Two Coverings for Sin: A Reflection on Genesis 3 & Psalm 32

Two Coverings…

Upon eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, “the eyes of [Adam and Eve] were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.”[1] These loincloths, however, did not sufficiently cover their nakedness; therefore, “the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”[2] And so begins the history of redemption. There is one Law of God to which one is either obedient or disobedient. Prior to the Fall man did not need to have his nakedness covered. However, after the Fall man knows that he must cover his nakedness. And it is at this point that we see that there are only two coverings for sin that Scripture speaks of: (a.)the covering for sin sewn together by man in his attempt to cover his own nakedness (which God rejects), and (b.)the covering for sin made by God Himself for His people, to clothe their nakedness, the covering of skin with which He is well pleased. There is no mixture of fabrics in Genesis 3; rather, there is a stark contrast that reveals many things about the condition of fallen man.

Firstly, we note that fallen man did not kill an animal, skin it, and create for himself a coat of skin. Instead, man goes to the plants and makes his clothing out of their leaves. Why is this significant? Because, to put it very plainly, man’s self-created covering for sin does not involve the shedding of blood. And this reveals that man’s conception of his own sinning, as deserving death, is found to be lacking. Adam is aware of the commandment, as well as the consequences; yet, he does not acknowledge the rightful penalty for his rebellion. For if he did, then he would have wanted to remit these sins by the shedding of blood. And this reveals that man’s covering for sin is not only rooted in man’s high view of himself, and in his low-view of God’s Law, it cannot cover his sins in a manner that is pleasing to God. Secondly, we must note that man’s self-created covering for sin is derived from his works, for it is written: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”[3] These works, moreover, were done in obedience to God’s Law, for it is written: “God said to them, ‘fill the earth and subdue it.’”[4] Thirdly, the covering for sin made by God is the fruit of sacrifice, death, judgment and yet, because it is freely given it is the fruit of love, mercy, and grace.

This foundational passage of Scripture is making a distinction between two coverings for sin. The first covering is made by man and, therefore, results from a faulty understanding of the depth of sin, does not remit sins (for there is no bloodshed therein), and is based upon one’s good works (i.e. one’s obedience to the Law); the second covering for sins, however, is made by God, who mercifully refrains from destroying those whom He has purposed to save via the death of another whose perfect skin is to cover man’s nakedness. Here we have the Law in Adam’s fig leaves and the Gospel in our Lord’s coats of skin. Here we have the self-covering of one’s sins and the covering of one’s sins by God our Savior. We have the false gospel of justification by works contrasted against the true Gospel of Justification by the freely imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ who was given for our sins. This is perhaps what David has in mind, one could reasonably conjecture, when he writes about the blessed man whose sins have been forgiven, whose transgressions have been covered by the Lord. This covering given by God is contrasted against David’s self-covering.[5] The covering for sin that comes by the Law stands in antithetical contrast to the covering for sin that comes by faith alone. In other words, there is no mixture of faith and works, or of God’s work and man’s work.

Salvation is by faith alone.

-h.

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[1] Gen 3:7

[2] Gen 3:21

[3] Gen 2:15

[4] Cf. Gen 1:28

[5] Cf. Ps 32:1 & 5

Works Righteousness Vs. The Righteousness that Comes by Faith Alone

[Read Genesis 4:1-15]

“But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.

– Galatians 4:29

The Elder and the Younger

If there is a pattern that is prominent in Scripture, it is the theme of the rejection of the elder brother and the election of the younger brother. We see this first in Genesis 4:1-15, where Cain, the firstborn and legal heir to his father’s inheritance, is rejected by the Lord, and Abel, the younger son, is accepted by the Lord. The pattern also shows up in the Lord’s rejection of Ishmael and His election of Isaac, the rejection of Esau and the election of Jacob, the rejection of the first generation of Israelites and the election of the younger generation of Israelites to enter into the Promised Land (cf. Numbers 13-14, particularly, Nu 14:26-35), etc.

So what is this significant of? From my reading of Scripture, the elder is the one who thinks he is entitled to whatever blessing is simply given to the younger by grace alone. It is significant, I think, of whom the Lord chooses for salvation: The unworthy, detestable, wicked, vile, unskilled, faultering, foolish, imperfect, and unfaithful of men. These men are no different from their elders – it is only grace that distinguishes them, sets them apart and shows them their wickedness before God, His pristine grace, their pardon, and their eternal indebtedness to Him who clears the wicked by imputing to them the righteousness of Another, namely Jesus Christ the Righteous.

Therefore, we can see that New Testament writers like Paul weren’t reading into the Old Testament; they were properly handling God’s Word. It is the unregenerate who read the Old Testament and see nothing but LAW, LAW, LAW, and never encounter an ounce of sheer, undeserved grace. And he would be right in seeing the Law as prominent, for the Law was a tutor to lead us to Christ, and all the Scriptures point to Him; however, what distinguishes a Christian from a dead legalist is this: The Christian sees the Law and the Gospel. The man who is dead in his sins and transgressions cannot see both, for he is a moralist who believes that conformity is equivalent to righteousness. He is not the recipient of God’s amazing grace, and, therefore, he has no understanding of God’s grace.

