On the eleventh day of Christmas, my Bible said to me...God worked through history to unfold the story of Christmas.
Today's Reading: Genesis 3:15, 12:1-3, 17:19
Genesis 3:15
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.”
Genesis 12:1-3
12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Genesis 17:19
19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
Devotional Thoughts
The Old Testament has some of the most fascinating stories, especially for its time period. There are adventure stories, love stories, tragedies - stories of all kinds. But the Old Testament is not just a collection of stories about ancient peoples and their God. It is one story with one purpose. From the beginning, the OT tells the story that pushed forward relentlessly until that day in Bethlehem when angels announced a baby's birth.
It begins the day the serpent enters the Garden of God to whisper lies to Adam and Eve. Seduced, they embrace rebellion and sin, leading the entire race into sin. That is when we hear the very first presentation of the gospel, in Genesis 3:15. The serpent would bruise the heel of the "seed of the woman" (whom we know to be Jesus) but the seed of woman would turn around and crush the serpent's head.
Jesus, at Calvary, was crushed for our sins, but it was actually the forces of darkness who were being crushed. At that moment, when it seemed like God would lose as mankind crucified his Son, God won his greatest victory - redeeming a church for himself.
And from the moment God made the prophecy to Adam and Eve, he went to work to make that moment come to be. The other passages (and many more throughout the OT speak of how he chose the people of Israel - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the house of David, and on and on, to prepare for the eventual coming of his Son, the Savior, the One who would bruise the head of the Serpent, grinding him into eternal dust.
Christmas was the culmination of the work of God throughout all time, the beginning of the great work of God through his Incarnate Son.
It begins the day the serpent enters the Garden of God to whisper lies to Adam and Eve. Seduced, they embrace rebellion and sin, leading the entire race into sin. That is when we hear the very first presentation of the gospel, in Genesis 3:15. The serpent would bruise the heel of the "seed of the woman" (whom we know to be Jesus) but the seed of woman would turn around and crush the serpent's head.
Jesus, at Calvary, was crushed for our sins, but it was actually the forces of darkness who were being crushed. At that moment, when it seemed like God would lose as mankind crucified his Son, God won his greatest victory - redeeming a church for himself.
And from the moment God made the prophecy to Adam and Eve, he went to work to make that moment come to be. The other passages (and many more throughout the OT speak of how he chose the people of Israel - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the house of David, and on and on, to prepare for the eventual coming of his Son, the Savior, the One who would bruise the head of the Serpent, grinding him into eternal dust.
Christmas was the culmination of the work of God throughout all time, the beginning of the great work of God through his Incarnate Son.
Thank you, Father, for sending Jesus to us, to be the Savior of the World.
Think and Pray
Consider all that God did to prepare the world for the coming of Christ. Give him thanks and praise for his sovereign work of power.
Carol of the Day
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
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