When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Genesis 3:6
The Story
The first humans, Adam and Eve, lived in the beautiful garden that God created for them. It was a wonderful place where they could live in partnership with the one who created them. God told them that they could eat from any tree in the garden, including the tree of life, but he warned them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because if they did, they would die [1].
One day, while passing by the tree, a snake spoke to them and told them that they would be like God if they ate the tree’s fruit. They ate the fruit and gained the knowledge of good and evil, but then they felt something they had never felt before: guilt [2]. Naked and exposed, they hide from God, but God knew what had happened. A separation formed between them—the partnership broken. God explained that they must leave the garden and never eat from the tree of life again. But God did not leave them naked and alone. He created coverings for them using animal skins, and when they prayed to him, they knew that he was there [3].
The Significance
Just as the skin of the sacrificed animals is a covering for physical nakedness, the blood of a sacrificed animal represented a covering for spiritual sin, a covering that would be made perfect in Jesus’ sacrifice. Where the first Adam failed, the second Adam, Jesus, would not only succeed but overcome death itself to free humanity from the bondage of sin [4].
[1] Genesis 2:8-9, 15-17; [2] Genesis 3:1-7; [3] Genesis 3:8-11, 21-23; [4] 1 Corinthians 15:45–49