Day 3: The Hope
I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.
Genesis 3:15
This may come as a surprise, but I’m a little bit OCD. This plays out in various ways but the most ridiculous is festive. Our Christmas tree must be decorated symmetrically, with baubles descending down the tree in with alternating colours (at the moment red and silver), and with white (not coloured!) lights and NO TINSEL.
Having multiple kids has made Christmas way more fun. But tree day has become increasingly stressful for me. They kids make suggestions for decoration placement or worse they make decorations and want them on the tree. This sounds silly but I battle genuine emotional distress during tree day to the point that we have now adopted a two tree strategy.
It might sound crazy that putting things on a tree could cause distress but if we remember that every problem we face is rooted in taking things off a tree I seem a little less nuts.
Genesis 3 could be described as a tale of 3 trees. A fruit tree, a family tree and a Roman tree.
God provided Adam and Eve with a perfect home a place fit for human life to flourish. They had the best job, make babies, and make more places fit for human life to flourish. They had everything they could ever need and best of all they had the LORD who walked with them in the cool of the day. In the middle of the garden stood the one tree our first parents were forbidden to eat from. The tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
We are often a little confused about this tree. The fruit didn’t impart a knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve were created in the image of God. They knew right and wrong just as we do, better in fact, because for a time they were not corrupted by sin.
No, the tree was about whose rule they would live under. Would they obey God and live under His care and provision, or would they take the fruit and claim the right to make the rules for themselves?
We know the story and we all live with, and in, the midst of the results. Deceived by the serpent, our parents rebelled. The fall occurs, sin, death and calamity enter the world.
It wasn’t enough to be like God, we wanted to be Him, make the rules for ourselves, define good and evil as we see fit. The penalty for rebellion was death and God would have been perfectly just if He’d wiped Adam and Eve out the second they rebelled, but in the middle of delivering His righteous judgment God delivers grace and promises us that a Saviour will come.
The Lord promises Eve: One of your offspring will come and He will be crushed. As He is crushed, He will crush the evil one and undo evil. Our second tree is a family tree, you can see the full thing in Luke 3:23-38. This family tree winds its way through the Old Testament culminating in the coming of Jesus the second Adam.
The Long Promised One who came to crush the enemy, undo evil, and save His people. He accomplished this on our final tree - a Roman tree. He lived a perfect life, fulfilled God’s Law, provided His people with the righteousness God requires and we can’t achieve.
Then in perfect love and obedience He went to the cross and took the curse His people deserved upon Himself. He was crushed in our place and He crushed the head of the serpent disarming the enemy and put Him to open shame. Jesus died and went to the grave and on the third day He rose from the dead victorious over Satan, sin, and death.
He ascended into heaven where He rules and reigns over all things. He is gathering His people from every corner of the globe. One day He will split the sky and return. On that day He will fully establish His kingdom and finally do away with sin and its’ wretched effects forever.
As you see tree after beautifully decorated tree this Christmas, remember this amid the madness: Sin, Death and Evil have an expiration date. The clock is ticking down towards their eternal banishment.
Written by Andrew Mathieson
A Thought to Remember: Sin, Death and Evil have an expiration date.
A Bit More to Read: Genesis 3, Colossians 2:12-15
A Question to Ask: How does remembering that evil has an expiration date help me face trials and difficulties.?
A Song to Sing: Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus.
A Picture for the kids: Snake/fruit