Light Shines in the DarknessSample

“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.” 

It may seem a like a surprising verse for the Advent Season because itʼs not about wise men or shepherds, but Genesis 3:15 contains one of the most beautiful promises of the coming Savior. Adam and Eve had just disobeyed God in the garden by succumbing to the words of the serpent and eating the forbidden fruit. More than that, they believed the lie that they could live independently from God. Through one rebellious act, humanity was forever plunged into darkness. God said to the serpent (Satan), 

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring…” 

Temptation gave way to disobedience; disobedience gave way to rebellion; rebellion gave way to sin and separation from God. But out of the darkness of these circumstances, the light of Godʼs promises emerge: “…he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” This isnʼt just a promise to the serpent, but to Adam and Eveʼs descendants that the seed of the woman would one day crush the seed of the serpent. Although hostility and enmity are the result of sin, God guarantees the eventual destruction of the evil one. Even as we read Genesis, we can anticipate the birth of Jesus. He would be the offspring of Eve that would crush the head of Satan. 1 John 3:8 says that “the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” 

Adam and Eve and generations after them had to trust God and hope in his promise to eradicate evil just as we are called to hope and believe that Jesus is the one who has done this. As light emerges from darkness, so Jesus showed himself to be the fulfillment of all that God has promised (2 Corinthians 1:20). Take hope in Christ this season for he came not only to destroy the devil, but to be the Savior of the world who is making all things new.