Fig Leaves versus Coats of Skins (1)

After Adam sinned, he immediately employed a way and a method
to save himself: He used fig leaves to sew himself an apron.
The fig leaves were grown from the ground, and they were the
result of Adam and Eve's dressing and keeping of the garden
of Eden. In other words, they tried to use what they produced
themselves to cover their shame. Man realized before God that
he had fallen and sinned, so he quickly devised ways to
remedy the situation. The first act of man after his fall was
to improve his behavior.
When we first believed in the Lord, we did not realize the
depth and extent of man's works. We thought they just stemmed
from man's wish to do good to save himself. Actually, man's
work implies that, after his fall, he wanted to satisfy God
with the best that he could produce with his own effort. He
realized that he was naked, that he was shameful, and that he
was not acceptable before God. Hence, he devised a way to
cover himself. He wanted to do good to satisfy God's heart.
While man was struggling with his own ways, God gave him a
revelation by making coats of skin to clothe them. This
signified that not only did the redemption of man require
blood and the death of another but also that man's own works
could not cover his shame before God or satisfy God's heart.
Since man has sinned, there is only one way of obtaining
salvation, and that is through the cross and through death. contd/- tommorow.