Genesis 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

God gave Adam one commandment. Disobedience to God’s command would bring death.

Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die…

Jesus revealed that the serpent, the devil, is a liar and a murderer from the beginning.

John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

The devil, that old serpent, lied to Eve, which led to Adam’s disobedience and death for all mankind.

Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Romans 5:12 ¶Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned…

Yet, because of God’s mercy, He did not kill man. Instead, God took as a substitute the death of an innocent animal.

Genesis 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

For years, God accepted the sacrifice of clean animals to cover man’s sin. These sacrifices could never take away man’s sin; man's sin could only be pushed ahead.

Hebrews 10:3-4 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

While God had mercy on man in the beginning to accept the death of an animal in place of the death of Adam, the blood of animals could not satisfy. Now God’s grace would abound. As He promised to Eve in the beginning, God made a body of the seed of a woman to provide a sacrifice that would finally take away the sin of man.

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity [hatred] between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law...

Hebrews 10:5-6 ¶Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

The power of the devil, that old serpent, would receive a deathblow by the sacrifice of Christ, the seed [offspring] of the woman.

Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

As Adam disobeyed God in the beginning and brought sin and death upon all mankind, Jesus’ was obedient to death so that man could once again have eternal life. (1Corinthians 15:21-22).

Romans 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

What animal sacrifices could not do, God’s holy human body, Jesus Christ, could finally take away our sins.

Hebrews 10:10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Because Jesus is God in a human body, He lives forever. When we are washed by His blood in baptism, we can receive His gift of His Holy Ghost and likewise live forever.

Revelations 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Jesus triumphed over the devil by His death on the tree, taking the devil’s power of death away from him. The devil can no longer justly accuse us of sin – Jesus paid the price of death for us. When we are baptized in Jesus name, our sins are erased.

Colossians 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. (Colossians 2:13-15).

Because of Jesus victory over the devil, the murderer from the beginning, we now have life through the blood that was shed by Jesus. Not the blood of animals, that by the mercy of God were a temporary covering of man’s sin, but now remission of our sins by the blood of Jesus applied to our life when we are baptized in Jesus name.

We are justified by His blood so that we may be sanctified by His Spirit. Able to have eternal life once again as Adam and Eve had in the beginning.

Acts 2:38-39 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

Ephesians 2:4-7 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.