Hello, readers. Welcome to the first Sunday back at our church, for a while, at Jaquelle's Rose Garden. My dad started a Christmas series, so enjoy....T'was The Night Before Christmas: Part 1-According to Moses
Genesis 3:15
Genesis 3:15
Today is the 2nd Sunday of Advent. Advent is the 4 Sundays before Christmas. It is a countdown to Christmas. Each Advent Sunday there is a different theme. Each Sunday, you light a candle, which symbolizes the different theme. Today's was hope. Advent simply means coming. We are celebrating the first coming of our Lord, yet we look forward to His second coming. The first coming was Jesus birth, 2,000 years ago. People had been waiting for the first advent for 4,000 years. That's 1,460,000 flaps to open on your advent calendar. That's 1,460,000 days to wait in anticipation. In Gen. 3:15, Moses says, "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." God is the one talking.
To understand this verse, we need to remember that Adam and Eve had just sinned by taking the forbidden fruit. Their disobedience led to God's punishment, which was separation from God. We are fighting a battle because
of their sin. We (all Christians) are fighting with Satan, the wicked devil who--disguised as a serpent--tricked Eve into eating the fruit. But take heart, for when God said that Eve's offspring shall 'bruise the head of the serpent's offspring' He was saying that One will be born of a woman who will crush Satan's head. That One will have His heel bruised by the serpent's offspring, but when your heel is bruised, you fall down for a while, a few seconds maybe, but then you get up, right? When your head is bruised or crushed you don't get up. In other words, the battle has been won, and Jesus Christ is the Victor.
There are two things that Christians should do:
1) Be aware of the battle.
2) Resist the devil and draw near to God.
Now, you may have been surprised that my dad didn't preach on Luke 2 or Matthew 1. It's Christmas time, for goodness sakes! Why didn't he preach on The Christmas Story? Where is the
manger is Genesis 3:15? It's in two little words near the beginning: her offspring. Do you know who her offspring was? Jesus! Jesus came down her line right through Noah, Abraham, David, and Mary. Jesus is the reason for the season. Remember why it's called CHRIST-mas. Christmas simply means the "celebration of Christ."
So, I would encourage you to remember Christ this Christmas season. And....enjoy your advent calendars!
To understand this verse, we need to remember that Adam and Eve had just sinned by taking the forbidden fruit. Their disobedience led to God's punishment, which was separation from God. We are fighting a battle because
of their sin. We (all Christians) are fighting with Satan, the wicked devil who--disguised as a serpent--tricked Eve into eating the fruit. But take heart, for when God said that Eve's offspring shall 'bruise the head of the serpent's offspring' He was saying that One will be born of a woman who will crush Satan's head. That One will have His heel bruised by the serpent's offspring, but when your heel is bruised, you fall down for a while, a few seconds maybe, but then you get up, right? When your head is bruised or crushed you don't get up. In other words, the battle has been won, and Jesus Christ is the Victor.There are two things that Christians should do:
1) Be aware of the battle.
2) Resist the devil and draw near to God.
Now, you may have been surprised that my dad didn't preach on Luke 2 or Matthew 1. It's Christmas time, for goodness sakes! Why didn't he preach on The Christmas Story? Where is the
manger is Genesis 3:15? It's in two little words near the beginning: her offspring. Do you know who her offspring was? Jesus! Jesus came down her line right through Noah, Abraham, David, and Mary. Jesus is the reason for the season. Remember why it's called CHRIST-mas. Christmas simply means the "celebration of Christ."So, I would encourage you to remember Christ this Christmas season. And....enjoy your advent calendars!