by most people. Most people know how Satan tempted Eve and she and Adam sinned by disobeying God.

    There is one little portion of the story that is often overlooked and it is unfortunate because it is really very important.

    Genesis 3:8-21, we read of how Adam and Eve hid from God initially, but then later appeared before God when He called for them. They had sewn fig leaves together to try make themselves acceptable before God.

    In the end, God provided them with coats of skin for them to wear.

    Now what is the significance of these verses? This is very important because it sets a standard that is consistent all the way through the Bible. The leaves sewn together were Adam and Eve's attempt to appear acceptable before God - in other words to appear righteous before God. They thought they could do something to be made acceptable in God's sight.

    But God established the principle that is carried all the way through the Bible at this point. That principle is this "Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin". Man tried to make himself acceptable with fig leaves, but they needed to be made acceptable through the provision that God gave them, which involved the shedding of blood - the animal's blood in this case.

    In verse 15 of Genesis 3, we are first introduced to the fact that God was going to provide a Saviour through the seed of the woman - that was the first reference to Jesus Christ. The big word for this is protoevangelium. Jesus Christ would come to earth and shed His blood and he would once and for all be the sacrifice for man's sin. Only through personal and explicit faith in Jesus Christ as our Saviour, will we find right standing or righteousness before God.

    And yet today men still try and appear acceptable to God by putting together their fig leaves. They try through the fig leaves of being religious - fig leaves of being moral - fig leaves of being a good person - fig leaves of "church-ianity" - fig leaves of denominationalism, and so on. All of these amount to fig leaves of self-righteousness.

    It is interesting that in Isaiah 64:6, God says that all of these "fig leaves" that we can produce, thinking they will be found acceptable with God - are seen only as "dirty rags" by God.

    And all they end of doing is seeking to cover sinful hearts - hearts, like Adam and Eve's which would not and will not submit to and be obedient to God's will.

    "Garments of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10) can only be provided by God Himself, just as He provided coats of skins for Adam and Eve.

    And this He has accomplished through Jesus Christ and His death at Calvary, where He shed His blood for us.

    What kinds of "fig leaves" are you sewing together to cover your sinful heart?

    Why not accept the "clothing of righteousness" that God makes available to you in His Son the Lord Jesus Christ?

    "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23).

    Our "fig leaves" fall short of the righteousness required by God. Jesus Christ is the only sufficient "skin" we can wear. When we accept Him as our Saviour, His righteousness is transferred to us and then we are found acceptable in God's sight.

    Are you accepted in the beloved, my friend? You can be with certainty. 

Thoughts for Today
 "Our failure is that preachers ignore the Cross, and veil Christ with sapless sermons and superfine language." - D. L. Moody

"O Lord, save us from 'sapless sermons and superfine language,' and help us to focus only on Christ, and Him crucified!" - Rocky Henriques