Last week we left off with Adma an Eve sinning and being pushed out of the garden of Eden. Their sin caused their relationship with God to be greatly affected. Notice, it was Adam and Eve who hid from God. God was looking for them and they hid. They were ashamed of themselves, that’s why they made clothing out of leaves.

Genesis 2  (16) And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: (17) but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

  We will need to be clear about this death. We all know about the "physical death” which we will all experience, but there is a spiritual death also. That is being separated from God. This is what happened to Adam and Eve. They did not die physically, but spiritually they did. Because now there is a spiritual death involved due to sin, there must be some way to be able to get back into God’s presence. I am glad you asked. There is still another death that is going to be required. Something will have to die and shed its blood to atone for the sin. There will need to be a sacrifice!

Genesis 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

 God Himself sacrificed one of the animals to make clothes for Adam and Eve to cover themselves for their wrongdoing. But wait, you ask, why did the animal have to be sacrificed, what did it do to deserve this? Great question. The animal had absolutely nothing to do with the situation. That is why it would be the perfect sacrifice, taking something that did not deserve anything to be the atonement for sin. You can ask simply, why is not a "I forgive you” enough. Words often do not convey the proper meaning or even the seriousness of the situation to the person they are being told to. But to now take something innocent and slay it for your faults, that will drive the point home. I know this is probably not the best example, but look at people who take hostages, that hostage is merely an innocent bystander, and we always have compassion for that hostage because they had absolutely nothing to do with the situation. We can conclude that our sin now causes us to have a sacrificial mediator to bring us back into our relationship with God.

Genesis 6  (5) And 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. (6) And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. (7) 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. (8) But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

Genesis 6   (11) The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. (12) And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. The Ark (13) And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

  We are not too far off from the beginning of creation and already God is displeased with what mankind has done. Violence and corruption took over. SIN! Everything and everyone would be sacrificed to save a few from all this sin. Noah and his family would be the only living people left with the animals they took. The people of the Earth were no longer striving a relationship with God. Could we say that maybe God went to extremes? Possibly yes, or should we look at how serious and important it is to have a relationship with God.

Genesis 8  (20) And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. (21) And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart,   I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. (22) While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

 After being saved by God during the flood, afterwards Noah himself offers up a sacrifice to the Lord. Notice the response Noah gets, God showing His compassion and love and understanding. That is what relationships do, they build understanding, trust. In Genesis 6:5-8 the Bible tell us that that through out all of Earth’s wickedness, Noah had found grace with God. Noah had and active relationship with God. God found Noah worthy to not be separated from Him. Think of the message that sent to Noah, you and your family will be spared, but everyone else will perish. This is a great example of Romans 6:23. Those people were going to die, both physically and spiritually, because of their sin. This is so profound to understand the importance to having a relationship with God, to under be under His protection, for Him to find grace in you. Wow, we are on this journey of salvation and from the very beginning we are finding out the importance of having a relationship with God. Not just the merely, "how do I get to heaven”? We should never even be asking that question but focusing on our relationship with God. Ponder this study this week, seek out your relationship with God, talk to Him, fellowship with Him. We will continue next week.