The First Sacrifice
We see the principle “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” demonstrated early in Scripture; in Genesis 3:21 we read: “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” There may well be a great deal more involved in this simple statement than is revealed in Scripture.
It is generally considered that this was a type of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins; I think there was even more involved for Adam and Eve. Keep in mind that one of Adam’s jobs was to name the animals; keep also in mind that the animal chosen by God to provide the skins to cover Adam and Eve may well have been one close by.
I think it entirely possible that the animal chosen was known and loved by Adam and Eve and they were likely shocked by its death; a death required because of their rebellion against God. It would certainly be consistent with the typology for the first sacrifice to be an accurate reflection of the ultimate sacrifice; God the Son is greatly loved by God the Father and I can imagine how the Father must have felt as He watched the Son suffer and die in great agony.
A Painful Reminder
Can you imagine the feelings Adam and Eve would have as they wore the skin of a beloved animal that had been their companion in the Garden? Can you imagine your feelings should a beloved pet be killed as a result of your sin? What if you had to wear your pet’s skin as a constant reminder?
I believe Adam and Eve suffered greatly from the death of their animal companion and were painfully reminded of their disobedience every time they saw those skins.
Genesis 4 tells of the offerings of Abel and Cain, how Abel’s offering involved the death of an animal but Cain offered crops from the earth; Abel’s offering was accepted but Cain’s was rejected. Later when the Mosaic Law was given the necessity of death as a payment for sin is made abundantly clear.
The Lord Jesus Christ, Our Kinsman Redeemer
All of this was establishing our need for a kinsman redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, dearly loved by the Father. In Ephesians 1:3-8 we read: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will– to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”
As our beloved Lord observed all of the sacrifices made for sin over the millennia I suspect He was always mindful of His destiny as the only perfect and acceptable sacrifice for the sins of mankind. In Hebrews 9 we are told the rituals of the Mosaic Law were only an imperfect picture of what our Lord would perfectly do when He died on the cross, shedding His own blood as the price of our redemption.
If one considers these facts, one principle comes out with great force and that is the value God places on life. Material things are all transient and of relatively little value; all the wealth of the entire world is going to be burned up at some point in the future and nothing of this universe will remain.
The only thing that will survive this massive destruction are the eternal lives of mankind. All men are created with everlasting life, we will all live eternally; the only important question for each of us is where we will live. Salvation in Christ means eternity with God in heaven, rejection of the saving work of Christ means eternity in the Lake of Fire; there are no other options.
davidbowerkingwood 
David,
I love your overview on the importance and significance of atonement.
You touched on something in the end that I’ve been reading about lately. Have you heard of Edward Fudge? I watched a lecture he gave on hell which is a brief overview of his book, “The Fire that Consumes.” http://www.laniertheologicallibrary.com/news/new-video-of-lecture-with-edward-fudge-is-now-online/
He believes that there will be a set period of punishment for those not saved, and then that will be an end to their soul. He says that the concept of an eternal soul has its origin in Greek philosophy and that the eternal soul is given to believers.
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By: Carla on February 25, 2012
at 11:33 pm
Carla:
I was not aware of Edward Fudge and watched the link you provided; I’ll agree he is a personable apologist for the opinion which is shared in some form by Seventh Day Adventist’s, and Jehovah’s Witnesses’ but I’m inclined to maintain my more orthodox position of eternal punishment for those who reject God’s offer of salvation in Christ. The argument that a loving God could not be so unkind as to impose an eternal punishment may not be seeing sin from God’s perspective.
Revelation 20:10 indicates that the beast and the false prophet, two human men, still maintain their identities after 1,000 years in the lake of fire where they are joined by Satan, and others I presume, and they will burn for ever and ever. That sounds very conclusive to me.
In light of the price paid by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross to redeem mankind, God may well judge those rejecting His gift of salvation in Christ with a Godly wrath that is impossible for us to imagine.
David
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By: davidbowerkingwood on February 26, 2012
at 7:08 pm
That was actually a new concept to me until I watched that video. Then last night, I was talking with someone about it, and she said that is the view of the Church of the Nazarene.
I don’t know if it mentioned it in the same post as the video, but there was an independent movie made based on the story of his life that should be coming out this year called, “Hell and Mr. Fudge.”
I’ve ordered his book and I’m going to read it, but now that I’ve heard it, I see some other verses in another way. 1 John 5:11-12 says:
And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.
To me, that says that the eternal part is a condition of salvation, not about the rewards.
As for Revelation 20:10, they may still be enduring punishment after 1,000 years but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they will be for eternity. It is a note on a specific point in time.
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By: Carla on February 26, 2012
at 8:27 pm
Carla:
This is a subject that has been much debated over the years and I question that anything I can contribute will bring final resolution; God is obviously able to do whatsoever pleases Him and the question being considered is what is His choice. I recommend caution as you approach this subject and prayerfully compare all claims for annihilationism against the testimony of the Bible. This has been a minority position for centuries and has remained as a deviation from mainline doctrine; whereas it is currently going through a resurgence all that means to me is a very cautious approach.
One factor that comes to my mind is the special circumstances surrounding the creation of man, God created man in His image and likeness and breathed into him the breath of life. This suggests to me the spiritual side of man is immortal as it was created in the image and likeness of God. Considering annihilationism has for centuries been more widely rejected than accepted I would feel it is likely to remain rejected as a part of evangelical Christian doctrine.
This is one of many areas of interpretation where there are disagreements; if any of them are still important to us after the Rapture we can ask but I suspect they won’t be.
David
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By: davidbowerkingwood on February 27, 2012
at 9:42 am