I have a question about your Revelation 5 commentary. It reads: “According to the law a son could redeem what his father had lost, but in the transaction Adam had become a sinner, disqualifying all of his sons from ever redeeming him. The coin of redemption was the blood of a sinless man, . . .” How was this price established (the coin of redemption)? Can you explain this more fully? By the way, you have filled in many blanks in my mind regarding how God operates legally in the Universe. Thank you very much.
According to Genesis 3:7 the first result of eating of the forbidden fruit was that Adam and Eve discovered they were naked. When they covered themselves in clothing made of plants, God provided animal skins instead (Genesis 3:21). Scholars believe this was to symbolize that they could only be “covered” by the shedding of innocent blood. Later, innocent animals were sacrificed routinely as sin offerings (Leviticus 1-7:10).
Leviticus 25:47-49 explains that it took a blood relative to redeem a person from slavery. Since another result of Adam’s sin is that all his descendants have become slaves to sin (Romans 5:12) it takes a blood relative to redeem us. This is why the blood of animals couldn’t permanently solve the sin problem but merely set them aside until the time was right for the Lord to die for us. It’s also why God had to become a man to save mankind.
The New Testament confirms that these animals were meant to symbolize the Messiah. John first introduced Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29) and that the sacrificial animals were just shadows of what was coming. It took the sacrifice of Jesus Himself to perfect us forever (Hebrews 10:12-14).
By connecting the dots we can see that right from the beginning God determined that the blood of an innocent man would be required for redemption. The only innocent man ever born was Jesus. His blood is the coin of redemption
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake (1 Peter 1:18-20).