From the Garden of Eden to the Garden of Gethsemane

04/01/24 – 04/09/24

God of Grace

By Michael Youssef, Ph D.  04/08/24

Today we are going to consider the God of grace and see how He dealt with Adam and Eve’s sin and rebellion.

First, Adam and Eve did not immediately die when they sinned in the Garden of Eden. Justice said they must die. God’s grace came and said, “Yes, spiritually they will die, but physically I’m going to spare them.” That’s what the grace of God does. God said, “The day you eat from the tree, that day you will die.” That’s justice. If you break the law, you go to prison; that’s justice. But grace comes in and says, “I will give you time to repent. Let grace work one more time.”

Second, the God of grace promised Adam and Eve a Redeemer. Why? To undo Satan’s deception. Genesis 3:15 says, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Here is the first announcement of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thousands of years passed before the promise of Genesis 3:15 was fulfilled: The angel said to Joseph, “[Y]ou are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). But God always fulfills His promises, no matter how long it takes.

Third, the God of grace saved our first parents and demonstrated for us the cost of sin. Genesis 3:21 says, “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” Notice the sequence here. After they believed in God, the Lord made garments of skin, and He clothed them with those garments. To do that, Adam and Eve had to witness the first slaying of an innocent animal, the first shedding of blood in the history of creation, which was a foreshadowing of the sacrificial system to come and the ultimate sacrifice that would be paid by the divine, spotless Lamb—our Redeemer.

Prayer: Lord, thank You for being a God of grace. Thank You that the grace that You showed to Adam and Eve is the same grace that You show to us today. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21).