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1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Just one scroll through a news app and we are bombarded with current accounts of sin and suffering.
With all the different types of problems comes all the different types of attempts at solving those problems.
Some of our human efforts might bring temporary relief, but at the core we are still a broken people in need of something bigger than ourselves to save us.
I’m reminded of that “Christian-ese” joke where we all just blame Adam and Eve for ushering death and destruction into the world through their disobedience. (See Romans 5:12) When we read about the fall of man in Genesis 3, we see how everything was perfect and beautiful and then once Adam and Eve sinned, immediately following was relational conflict, hatred, discrimination, pain, pride, and a whole lot of other troubles that look too familiar to us today.
Their response is similar to ours as well. Instead of trusting God with their brokenness, they deflected responsibility and hid themselves with fig leaves. It’s a seemingly bleak story. But then comes Genesis 3:21! A verse that sheds hope like a bright light in the midst of such a dark passage. A verse that foreshadows Jesus Christ- the eternal solution to our current problems! Genesis 3:21 says “And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” Friend, let us pause and dwell on the beautiful concept unfolding in this verse. God Himself, in an act of mercy, grace, and love initiates a bloodshed sacrifice of an innocent animal in order to cover the sins of humanity- a humanity who has just rebelled and deserves death. God doesn’t just hide their problems with plants; He covers their problems with blood. Oh friend, I pray this verse is speaking to your heart as much as it is mine. The gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of the cross is being foreshadowed here beautifully right when humanity least deserves it. Nothing can stop God’s good redemptive plan with his solution to our problems!
God, thank you for the power of the cross. Thank you for the trustworthy gospel that redeems us from our sin, suffering, and brokenness.
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