Many of us grew up with the story of Advent beginning in a manger, in a stable. But, the story actually begins in a Garden.
When God created the world, all things were just as they should be. Creation functioned in perfect order according to God’s beautiful design. Man walked in an unbroken relationship with God, fully known and unafraid. But in an instant, all that changed as Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s good instruction. They took the fruit and ate, and sin entered the world.
Fellowship broken. Peace shattered. Creation thrown into chaos. Darkness, depravity, fear, shame, and selfishness flooded the human heart, separating man from God. The situation was dire.
But right then, amid the darkness, God spoke a word of hope: a Savior would come, born of a woman, to defeat the enemy and deliver God’s people. Scholars refer to Genesis 3:15 as the proto euangelion or the “first gospel.”
From the first moment of our need for rescue, God’s promise was there. Before He addressed Adam and Eve, God turned to the serpent and announced that sin would not have the final say and that the schemes of the enemy would not prevail.
This Christmas, Jesus is inviting you to go back. Not back to where you failed, or to where you fell short, but rather back to His promise for deliverance.
So look into the stable, peer into the manger, but don’t just see a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. See a God who always delivers on his promises!
Read: Genesis.3:15 and Galatians.4:4-7