Read Genesis 3:1–24
‘So the LORD God said to the snake, “Because you have done this, ‘Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”’ (vv14–15)
Knowing the story we are part of is so important. It can be easy to get caught up in the single chapters of both life’s challenges and adventures.
Yet keeping in mind the bigger picture can help us as we seek to make sense of our part in it.
Genesis 3 reveals the introduction of sin into the world, and its consequences, with work and family life becoming more laboured and challenging (vv16–19).
Knowing the story we are part of is so important.
Yet, within this chapter, we are also given a glimpse of hope and of God’s bigger redemptive story, as verse 15 foretells the future defeat of Satan, sin and all that the serpent represents (v15b).
Advent reminds us of the fulfilment of this verse as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the One who would ‘crush the serpent’s head’.
Keeping in mind the bigger picture can help us as we seek to make sense of our part in it.
Subsequently, Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ultimate return ‘reverse the curse’ of Genesis 3.
Keeping the big story in mind helps us to keep perspective, and so, as God’s people, we can now celebrate all that Christ has achieved for us, knowing that whatever life chapter we may be facing right now, in the end ‘we win’.
Keeping the big story in mind helps us to keep perspective
God is working His purpose out, As year gives way to year God is working His purpose out, And the tide is drawing near, Near and nearer draws the time, The time that will surely be When the earth will be filled with the glory of God, As the waters cover the sea.
A PRAYER TO MAKE:
‘Lord, thank You that You have a big story and that You call me to live in the light of it. Amen.’
AN ACTION TO TAKE:
Think about how you would communicate the big story of the Bible.
SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER:
2 Sam. 7:1–17; Psalm 107:1–43; Isa. 55:1–13; Acts 2:14–41
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
