Jesus Unmasked: The Truth Will Shock You Read Online Free PDF Page A

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    Chapter Four — The Scarlet Thread in the Old Testament

    Let’s begin in the beginning.
    Two Naked Vegetarians
    We don’t know the exact date of creation, but let’s call it 4000 b.c . God spoke the entire universe into existence and He called it very good (Gen. 1:31). Because everything was “very good” and there was no sin, the first humans were two unashamed naked vegetarians named Adam and Eve. They lived in a beautiful garden, communing with God. There was a river and two trees. God gave them a single rule: Don’t eat from that one tree or you will die (Gen. 2:17).
    Yes, Adam and Eve were perfect, but if God had not given them free wills, then obeying God would have been a coerced, forced obedience. God gave them one rule to obey: don’t eat that!
    Unfortunately, that rascally devil came along and tempted them to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree.
    The woman was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. Then he ate it too. At that moment, their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they strung fig leaves together around their hips to cover themselves (Gen. 3:6–7; NLT).
    This was no ordinary boo-boo. Our two naked vegetarians had everything in the world, but they still rebelled against God. What was their first response to their major league hiccup? To cover up their nakedness and shame with fig leaves. They chose fig leaves because they were vegetarians; they would never think to kill an animal to make a leather covering.
    When God informed them of the consequences for their sin, we see the first shadowy reference that He will rescue mankind from the death they deserve for disobeying Him.
    â€śGod spoke to the devil, ‘From now on, you and the woman will be enemies. . . . He will crush your head , and you will strike his heel’” (Gen. 3:15; NLT).
    Who Is He?
    This was a shadowy reference that Eve would have a human descendant (He) who would crush the work of the devil, but it will cause that human a great deal of pain (a bruised heel). Theologians call this verse the proto-evangelium, the first Gospel. While certainly not a complete picture of salvation, it is the first time the Gospel is promised. That promise was given immediately after mans’ fall into sin.
    The Gospel begins in Genesis. The Cross is foreshadowed at creation. The Old Testament is not a bunch of haphazard stories strung together until a man named Jesus showed up. Because the story of the Bible is the story about Christ, He makes a fuzzy appearance immediately at creation.
    Immediately after promising a Savior, God cast another shadow. “And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife” (Gen. 3:21; NLT).
    The first animals ever butchered were killed by God Himself. Man’s effort to cover his own shame with fig leaves was not acceptable to God, so He shed the first blood that was ever spilt for the covering of man’s sin.
    There are five crucial lessons to be learned from this:
    1.Sin is very serious. Sin is violation of God’s law (1 John 3:4). Because God is so holy, so perfect, so righteous, so just, even the slightest infraction of His law is worthy of eternal punishment. Why? Because our sins are committed against the One who is eternally perfect.
    2.Because God is loving, He has righteous anger toward sin (Ps. 7:11). He has a settled, determined wrath that will be poured out to satisfy the demands of the law. God is not capricious. He does not fly off the handle when we sin. He is a calm, just God who is the perfect accountant. Not a single sin will fall through the cracks. There will be a day of justice when every single violation of His law will be accounted for (2 Cor. 5:10).
    3.Man’s efforts to appease the wrath of God are