Getting Job-ed
Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8 ESV
This may seem like a strange advent article, but I think it’s so incredibly important. We observed in the last article that Jesus was not a cosmic Plan B from God, in which, God was caught off-guard and needed to do something to react to man’s sinfulness. That’s not a great exegesis of Scripture (look at Revelation 13:8, Isaiah 46:9-10, amongst so many others). I wanted us to look into the very opening of the Bible and see that God’s plan for Christ was set all the way from the beginning. This should result in praise and worship of our King this Christmas.
In the Garden
Genesis chapters 1 and 2 show us that God created everything and that it was “very good (Genesis 1:31 CSB).” The narrative takes a sharp turn in Genesis 3. This serpent creeps his way into the garden and deceives mankind (Eve first, then Adam follows) by questioning the validity of God’s Word and then offering to them that if they eat from the tree then they will be like God (Genesis 3:1-5). Mankind, losing faith and trust in God’s Word and wanting to be like God, disobeyed God, committing treason against the infinitely holy King.
Now, we understand from Revelation 20 that Scripture identifies this ‘serpent’ as being Satan. This is key for us to understand with this passage and Satan throughout the Bible. Before God passes judgment on Adam and Eve (vs. 16-19), God speaks to the serpent and curses him. We are all possibly familiar with the passage up until this point. However, Genesis 3:15 ESV is pivotal for us:
(God speaking to the serpent) “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 saying that from now on, there will be hostility between the woman’s kids and the serpent and his offspring. What does that mean? There is a distinction that there are descendants from the woman and yet the serpent has his offspring also; this would include people that are not followers of God, ones living under the rule and power of Satan (look at Jesus’ response to the Israelites in John 8:42-44).
When God says, “…he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel,” this is indicating that the serpent will bruise the heel of the offspring of the woman, however, that offspring will deliver a lethal blow to the serpent’s head. This battle and tension that has begun between mankind and the serpent will one day result in a Descendant of the woman who will deliver a lethal and ultimate blow to the serpent’s head, finally destroying the tension between mankind and the serpent. We see this in Revelation 20-22. This victory is what we’ve been longing for since the beginning in the Garden. This should be a major theme that we observe during Christmas: Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).
In closing, God then kills an animal to provide clothing to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21). This is extremely important: death has to occur to cover the rebellion of mankind. This also ties into the Descendant of the woman with His heel being bruised. Somehow, there will be an injury that occurs to Him, but this will result in the final, decisive blow to the serpent. This is good news for us this Christmas: the Descendant came, was injured, was a sacrifice for our rebellion yet conquered death through resurrection, and ultimately, provided the victory we have needed over the serpent.
-Austin
