Most people can easily figure out that finding Law is easy. Simply look for rules that God gave us. Gospel seems more challenging, but it isn't. Many think that we don't see Gospel until the New Testament. "The Old Testament is Law, and the New Testament is Gospel."
But is it that clear cut?
No. The entire Bible is Law and Gospel. That's how it works. You cannot have the joy of Gospel without the realization that we cannot live up to the Law.
It can be argued that the first Law occurs shortly after the first Gospel. Hold up! Am I seriously saying that the Gospel came first? But doesn't it work the other way around? Didn't I just say that you need Law telling you how much you suck to know the Gospel of how much God loves you?
This may seem like a bit of chicken-egg controversy, but hear me out. In Genesis 3 we read about the Fall of Man. In that chapter is a lot of important stuff, so I'll take us through it first, then explain why I think Gospel came first.
The first character in this drama is Satan, the serpent. And what is the first thing he says? A lie? No. The first thing he does is ask a question. Remember, all good liars use this method: Question, Half-truth, Unfulfillable Promise. So he asked "did God really tell you that?"
And who does he ask? Eve. The reason why is simple. Eve is the "younger" of the two first people, and was not as aware, I guess we could say, of what the exact rule or reason for God's instructions were. Adam told her, no doubt, but when put on the spot, her memory falters a bit. She explains it correctly, but adds too much. Maybe God said "just to be safe, don't even touch the tree." But, using child-like logic, Eve connects "don't eat" with "you're gonna die."
Satan follow this question with his half-truth and promise together. "You will not die." Well, technically we won't die. We have an eternal soul, which will live forever. And we won't die immediately, it will take time. He then promises that we will be "like God." Again, technically, we are like God, but in a different way. Before the Fall, we were more like God, since we were perfect and sinless. After the Fall, we were no longer innocent, but now we could know the full truth. We weren't children anymore. We understood what "evil," "selfishness," and "corruption" are.
It didn't take God long to figure out that we messed up His garden. In fact, He knew how it would happen even before He breathed life into Adam. So why did He make us so that we could sin, and why did He allow us to do this? God loves us. Always has, always will. And because He loves us, He gives us the choice to love Him back. God gave our First Parents to choose to remain His, or try to go our own way and be "like" Him.
God asked the three culprits what happened. Adam blamed Eve, and God. Eve blamed the serpent. Satan was too smart to blame anyone. Besides, he wanted them to know it was all his master plan. You see, he told Adam and Eve they could be "like" God. He wanted to be God.
So God passed the first sentences. Adam would have to work hard to provide for his family. Eve would have to work hard to care for children. And Satan… he was cursed with the First Gospel.
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel." (Genesis 3:15)If you've seen the scene at the end of "The Passion of the Christ" then you know Satan's reaction to this. This wasn't a curse. It was the announcement of Victory. Satan did something so heinous that God would be forced to either concede defeat or the most unspeakable thing possible: provide a sacrifice. Someone would have to die. It was either us, or God.
Abraham was prepared to sacrifice his son, but God provided a replacement: a ram.
Aaron and all the high priests sacrificed goats, sheep, oxen, and doves.
Gideon slaughtered his father's oxen and sacrificed them to God.
Solomon dedicated the Temple with a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats.
Elijah sacrificed a bull on Mount Carmel.
Mary and Joseph brought two doves when they dedicated the infant Jesus at the Temple.
God set up a plan of repayment. In a way, all these sacrifices were like paying off the interest. But one sacrifice tops them all. The Sacrifice.
"Carrying his own cross, He went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha)." (John 19:17)Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God, died. He was the ultimate Sacrifice. When God told Satan that He would "crush your head" the liar knew God was speaking of this event. Satan could not win, any more than an ant can win in a fight with a tank. Satan knew he was doomed, that his bluff was called and God would follow through. So he set about making sure he could hurt God as much as possible. And since you can't kill God (not permanently) he had to find a different way.
Any psychopath from a crime drama knows the best way to hurt your enemy is to hurt your enemy's loved ones. So, Satan began targeting humans. First it was simple embarrassment at being naked. But it soon escalated. Now is the first Law.
"He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." (Genesis 3:22b)God could not allow us access to Eternal Life while we were Sinful. To do so would be devastating. It also would allow Satan to win. Because if we could live forever while in our corrupt nature, we would be miserable. Always dying, never dead. Living forever in our pain, agony, strife, and hatred. To keep us safe, God had to kick us out of our first home. Harsh. But at the same time, grace. This rule, like so many others, was not to punish, but protect. We were not thrown out of Eden because He was mad at us, but because we could not safely stay there.
This banishment was not punishment, but grace.
And it wasn't the end of the story. Adam and Eve knew that God promised to send a savior. And they looked for him. As did their children. Millions of people searched for Him, listening to prophecies, hoping and praying to see Him restore the world.
We are still technically banished, but we have also been repaired. God promised Abraham that through him would come a blessing to the nations. That blessing was, and is, Jesus Christ. And with His death and resurrection, our banishment officially ended. So why are we still here, in prison?
To minister to those who do not yet know that full pardons are available to them for free.
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