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So the Lord God said to the serpent, \u201cBecause you have done this, \u201cCursed 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.\u201d

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Today we begin our Advent series of devotions as we prepare once again to meet our Lord\u2014our salvation and hope\u2014at Christmas.\xa0 \u201cBut it\u2019s not advent yet!\u201d you might reply.\xa0 And, you\u2019d be right.\xa0 It\u2019s not quite advent yet.\xa0 But our series will take us through many of the Old Testament texts that \u201cPrepare the Way of the Lord,\u201d our advent devotional theme.\xa0 There are more of these texts than we have space for in the regular season of advent, so we have decided to begin early.\xa0 That, and if we would have continued with the Psalms we would have found ourselves in the Psalms of Ascent, something we thought we\u2019d save for after Christmas.

So, here we are\u2014beginning Genesis at a text that the church has long seen as the first inkling of the good news that God had a saviour in mind.\xa0

The first transgression of humanity has just taken place.\xa0 Adam and Eve reached for more than they were given, they sought to become God rather than have a relationship with God, they fell short of what they had been created for.\xa0 Ashamed, they ran away from God and hid.\xa0

But, no sooner had sin and death entered the world than God entered too.\xa0 God sought out his beloved children, and while there was punishment and exile in store for their sins, there was also grace.\xa0 Just because this bit of Genesis constitutes the section of our faith and scriptures we refer to as \u201cthe Fall\u201d does not mean that the power and reality of God\u2019s \u201cCreation\u201d and \u201cRedemption\u201d do not still flow through these verses at the very same time.\xa0

God comes to his children: searches them out.\xa0 He calls them back to honesty in this relationship between Creator, Creature, and Creation.\xa0 \u201cWhat is it you have done?\u201d God asks.\xa0 Adam and Eve respond with admission that something has gone wrong, but neither of them can own up to their own part in it.\xa0 The blame is passed on to others.\xa0 So comes punishment, curse, and exile.\xa0

But with it, also a veiled promise.\xa0 Not always will the snake get the upper hand.\xa0 Through the woman\u2019s offspring will also come one who will, in the words of Paul \u201ccrush Satan\u201d underfoot (Romans 16:20).\xa0 Many long years would pass with the snake striking at our heels before this promise would finally be made reality.\xa0 But the promise was made, nevertheless.\xa0 And God keeps his promises.\xa0

For a lovely depiction of this small slice of Gospel in Genesis, you can find an illustration given by Sr. Grace from a monastery in Iowa by clicking here.

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