He is the elder brother who, like Cain, desires to stand before God without the shedding of another’s innocent blood, standing with his rotting fruit in his hands and saying: I deserve your acceptance, Lord. And this is where it gets interesting. You see, the legalist stands before God with his dead works in his hands demanding God’s favor from Him. But he is rejected. So he kills the righteous, out of envy and spite, desiring to suppress the righteous who serve as evidence of his own internal wretchedness and his being rejected by the God whom he wishes to impress. Is this not what Paul the apostle writes about when he says that “false brethren [were] secretly brought in (who because of our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage)…” (Gal 2:4)? Indeed, it is exactly the same scenario in Genesis 4:1-15, and up to our present day.

But we who believe, who do not seek to oppress the free children of the Jerusalem which is from above (cf. Gal 4:21-28), we are the younger brother. We, like Abel, stand before God presenting only the broken body and shed blood of the sinless Lamb of God. We present to God another who has been slain in our place. Am I reading into the text? Or is it not the case that the brothers both knew that they were already under God’s wrath (according to Genesis 2:16-17; 3:17-19)? They knew, and yet Cain brough nothing but his own accursed, sinful flesh and the pompous works of his own murderous hands; while, on the other hand, “By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks” (Heb 11:4).

So we see that the elder brother was rejected, and this rejection is manifest in his approach to God: He does not, in faith, present the broken body and spilled blood of the spotless Lamb of God, but the self-righteous fruit of his own unregenerate toiling. And Abel was righteous, not because of what he did, but because God had granted him faith, understanding to know that he needed another to die in his place, just as his parents did after they had sinned (cf. Gen 3:21). You shall know them by their fruits, the Lord says, and we would do well to take heed to his words. Those who are rejected, even if they are outwardly righteous, are full of dead men’s bones and continually seek to stand before Christ shouting: “LORD, LORD, have we not….?” While those who have been granted the gift of faith present nothing but Christ, knowing that they, according to the Law, deserve nothing but death – but He, the infinitely pure and holy Son of God, suffered death in their place, as Abel’s sheep was slain in his stead.

The Elder Son Vs. The Prodigal

When we turn to the pages of the New Testament, we see this theme repeated in the Lord’s parable of the Prodigal Son (cf. Luke 15:11-32), which I can only briefly touch upon here. In the parable, there are two sons: (i.)the elder, who is self-righteous and who behaves in external conformity with his father’s rules, and (ii.)the younger son, who takes his father’s possessions, treats him as if he is nothing more than a means to his own ends, rebels, lives a vile and wicked life, and cares nothing for the rules his father has set up for all who would be under his roof.

When the younger brother finally desires to come home to his father, he is fully embraced by his father. He is not questioned by his father, nor is he reprimanded, nor is he given a test to see whether or not he has really returned to his father for mercy, nor is he examined by everyone of his children and servants to test the quality of his self-exhaustion. NOT AT ALL! He is, rather, fully brought back into his father’s house and is shown compassion and mercy. Not a mention is made of the former days of his lacivious partying and debauchery. Not a word is spoken concerning his initial desire to leave his father’s home and destroy his father’s home and name, and, not to mention, his desire to destroy himself. And this is what God is like when one sinner comes to simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Not so the wicked. For the elder brother stands in judgment of the younger, demanding justice for his past sins, demanding that he be treated by the household of the father as he deserves for his sins. The elder brother cannot see that his father is compassionate and loving, and has forgiven all of the younger son’s debt completely – no questions asked, no condemnation raised against his foolish and wasteful son. And why is this? Because the elder brother desires to earn the father’s love. He believes that he deserves his father’s affection and good gifts. He is an arrogant man who thinks that his natural ability to adhere to many rules well proves that he is in good standing with his father. But this is not the case at all. It is, rather, proof that he is dead to his father and an enemy to his brother. He is like Cain, ever laboring, ever demanding the blessing of his father, and hating the recipient of his father’s undeserved forgiveness and kindness.

Who else but the dead man can hold others accountable to the law and say of themselves: “Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time” (cf. Lk 15:29)? What pride! What arrogance! What self-deception!!! And yet, he speaks these words boldly as he demands grace fromhis father. This is a stench worse than that of the younger son after he had returned to his father, covered in pig excrement, mud, and waste water!

Like Cain and Abel, the parable of the prodigal son shows us that (i.)the elder, i.e. the self-righteous enemy of God, is not God’s child but is rejected, a child after the flesh who will suffer His eternal wrath unless he follows the course of his younger brother; and (ii.)the younger brother has been accepted by God, and this is made manifest by his trusting in the mercy of God, both in the sufficiency of the Lamb slain in his place for his sins, and in the absolutely free accepting grace of God that says: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Hallelujah!

Amen

-hiram.