Although the Bible contains a world of information, the most important subject in the Scriptures can be thoroughly examined even in a brief study such as this.

The first verse in the Bible reads, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". Confidence in those words brings one into fellowship with the Creator and makes one a part of a family that walks by faith.

The words "In the beginning" indicate that there is more to come. God obviously has some great plan which involves many people. The earth, in fact the entire universe, was a necessary first step before human beings could exist.

Adam and Eve, our first parents, were told that they could eat anything in the Garden of Eden except the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If they ate of that tree they would die. (Gen. 2:16-17).

Unfortunately, they did eat of it. That is when sin and death entered our world.

Why they did not die that very day was important for them and for all future generations. God, knowing that they would sin, provided a means by which they could receive forgiveness; someone was going to die in their place! In fact, in God's eyes that Person had already died before Adam and Eve were created. Based upon the certainty that Jesus would die on the cross, He is called, "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8).

After eating the forbidden fruit Adam and Eve experienced guilt and shame. Being naked they used fig leaves to cover themselves and, sensing God's presence in the garden, they tried to hide from Him. (Gen. 3:6-7).

When God called them out, they admitted what they had done. Eve claimed the serpent had deceived her and Adam tried to blame Eve. (Gen. 3:12-13).

The fig leaves were as useless as their excuses; a coat of skins was provided to replace them. Animals died and blood was shed to provide them with proper covering. This is how God revealed to them that they needed someone to die in their place. (Gen. 3:21).

Even though Adam and Eve were reconciled to God, they were driven out of Eden, "lest they eat also of the Tree of Life and live forever" (Gen. 3:22-24). This does not mean that the possibility of living forever was lost; it was only postponed, as we shall see.

Cain, then Abel, were born not long after their parents left Eden. Abel was given the task of watching over the sheep. He offered up a first-born lamb from his flock as a sacrifice for sin. This reveals his understanding of what took place when his parents were still in the Garden of Eden. "By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous" (Heb. 11:4). Abel understood that he needed someone to die in his place.

Jesus is called "the first-born" of God. (Heb. 1:5-6). Abel's first-born sacrifice represented God's first-born offering which would be given for all humanity.

The sacrificing of animals as sin offerings was an important ritual for those who walked with God. Noah who built the Ark, sacrificed an animal when he and his family left the ark after the flood. Abraham built altars and offered sacrifices to God everywhere he went. He traveled from altar to altar.

When Abraham's descendants became slaves in Egypt they cried out to God for deliverance, and Moses was sent to lead them. Even though God used various calamities as a warning to Pharaoh, he still refused to let the people go. But after the first-born of both men and animals died, he was ready to "drive them out of his land" (Exodus 6:1).

In order to protect the slaves from God's judgement in Egypt, they were told to take a first-born Lamb, kill it, and sprinkle its blood around the doors of their homes. God said, "When I see the blood I will pass over you." This became known as the Passover which the children of Israel continued to celebrate each year. One would not be wrong in saying, "they were delivered by the blood of the lamb!" (Exodus 12:1-13).

Just before His crucifixion Jesus celebrated His last Passover with the disciples. Handing them the wine and the bread Jesus said, "This is my body and my blood which is given for you" (Luke 22:17-20). Jesus is called "our Passover" in I Cor. 5:17. When He died on the cross Jesus became the ultimate Passover Lamb. All earlier sacrifices would have been in vain if Jesus, God's perfect sinless Lamb, had not died. The former sacrifices were shadows of what was to come; "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself" (II Cor. 5:19). Which is more important to celebrate - the shadow or the real thing?

Those who sacrificed animals understood that they needed someone to die in their place. They did not realize it but, in God's eyes, they were actually sacrificing the One who would come later to die on the cross for them. In a real sense they were looking forward to the cross as we today look back in faith to that One who died for us.

Jesus is God's gift to the world; "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16 NKJV).

Although Jesus died, He rose from the dead never to die again. He is called, "The first-born from the dead" in Colossians 1:18. Because He rose from the dead we shall rise too. And that is when we shall be given heavenly bodies which will never die. That is when we shall put on immortality. That is when the promise of the tree of life will be fulfilled.

Jesus is also called, "First-fruits of those who sleep...for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive...at His coming" (I Cor. 15:20-23).

Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:2-3,NKJV).