Promises Fulfilled: A Men's Devotional on Christmasಮಾದರಿ

The Seed of the Woman

The first reference to Christmas in Scripture actually comes all the way back at the very beginning.

Genesis 1-3 tells the story of humanity’s origins. God created a perfect world without sin, in which mankind lived face to face in perfect communion with God and one another.

Adam and Eve’s sin in chapter 3 changed everything.

The serpent Satan deceives them with crafty cunning. Their desire to go their own way and ignore the commands of God (a perfect description of what we call “sin”) had far-reaching consequences. Their perfect union with one another was broken. Their shame drove their lives in unhealthy directions. Their relationship with God was fractured. And since they had cut themselves off from the Source of life, death was ultimately the end result (Genesis 3:19).

And yet, within this tragic story of humanity’s fall—a pattern that we have repeated ever since—there is a glimmer of hope.

As God lays out sin’s devastating effects, He lays out one peculiar consequence for the deceiving serpent:

“‘And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.’” (Genesis 3:15-16 NIV)

There is a lot packed into this promise!

War will exist between Satan and humanity. But eventually, through the offspring of the woman, a “He” will be born, and although His heel will bear the wounds of the serpent’s fangs, He will ultimately crush the serpent's head for good.

That promised “He,” of course, is Jesus.

From the minute sin and death entered the world, God immediately began to reveal His promised plan to fix it Himself.

This is the first promise from God about the baby we celebrate every Christmas. It would be far from the last.

And it teaches men that God really does know the end from the beginning. Whatever we carry or face, God is not surprised by it, and He knows what He’s doing to take care of it and strengthen us through it.

Prayer: Lord, thank You for Your long-range plan to save us through Jesus! We are amazed at how well You have planned this out, and how Your very first promise came to pass in Christ. Help us to live in faith that You will take care of our lives with this same level of planning and care. Amen.

Reflection: Read Genesis 3. What jumps out most to you as you consider it in light of the Christmas story?