Devotion Booklets for Seasons of the Church Year 2016 | Page 6
Sunday—November 27th
The Promise of a Savior
Genesis 3:15
Did God really say...?" With that question the serpent sparked destruction. The woman and
her husband, who was with her, doubted God. They ate from the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil. As a result they got to know evil; they got to know death.
They became ashamed of their bodies. Their children would be doomed to death, experiencing
death in their first two sons—the murderer and the murdered. The serpent was sparked
destruction and deserved to be crushed.
So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all
the livestock and all the 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."
The woman and her husband were filled with shame. They were facing what would be
centuries of suffering and death. They heard God’s curse. While that’s not often the way we
think of these words, they are a curse to the serpent. They were not spoken to the woman or
her husband. They were not spoken to you. This was a curse spoken to the serpent. The
offspring of the woman would be God’s curse to the serpent and his promise for you.
Jesus Christ, born of the woman, died for you and crushed the serpent’s head, just as
promised. He is the enemy of the serpent, the end of the serpent’s power. In Jesus’ life and
death, God has provided a covering for your shame.
In Jesus, the woman got more than just an offspring and a new name (Eve means the mother of
the living). She received the promise of eternal life over death, just as God promised.
PRAYER:
Dear promised Savior Jesus, you conquered the serpent for us. Prepare our hearts for the
celebration of the mystery of your birth that, in humility and joy, we may rejoice in the promise
you fulfilled. Amen.
ACTIVITY:
Read the second article of the Apostles' Creed and explanation from the Small Catechism.
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