Lessons That Adam And Eve Learned
#1 They learned that one single sin is big enough to banish and separate them away from God. They ate the forbidden fruit and they were out. God is that holy. "Strike one! You're out!"
And yet many today think that they can go to heaven and be with God forever if somehow they are able to manage to keep their sins at a minimum level. They think that if their good deeds outweigh their bad ones, they can be admitted into heaven.
#2 They learned that the violation of a seemingly minor command is enough to banish them away from God's presence.
And yet many people think that if they are able to avoid the big sins with only the minor sins blotting their record, they are okay and fine with God. They can go to Him when they die.
To them, only the commission of big spiritual crimes, make them a spiritual criminal before God. It seems that, to them, God has a lower standard than that of the laws of our land. Here on earth, one crime (big or small) is enough to make you a criminal worthy to be punished.
#3 They learned that their efforts was not sufficient to cover and hide the consequences of their sin.
When they fell into sin, they realized that they were naked. And so, guilt, fear and shame, made them sew fig leaves for a covering and they hid themselves from God's presence. But God was still able to detect and see their guilt. Their efforts to cover and hide their guilt and sin were to no avail.
It is still the same with many people today. Out of guilt, fear and shame, they cover themselves and their sins with good works, philanthrophy, religiosity etc.
#4 They learned that the only sufficient covering to cover and hide the consequences of sin was the covering which God Himself provided for them.
God replaced their fig leaves of their own making. "...the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them." Gen 3:21 Blood had to be shed in order to procure "garments of skins" for them. The life of an animal (I believe it was a lamb) had to be sacrificed.
That sacrificed lamb was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins. We are guilty before God. We have sinned against Him one sin too many. We can never do anything to cover and take away our sins.
Our only hope is the Lamb of God (the Lord Jesus Christ) who takes away the sin of the world.
