Origins: The Beginning (Genesis 1–11)Sample

By Danny Saavedra

“The Lord God made clothing out of skins for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.” Genesis 3:21 (HCSB)

“A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy's shoulders to let him know that the world hadn't ended.” This powerful line during the climax of The Dark Knight Rises was Batman’s way of letting Commissioner Gordon know that he was Bruce Wayne. Harkening back to a scene in Batman Begins, the first film of the series, we remember the kindness and compassion of a young Jim Gordon as he sees a distraught, scared boy who had just lost everything he held dear. 

Have you ever put yourself in the shoes of Adam and Eve after the fall? Before I started writing this devotional, I never had. I usually just read the story, intellectually pondered the implications of Adam and Eve’s transgressions, and then moved straight into the story of Cain and Abel. I never once stopped to consider what Adam and Eve felt after receiving the consequences for their disobedience. I never considered what they were feeling and going through. 

But as I thought about it, all I could think of was that feeling you get when you know you’ve disappointed your parents, that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you let your spouse or children down, when you betray the trust of a friend. It’s a horrible feeling. Now imagine how it would feel if you had to look at God Himself, in the eyes, after betraying His trust and disobeying Him. Imagine losing everything you once knew, your entire way of life and your deep, personal, spiritual relationship with the Lord.

But look at the character of our God. Look at the mercy, compassion, and grace of the Lord to cover the shame and pain of His children: to comfort them in their lowest moment, to put a proverbial coat around their shoulders to let them know that the world hadn't ended. Matthew Poole points out that God did it in part “to show his care even of fallen man, and to encourage his hopes of God’s mercy through the blessed Seed, and thereby to invite him to repentance.” 

This was also the first instance of sacrifice for the covering of one’s shame;  a foreshadow of a greater sacrifice to come when the Son of God Himself would step in to save His beloved creation, by offering Himself as a worthy and ultimate sacrifice to cover every sin from Adam to the end of time. 

DIG: What does this verse show you about the character of God?

DISCOVER: Have you ever considered what the transition from perfection and paradise to a fallen world was like for Adam and Eve? What do you think they felt? Do you think they carried the weight of their actions until they died or did the Lord’s mercy and grace lift the burden from their shoulders?

DO: Consider your own life for a bit today. How would you feel if every time you sinned you had to stand in front of God and look Him in the eyes to confess? But as you ponder that, remember and praise the Lord that Jesus fashioned a coat of mercy and grace for you to bring you freedom, joy, peace, purpose, redemption, and restoration.