κήρυξον τὸν λόγον

And Yahweh Elohim ... (the LORD God) ... made for Adam and his wife tunics of skin, and he clothed them (v 21). Brothers and sisters in Christ, forgiveness is not easy. It never is. Not for you, me, or God. Forgiveness is gross. Forgiveness is a bloody mess. We don’t want this to be true. We want forgiveness to be clean and neat. No muss. No fuss. No blood. No death. Just cover it. Just say a word. Say I am forgiven because of something I call faith. Make it that simple. Act like it never happened. But forgiveness is a bloody mess. It is not easy. It is not delightful.  The forgiveness of sins requires the shedding of blood (Hb 9:22). It has been that way from the beginning. Where else do you think that Yahweh Elohim got the skin for the tunics that covered Adam and his wife in the garden for their sin that not only brought death to themselves but to all of creation? God was at rest in creation. How else could Yahweh Elohim clothe ... you know, cover the shame of ... Adam and his ...

I love reading the book of Genesis. I marvel at all that God did with his Word ... How he spoke and it was done ... how he created the paradise of delight ... the place where heaven and earth meet.  It is amazing and astonishing to look at and hear about God’s wonderful, gracious love and care for us, for the world, and for all of creation, of how his word provided peace ... of how his word nourished us and provided for us ... of how we never had to worry about freezing or roasting to death ... of how we had it made in the shade, all because of what he really said in the Word.  It is also astonishing how quickly it was gone ... with just a word of what everyone thinks God did say. Why would the serpent twist what God did say? How could Adam and Eve be so foolish and stupid by adding to what God did say? Why would they listen to even one word of that shady snake? How could they toss it all away for a lie? And why would they doubt for even one second how good they really had it?...

I can’t imagine a better place to begin life than under the shade of a tree ... a magnificent, beautiful, fruitful tree ... how about a white oak ... in a green garden ... next to a river that is as bright as crystal .  The best time to plant a tree, they say, is twenty years ago. The second best time is right now. We need all the trees we can get. Without trees , we would be left without their fruit. There’d be no Fuji apples. No Florida oranges. No plums. No cherries, and no coconut or key lime pies ... or heaven forbid, no fig newtons.  Fruit aside ... what would we do without trees?  Well, we’d be lost and hopeless. But thankfully ... because of a tree ... the most God-awful tree ever created,  a tree of wrath ,  a tree of fear and shame ,  a tree few people want to look at ... unless it is bare,   a tree of despair and death ... we have life, new life.  Sin was nailed to that tree . And now everyone who looks up, sins his sin and his savi...