Genesis 3:15 is the first place the gospel is plainly announced in the Bible. Adam and Eve had just fallen into sin by disobeying God. When God created Adam and Eve, they lived naked and unashamed (Genesis 2:25). But once sin entered the picture, we’re told that “they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves” (Genesis 3:7). It was a physical manifestation of the spiritual shame they felt because of their sin.
Like Adam and Eve, we’re all prone to try the fig leaf solution. But we can’t cover our shame ourselves. A solution from above is needed. The good news is that God has provided it. It’s pictured beforehand when God clothes Adam and Eve with garments He Himself made for them. That’s the answer to what Luther called the “fiends of sin and conscience.” We need a solution from God Himself, and that solution is Jesus, His Son sacrificed in our place. No longer must we hide in shame from God. We’re now and forever free from the fiends of sin and conscience because God Himself has covered us in Jesus.