Day 2 – A Glimmer of Light In The Darkest Night

“The Lord God said to the serpent,

For all the wickedness of man that we saw yesterday in Genesis 6, it has it’s beginning point here in Genesis 3. In an act of defiant sin, Adam and Eve chose to trust themselves above trusting God. No longer did they want to follow their Sovereign Creator, but they sought to be sovereign themselves.

Their horrible choice led to disastrous consequences for themselves, the serpent and all of humanity. The snake was to spend the rest of his days slithering around on his belly. The woman was cursed to have pain in childbirth. The man was set to toil for the rest of his days to put food on the table. Beyond all of that is the reality we see in Romans 5:12:

“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”

In his disobedience, Adam brought about the what is the greatest fear of man: death. The promise of death now hung over all of every single person in what is the darkest day in human history. It’s the day that man chose self over God. It’s the day that God would no longer walk side by side with man in the Garden. It is the day that the enemy could begin to wield the fear of death as a weapon in his arsenal.

But even before the curse was entirely handed out, we see a glimmer of hope tucked away in the midst of the consequence. There in verse 15 we see the promise, “He will bruise your head and you shall bruise His heel.” The seed of the woman would one day wreck the work of the serpent and the sin of man.

In what many call the first gospel, we see the promise of the coming Messiah even before the full brunt of sin’s effect is felt. Christ was on the way to heal the land through a quick strike of His own heel. This serpent crusher would be one who was coming to conquer the enemy and rescue His bride. As Hebrews 2:14-15 says:

“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”

Though fear was real that day and consequences were dealt out – hope remained. God’s glorious plan was to rescue a race who had no way to climb out of his sin-soaked, impending death. God’s grace was to be something that Adam and Eve trusted in, that their children trusted in, that every patriarch trusted in and that every believer who has ever walked the earth will trust in.

It is a hope that shines even when the darkness tries to swallow it up. It is a hope that frees us from the bondage of sin, death and fear. Though creation began to groan under the weight of the Fall, the promised snake crusher was set to come.

Prayer

Take a few minutes to pray that God will give you the strength to focus on His gospel and grace even when your sin and shame is seeking to drag you down.