I don’t remember the exact moment I learned that the Bible is not a series of stories, but instead one narrative with Christ at the center. I don’t remember when I learned it was about so much more than a collection of lessons that I should learn so I could be a better person. I don’t remember the exact moment, but I remember how it felt. It was the day I truly understood what “uplifting” means. My heart felt like it was lifted in my chest, I felt a little taller (maybe finally 5’10”??). How amazing it was to see how all of scripture is woven together like a beautiful tapestry, all climaxing with the birth of a child to a peasant couple in backwater Bethlehem.
Even the first man, the first Adam, couldn’t ruin what was to come with the birth of the second Adam. And boy, did he try! This evening, as we inch ever closer to Christmas, let’s look at the actions of Adam (and Eve) and the promise of God they brought about.
Read Genesis 3:1-15:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
The LORD God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.” (ESV)
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the fruit, sin was introduced into the world. The perfect world that God had created, was perfect no longer. As a result, God pronounced curses on the Adam, Eve and the serpent (satan). It is in the curse on satan that we see God’s promise of redemption, His promise to restore all things, through the offspring of the woman.
Who was this offspring?
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, Hebrews 2:14
Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8
Jesus, the lowly baby born in a manger, is the same one with the power to “destroy the one who has the power of death.” He accomplished this task on the cross, as he said in John 12:31, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.”
We know that Adam and Eve were ashamed of their actions. They hid from God. But even as they were being cast out of paradise, they were given hope in the promise of one to come who would defeat sin, death, and the devil.
Today, as we continue to prepare our hearts this Christmas, take time to confess your sins to God. Then be thankful that He provided a way for those sins to be paid for and forgiven once for all.
Family discussion question: What would have been your favorite thing about living in the Garden of Eden?
