Limits of human effort

The power of words

As Adam and Eve ate the fruits of knowledge of good and evil, their eyes were opened and they knew they were naked. So they spelled fig leaves together to make their waist cover. It is written in the Bible like this.

In this way, their eyes were opened, so they knew they were naked. So they spelled fig leaves together to make their waist cover. (Genesis 3: 7)

This is the figure of a sinner who tries to establish his own righteousness through human efforts. They cannot stand before God by human action (human effort). The appearance of the two is quite different from the previous state , in which the man and his wife were both naked, but did not feel embarrassed with each other(Genesis 2:25).

“The Fall of Man ” (Prado Museum) / by Titian Vecellio, c. 1550　　

After this, God made a leather garment for them and put them on. The Lord God made and put on leather garments for Adam and his wife(Genesis 3:21). Animal sacrifice is required to make a leather garment. Animal blood was shed. Here is the sacrifice as a way for humans to approach God, and the cross and blood of Jesus Christ. Our human efforts cannot approach or accept God. But through the cross and blood of Jesus, we can approach and be accepted by God.

Adam and Eve have lost the temptation of the devil. This sin has brought punishment and death to all mankind. That is why, just as sin entered the world by just one person (Adam) , death by sin, and thus death spread to all mankind-because all mankind sinned. (Romans 5:12). This has something to do with us. We were born with sin as descendants of Adam (original sin).

But God sent Jesus to this earth to save us humans. That is Christmas. The God, Jesus Christ, was born as a human baby (incarnation). The Word (Jesus Christ) became a man and lived among us (John 1:14).

God loves us humanity. God loved the world so much that he gave him his only son (Jesus Christ) . That is because those who believe in the Son (Jesus Christ) will not perish alone and will have eternal life. God sent the Son to the world not to judge the world, but to save the world by the Son. (John 3: 16,17)

However, grace has some differences from the case of violation. If many people died due to the violation of one person (Adam) , more than that, the grace of God and the gift of the grace of one person, Jesus Christ, are abundant in many people. Also, the gift is different from the case of one person who has sinned. In the case of judgment, we were convicted of one violation, but in the case of grace, many violations are justified. If , by violation of one person (Adam) , death came to be dominated by one person, even more so, those who are rich in the gift of grace and righteousness will live by one Jesus Christ. There is and dominates. This is why the act of righteousness of one person (Jesus Christ) justifies and gives life to all , just as the breach of one person (Adam) condemned everyone. That is, just as the disobedience of just one person (Adam) made many sinners, the obedience of one person (Jesus Christ) made many righteous. The law came in because of the increasing number of violations. However, where the sins increased, grace was also abundant. It is for grace to rule by the gift of righteousness by our Lord Jesus Christ and to have eternal life, just as sin ruled by death.(Romans 5: 15-21)

Adam and Eve tried to hide their shame with fig leaves by human effort, but the leaves could easily be blown away by strong winds. There are limits to human effort. That is why God prepared a leather garment for Adam and Eve. This is just due to the grace of God.