In The Beginning - Chapter 16 (The Price of Sin)

Chapter 16

From Heaven, God the Father watched all that happened in the garden.  At that moment, the aura that surrounded the man and woman grew noticeably dimmer as their immortal souls transitioned into the fallen state.

Their souls were now in a state of perpetual death.  It had been ordained by God that man would have to pay for his disobedience.  Since there was nothing man could offer to God to pay for his own sin God’s plan provided for the only substitute possible.  God himself would have to pay for man’s sin, but this payment would not be for everyone.

God’s salvation through the sacrifice of himself for the sin of man would be only available to those who believed in Him, accepted Him as their God, and asked to receive the gift of life which was offered for them.

He looked throughout the timeline of Earth’s history and saw billions and billions of souls dimming to the point of being extinguished.

He watched as fewer and fewer called upon the name of their God until at last about a thousand years after Adam and Eve’s original sin, the corruption of man had become such that only a single Man and his family remained righteous.  All others had succumbed to the enticements of the serpent.

God’s disappointment with mankind was profound.  He knew from the beginning that because man had free will many would choose to reject Him but the whole human race had rebelled so quickly that he grieved that he had ever created them to begin with.  Satan had done his work well.

Looking forward in time, God found a man through which He could redeem His creation.  The pact was with Abram whose name he later changed to Abraham.  In this pact, God would multiply Abraham into a great nation and through his lineage the world would be saved.  For his part, Abraham would worship only the one true God and would pass his faith on to his descendants.  From generation to generation the law of God would be lived out through Abraham.

Throughout subsequent generations God carefully chose the descendants of Abraham through which he would fulfill His promise.  God looked into the souls of each child until at last, at the time perfectly suited to His purposes, he found the instrument of his gift.

He looked deep into her soul and found her to be pure of heart, strong in character and submissive to her God.  She found favor in His eyes and He ordained that she would be a part of the greatest act of love ever bestowed on mankind.  She was to be the mother of God.

At the appointed time and with all of the preparations made, the Holy Spirit enveloped Mary who had been prepared for her chosen role before hand by the angel Gabriel.  Mary became aware that her reality was changing.  At one moment she was lying awake in her bed and in the next she was surrounded by light that seemed to come from everywhere.  There were no shadows in the room and she felt as if the entire universe were in perfect harmony and she felt more safe than she had ever felt.

In her head she heard the most beautiful music she had ever heard - voices were singing "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty."  She felt completely at home and experienced peace such as she had never felt before.

In her womb the Holy Spirit altered an egg.  Using the genetic sequence Jesus had created so long (but then only a moment) ago, He formed the X and Y chromosomes perfectly coded to grow into the man who would save the world from sin.

The child she would bear would be the child of the human mother and the divine father – the physical self coming from the mother and the spiritual self coming from God the Father through the Holy Spirit and in the persona of Jesus the Son and thus not subject to the original sin perpetrated by Adam in the Garden of Eden.

And thus the God who created the universe became a part of His own creation and the instrument of its salvation.

Just as suddenly as she had been swept away she was back.  She looked around the dark room and couldn't decide if she had been gone for a few seconds or a few years, it seemed like a lifetime.  Tears of joy began to fall from her eyes as she considered the enormity of what she had been chosen to do.

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Looking back into Eden from his throne, God the Father saw his physical persona, Jesus, standing before Adam and his wife who were clothed only in their fig leaf loincloths.

“A price must be paid for your disobedience.”  He said.  “My son and daughter, I love you dearly, but there is no price you could pay which could atone for your sin against me.  What could you, a mere man and woman give to me to account for your sin when the wages of sin is death?”

Adam and Eve stood quietly.

”A day will come when I will come to the Earth and live with man.  At that time I will offer myself as payment for your disobedience, but until then, you must live with the consequences of your actions.  Because of what you have done I will suffer as will all of your children and their children to countless generations.  Are you remorseful for what you have done?”

Adam and Eve both nodded their heads in unison and muttered “We are.”

He brought a young lamb to them and pointed to a sharp stone lying on the ground near the stream.

“The day of my coming is far off yet.  Until that time comes, you must provide a regular atonement for your sin.  The payment you will make will not absolve you of your sin; it will merely be a testament to your belief that I will pay for it when I come.  You will kill an animal every year and offer it to me on an alter – without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness.

When you sacrifice the animal, you will remember that the animal who committed no sin is paying the price for yours.  It is your sin which has cost him his life.

Adam listened silently while Eve sobbed quietly.

When I come, I, who love you so, will pay for your salvation by sacrificing my life in atonement for yours.  Unlike this lamb, however, I will give my life willingly.  Through my sacrifice your souls will escape this curse of death and enter into eternal life with me in paradise.

“You will do this every year and you will teach it to your children and their children and their children’s children until I come to make the final atonement.  When I see such a sacrifice offered with an earnest heart the ultimate payment for your sins will be postponed for another year.

“Do you understand?”

They both nodded.  “Adam, you are the head of your family.  It is from your flesh that Eve was born into this world and also from your spirit.  It is your responsibility to offer the sacrifice for your entire family.  It is your belief in my future coming for your salvation and your acceptance of my gift of love which will save your soul.”

Adam nodded his head in understanding.  Jesus stood near the bank of the stream and waited for Adam to act.  Adam walked over to the sharp rock and picked it up.  He turned and looked at the lamb standing innocently near the stream eating grass from the side of the path.  He looked at Adam and gave a soft “Mwaa-aa-aa”.

Adam looked back at Jesus with tears in his eyes.  Eve hid her face behind her hands; she couldn’t bear to watch.  After a long moment Adam walked to the lamb and lifted it up into his arms.  Adam felt the lamb’s soft wool against his skin and the lamb nuzzled its head up under Adam’s chin.  He dropped to his knees sobbing.

Jesus stood quietly and patiently near the stream.

It seemed that Adam would not be able to complete his task.  He knelt for a long time holding the lamb in his arms then rose.  He walked over to the rock and bound the lamb’s legs with some vines he pulled from the tree where the serpent watched silently.

Using the sharp rock he had taken from the side of the stream, he cut the lamb’s throat quickly and struggled not to fall again to his knees in sorrow.  He held the lamb to the rock until its bleating stopped and it lay motionless.  Using the same rock he continued to remove the lamb’s skin, leaving it exposed and lifeless on the top of the larger rock.

 Adam stepped back slowly, then, giving into his sorrow, he dropped to the ground on his knees.  As he watched, Jesus lifted his eyes toward heaven and lifted his arms.  A long shaft of fire shot down from the sky, and in an instant the lamb was consumed.  God had accepted their offering.

Adam dropped the bloody rock he had used as a knife; Eve continued to weep softly near the woods from where she hadn’t moved since God arrived in the garden.

Jesus looked once more at the serpent and it slithered away.

When Adam opened his eyes, he saw on the ground near the alter, clothes for him and his wife.  He put his on and the fit was perfect.  He took the rest over to Eve who put hers on as well.

They looked at each other and the constant reminder of their sin which they were wearing and neither spoke.