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Amidst consequences, a promise

  The forest was eerily quiet. The battle had been lost, and now the scattered, injured soldiers were waiting for the inevitable. As the victorious soldiers celebrated, the defeated sat around and waited to be taken prisoner, or worse. It’s sad to see all hope lost for those who suffered defeat. At the dawn of time, in the garden of Eden, another silence hung heavy in the air. As Adam and Eve cowered behind any tree or shrub they could find, they heard God coming closer and closer in the garden. What were they going to say? The fruit of the tree had already been eaten, there was no changing that. There was no going back.

  You can almost imagine God’s frustration with the actions of Adam and Eve in this account. And there were consequences for those actions. Sin had entered the world. God’s creation was no longer “very good”. There would be pain in childbirth, the ground would not produce without a fight, the perfect relationship between husband and wife was no longer perfect. 

  But amidst all those consequences, came a promise. God then turned his attention toward that nasty serpent and promised him that his victory will be short lived: Genesis 3:15 reads “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he will crush your head, and you will crush his heel.” 

  From the offspring of Eve will come one who will defeat the devil and win the victory of victories. And for thousands of years, God’s faithful watched and waited for the one who would deliver the people from their sins. And then, when he finally came, they failed to recognize him. The last thing they expected was for the offspring of Eve to be born in a barn. To grow up as a carpenter. To encourage submission to authority rather than rebel against it. God’s chosen people missed the Messiah that was right in front of them.

  They missed the Messiah who valued time spent studying God’s Word in the temple. They missed the Messiah who, like we saw on Monday, faced the temptations of the Devil and defeated him armed only with the Word of God. The Messiah who corrected those who needed correcting, comforted those who needed comforting, and helped those who needed helping. Most importantly, they missed the Messiah who, when facing capital punishment for crimes he didn’t commit, stood up and took it anyway. 

  He stood in your place on the cross. And when he spoke those three simple words on the cross “It is finished”, the serpent’s head was crushed. The battle was won. Your savior stood for you, and gave you a front row seat to witness it. “This passage contains in itself everything noble and glorious that is to be found anywhere in the Scriptures.” From what looked like a crushing defeat in Eden, our Savior brings us victory. The Serpent is crushed. Your Savior stands victorious. Amen.