THE CRUSHER

I wonder if after Adam and Eve sinned, they sensed that all around them God’s creation was falling. Did they recognize that creation was already or would soon begin groaning in pain? (See Romans 8:22.) Adam and Eve did know that they were now different, and that difference was not good! Their nakedness made them feel ashamed. Their hearts wanted to avoid God rather than embrace him. For the first time in his life Adam looked for a way to place blame instead of affection on his wife, and Eve passed blame along to the serpent, who had deceived her.

For such thorough and complete damage to be reversed, something drastic would have to happen. Something powerful. Something unaffected by the creation-wide disaster that had just occurred. God’s words to Adam and Eve hinted at what that something would be and do: a descendant of the woman would crush the head of the serpent!

How would that happen? What offspring of the woman would God send to restore all of creation? Amazingly, God would send a baby to be the crusher. The baby of Bethlehem would do it through yet another unlikely instrument: his own death. God’s ways are certainly not our ways, are they? But let’s honor God today by acknowledging that his ways are perfect.

Prayer

Dearest God, your ways are beyond our understanding, but they are perfect. We honor your wisdom, we are in awe of your power, and we are grateful for your work. Amen.

David Den Haan