The First Promise of Christmas
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)
When the devil appeared to Eve in the form of a serpent, he asked her, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1) She replied, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” (Genesis 3:2-3)
God had not said, “neither shall ye touch it.” He had said, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day thou that eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) Of course, when Adam told Eve what God had said, he may have said something like, “God said not to eat of this fruit, sweetheart. In fact, don’t even touch it.”
Yet Satan called God a liar by saying, “Ye SHALL NOT SURELY die:” (capitals added) after God had said, “…thou SHALT SURELY die.” (capitals added) Like maybe she would escape the consequences of eating the fruit. One of sin’s attractions is all of its consequences don’t always happen to everyone. Drinkers do not always become drunks, lose their families, or have DUI accidents. Gamblers do not always become addicted. Tobacco users do not always contract cancer.
Yet sin always has one consequence: it separates us from fellowship with God, which is exactly what the devil wanted. He also made it seem as if God was denying them something good by not wanting them to eat the fruit of the tree. He told Eve, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5)
At this point, Eve could have decided, “God said not to eat from this tree. That’s good enough for me.” Yet she saw the tree “…was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise,” (Genesis 3:6) She and Adam disregarded and disobeyed God’s word. They ate the fruit.
Satan’s endgame is for people not to know Jesus as Saviour, but to be separated from God forever in hell. Jesus made the devil’s motive clear when He said, “Those by the way side are they that hear [God’s word, including the gospel of Jesus]; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, LEST THEY SHOULD BELIEVE AND BE SAVED.” (Luke 8:12, capitals added) That is why the devil appeared to Eve and convinced her and Adam to disregard God and His word. Satan still does that today.
Jesus came to restore us to fellowship with God that was lost, not just because of Adam and Eve’s sin, but because of our own personal sins. Jesus always existed as God: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) Yet one day, He came to earth as a baby:
“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son,” (Galatians 4:4) Jesus came to give “…salvation unto his people by the remission [forgiveness] of their sins,” (Luke 1:77)
Jesus’ coming also was not a contingency plan put together after Adam and Eve sinned. 2 Timothy 1:9 says God’s plan of salvation was “…according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,” God knew we would need a Saviour before the world began.
The plan of salvation was completed when Jesus died for our sins on the cross, was buried, and rose again. To see how to have forgiveness of sins and eternal life by receiving Jesus as your personal Saviour, please go to www.clevelandbaptist.org, click “Helpful Links,” then “How Do I Go to Heaven?”
Brian Miller 12/4/2024
Cleveland Baptist Church 4431 Tiedeman Road Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 216/671-2822