Day 18 - FOUNDATION STONES IN A YEAR
Reading: 2 Corinthians 1: 20
We’re looking at some of the reasons for the incarnation. Why did God choose to come to Earth as a human being in the person of Jesus? Yesterday we saw that one of the primary reasons for his first coming was to reveal God to us, show us the true nature and character of Almighty God.
Another reason why he came was as a fulfilment of the promises that God had made to certain people. God made a number of promises to people like Adam, Noah, Abraham and David.
To Adam and Eve, God promised a Satan crusher, a human seed that would be born through a woman with the express purpose of destroying the serpent who had deceived Eve into eating the forbidden fruit that resulted in Adam and Eve being expelled from Paradise.
This is why many theologians refer to Genesis 3:15 as the protoevangelium (“proto” means “first”), the first announcement of the gospel of Jesus.
Immediately after the serpent tempted Adam and Eve to trust in their own version of what was good, rather than relying on God’s estimation of the same, and bringing a death sentence on the entire human race, the Lord God punished the serpent and provided hope for the humans.
Someone would come, through a woman, who would crush the head of the serpent and totally destroy the power of evil over humanity. This wouldn’t be without cost however. The seed of the woman would be bruised in his attempt to destroy the serpent. The bruised heel of the seed of the woman refers to the crucifixion of Christ. The bruised head of the serpent speaks to the final judgment of Satan.
The Bible says in 1 John 3: 8 that the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. Spend just a few minutes imagining what your life would be like, both now and in the future, if Jesus had not come and done that.
Prayer
Lord, thank you that you were willing to pay the price to deliver me from evil. I will be eternally grateful.
For the family
Explain the study in an age-appropriate way then watch this short clip together of how Jesus overcame Satan’s temptations.