Fig Leaf Faith
At one point in his ministry, Jesus said that if you have faith as a mustard seed, you can do great things (Luke 17:5, 6). Does that mean just a little faith is all we need? In context, Jesus said this about faith to his apostles, not to the bigger crowd of followers. The apostles would have miraculous abilities, to heal the sick, to raise the dead; but even for them it wasn’t unbridled ability, we see them using miracles sparingly, to call attention to their authority to speak God’s Word as his inspired representatives.
Instead of a mustard seed, let’s turn our attention to fig leaves. You remember the story of Adam and Eve. After God created them, he gave them huge freedoms, but wanting them to show they trusted him, gave one rule: Don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You know how the story goes, they broke the one rule, eating of this tree’s fruit. Eve was tempted by Satan, giving in to him, then Adam was tempted by Eve, giving in to her. Once Adam and Eve sinned by eating of the forbidden tree, they cover themselves with fig leaves, weaving them together to cover their nakedness.
Why was nakedness OK before, but now that they’ve eaten of the forbidden fruit, suddenly it’s not OK? We’re only told, “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths” (Genesis 3:7). My guess is that prior to gaining the knowledge of good and evil, they were pure and guiltless, but after eating and allowing sin to enter the picture, suddenly evil was present and their vision of things was altered. There’s nothing sinful about nakedness when sin is absent, but with sin’s presence, temptations exist, and things change.
But here’s what we often miss. “And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins and clothed them” (Gen. 3:27). Fig leaves were not sufficient. They represent Adam and Eve seeking to cover their own sins, and they were unable to truly do that. For the first time since creation, God is the first to kill an animal, shedding its blood, making a sacrifice so that he could cover their nakedness, so he could cover their sin. The giving of the Law of Moses is many, many years away, but here in the very early days of human existence, a blood offering to cover sin is made, foreshadowing what is to come.
We all sin and thus take a stand against God. It’s not the fault of “original sin” as some teach. We don’t carry Adam and Eve’s guilt, cast upon us from ages gone by. No, we take part individually. Most of the time, if we try to make amends, we do so with our own efforts. We do a helpful act, a good thing; we go to church, a good thing; we sometimes pray, a good thing; we crack the Bible open occasionally, a good thing. Generally, we’re good. Is it enough? All fig leaves, attempts to cover our own sins, it won’t work.
No, from the beginning, God has shown the need for him to provide for our salvation. Only he can truly cover our sins. You see, he is perfect, we are not. No amount of effort will ever allow us to attain perfection. No matter how good we are, we are still imperfect and will stand before the perfect God one day, wanting in a perfect heaven. How can that happen since our imperfection will mess it all up?
“For you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ” (Gal. 3:26, 27). Once we accept Jesus as the Messiah, are baptized into him, we become clothed by him. God looks at us and sees Jesus. Jesus was perfect! We remain in that state by actively living out our faith, paying attention to the teaching of Jesus and his apostles, and following. No longer covered by fig leaves, God has cast his garment of salvation upon us!
Instead of a mustard seed, let’s turn our attention to fig leaves. You remember the story of Adam and Eve. After God created them, he gave them huge freedoms, but wanting them to show they trusted him, gave one rule: Don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You know how the story goes, they broke the one rule, eating of this tree’s fruit. Eve was tempted by Satan, giving in to him, then Adam was tempted by Eve, giving in to her. Once Adam and Eve sinned by eating of the forbidden tree, they cover themselves with fig leaves, weaving them together to cover their nakedness.
Why was nakedness OK before, but now that they’ve eaten of the forbidden fruit, suddenly it’s not OK? We’re only told, “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths” (Genesis 3:7). My guess is that prior to gaining the knowledge of good and evil, they were pure and guiltless, but after eating and allowing sin to enter the picture, suddenly evil was present and their vision of things was altered. There’s nothing sinful about nakedness when sin is absent, but with sin’s presence, temptations exist, and things change.
But here’s what we often miss. “And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins and clothed them” (Gen. 3:27). Fig leaves were not sufficient. They represent Adam and Eve seeking to cover their own sins, and they were unable to truly do that. For the first time since creation, God is the first to kill an animal, shedding its blood, making a sacrifice so that he could cover their nakedness, so he could cover their sin. The giving of the Law of Moses is many, many years away, but here in the very early days of human existence, a blood offering to cover sin is made, foreshadowing what is to come.
We all sin and thus take a stand against God. It’s not the fault of “original sin” as some teach. We don’t carry Adam and Eve’s guilt, cast upon us from ages gone by. No, we take part individually. Most of the time, if we try to make amends, we do so with our own efforts. We do a helpful act, a good thing; we go to church, a good thing; we sometimes pray, a good thing; we crack the Bible open occasionally, a good thing. Generally, we’re good. Is it enough? All fig leaves, attempts to cover our own sins, it won’t work.
No, from the beginning, God has shown the need for him to provide for our salvation. Only he can truly cover our sins. You see, he is perfect, we are not. No amount of effort will ever allow us to attain perfection. No matter how good we are, we are still imperfect and will stand before the perfect God one day, wanting in a perfect heaven. How can that happen since our imperfection will mess it all up?
“For you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ” (Gal. 3:26, 27). Once we accept Jesus as the Messiah, are baptized into him, we become clothed by him. God looks at us and sees Jesus. Jesus was perfect! We remain in that state by actively living out our faith, paying attention to the teaching of Jesus and his apostles, and following. No longer covered by fig leaves, God has cast his garment of salvation upon us!